git log -S — the pickaxe: find when a string was added or removed

git-pickaxe.sh

# git log -S — the pickaxe
# Find commits where a specific string's count in a file changed.
# Searches diff content, not commit messages.

# When was this secret added or removed?
git log -S "API_SECRET" --all --oneline

# See the full diff for each match:
git log -S "API_SECRET" -p

# Find by literal secret value (one result — the commit that introduced it):
git log -S "xK9-hunter2-prod-8821" --oneline --all

# Regex variant (-G accepts a pattern):
git log -G "API_SECRET\s*=" --oneline

# Even after the secret is deleted from HEAD, it lives in history.
# Finding it here is why rotation matters, not just deletion.