Tracehound – Deterministic security buffer and forensic runtime for high-velocity APIs

Summary: Tracehound is a security substrate that provides composite rate-limiting, payload quarantine, and a Merkle-chained AuditChain for forensic evidence on API requests. It operates on a zero-GC, fail-open architecture to maintain uptime and prevent memory overload during attacks.

What it does

Tracehound acts as a runtime membrane between API requests and business logic, using hash-based source tracking to limit rates and isolating malicious payloads in a priority-bounded buffer. It records quarantine events in an immutable, cryptographically verifiable AuditChain.

Who it's for

Developers scaling Node.js applications needing enhanced security and forensic capabilities beyond traditional WAFs and in-app tools.

Why it matters

It preserves forensic evidence without causing memory leaks or downtime, ensuring compliance and reliable incident response under high attack pressure.