diff --git a/.pre-commit-hooks.yaml b/.pre-commit-hooks.yaml
index 275605eb..6f9c2b7c 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-hooks.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-hooks.yaml
@@ -210,3 +210,9 @@
     types: [text]
     stages: [pre-commit, pre-push, manual]
     minimum_pre_commit_version: 3.2.0
+
+-   id: detect-secrets
+    name: detects secrets from custom regex file
+    description: can take in a custom regex file to scan for custom secrets.
+    entry: detect-secrets
+    langauge: python
diff --git a/pre_commit_hooks/detect_secrets.py b/pre_commit_hooks/detect_secrets.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7a0f5375
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pre_commit_hooks/detect_secrets.py
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import argparse
+import re
+import subprocess
+from collections.abc import Sequence
+from pathlib import Path
+
+
+# -------------------------
+# Default secret patterns
+# -------------------------
+
+DEFAULT_PATTERNS: dict[str, str] = {
+    # GitLab
+    'gitlab_pat': r'glpat-[0-9A-Za-z_-]{20,}',
+    'gitlab_runner_token': r'glrt-[0-9A-Za-z_-]{20,}',
+
+    # GitHub
+    'github_pat': r'ghp_[0-9A-Za-z]{36}',
+    'github_fine_grained_pat': r'github_pat_[0-9A-Za-z_]{82}',
+
+    # AWS
+    'aws_access_key': r'AKIA[0-9A-Z]{16}',
+    'aws_secret_key': r"(?i)aws(.{0,20})?(secret|access)[-_ ]?key(.{0,20})?['\"][0-9a-zA-Z/+]{40}['\"]",
+
+    # Generic
+    'generic_secret': r"(?i)(password|passwd|pwd|secret|token|api[_-]?key)\s*=\s*['\"].+['\"]",
+}
+
+
+def load_custom_patterns(path: Path) -> dict[str, str]:
+    patterns: dict[str, str] = {}
+    for i, line in enumerate(path.read_text().splitlines(), start=1):
+        line = line.strip()
+        if not line or line.startswith('#'):
+            continue
+        patterns[f"custom_rule_{i}"] = line
+    return patterns
+
+
+def is_binary(data: bytes) -> bool:
+    return b'\x00' in data
+
+
+def git_tracked_files() -> list[Path]:
+    """Return all git-tracked files in the repo."""
+    result = subprocess.run(
+        ['git', 'ls-files'],
+        stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+        stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL,
+        text=True,
+        check=False,
+    )
+    return [Path(p) for p in result.stdout.splitlines() if p]
+
+
+def main(argv: Sequence[str] | None = None) -> int:
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Detect exposed secrets in repository')
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '--rules',
+        type=Path,
+        help='File containing custom regex rules (one per line)',
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        'filenames',
+        nargs='*',
+        help='Files to scan (if empty, scans entire repo)',
+    )
+
+    args = parser.parse_args(argv)
+
+    patterns = dict(DEFAULT_PATTERNS)
+
+    if args.rules:
+        if not args.rules.is_file():
+            print(f"Rules file not found: {args.rules}")
+            return 2
+        patterns.update(load_custom_patterns(args.rules))
+
+    compiled = {
+        name: re.compile(regex)
+        for name, regex in patterns.items()
+    }
+
+    files: list[Path]
+    if args.filenames:
+        files = [Path(f) for f in args.filenames]
+    else:
+        files = git_tracked_files()
+
+    findings: list[tuple[Path, str]] = []
+
+    for path in files:
+        if not path.is_file():
+            continue
+
+        try:
+            data = path.read_bytes()
+        except OSError:
+            continue
+
+        if is_binary(data):
+            continue
+
+        text = data.decode(errors='ignore')
+
+        for rule, regex in compiled.items():
+            if regex.search(text):
+                findings.append((path, rule))
+
+    if findings:
+        print('Potential secrets detected:')
+        for path, rule in findings:
+            print(f"  - {path} (matched: {rule})")
+        return 1
+
+    return 0
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    raise SystemExit(main())
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index d91f4399..f5876526 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ console_scripts =
     requirements-txt-fixer = pre_commit_hooks.requirements_txt_fixer:main
     sort-simple-yaml = pre_commit_hooks.sort_simple_yaml:main
     trailing-whitespace-fixer = pre_commit_hooks.trailing_whitespace_fixer:main
+    detect-secrets = pre_commit_hooks.detect_secrets:main
 
 [bdist_wheel]
 universal = True