Show HN: Intelligent Log Sanitization and logs to metrics

LogGuardAI, a Log4j2 plugin that automatically detects and masks sensitive data in Java logs using rule-based analysis and AI, has been released on May 27, 2026. The tool supports 20+ sensitive keyword detection, smart risk scoring, and logs-to-metrics extraction for Prometheus-style monitoring, with AI-powered sanitization via OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, or Azure OpenAI.

Intelligent Log Sanitization for Java — Automatically detect and mask sensitive data in logs using rule-based analysis and AI. LogGuardAI is a Log4j2 plugin that intercepts log events and intelligently sanitizes them to prevent accidental exposure of sensitive data like passwords, API keys, tokens, and personal information. It also supports logs-to-metrics extraction for Log4j2, converting log lines into Prometheus-style metrics using custom regex patterns. ❌ Logs with secrets: LOG User auth: userId=12345 apiKey=sk-abcdef123456 password=secret ↑ Oops Now this secret is in logs, monitoring dashboards, and backups ✅ Logs with LogGuardAI: LOG User auth: userId= apiKey= password= ↑ Secrets automatically masked, structure preserved - 🔐 20+ Sensitive Keyword Detection — Automatically detects passwords, tokens, API keys, etc. - 📊 Smart Risk Scoring — Multi-factor analysis keywords, patterns, entropy - ⚡ Lightning Fast — <5ms latency, non-blocking design - 🛡️ Fail-Safe — Logging never breaks, even if something fails - 📝 Structured Data Support — Handles key=value, JSON, query strings - 🧠 AI-Powered Sanitization — OpenAI GPT-based intelligent masking with context - 💰 LRU Caching — 80-95% cache hit rate = 80% cost savings - 🏆 Enhanced Exceptions — AI explains what went wrong - 🔍 Data Classification — Automatically identify PII vs. sensitive data - 📊 Configurable Sampling — Control AI costs 5%-100% - 📦 Batch AI Processing — Process multiple sensitive values together 5x efficiency - ⚡ Async/Non-Blocking — AI calls never block log threads <5ms guaranteed - 🔄 Smart Fallbacks — Rule-based masking if AI fails or times out - 🐛 Spring Boot Compatibility — Fixed Log4j2 plugin registration issues - 🤖 Multi-Provider AI — OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, or Azure OpenAI - 🏗️ Anthropic Claude Integration — Claude 3 models with Messages API - ☁️ Azure OpenAI Integration — Custom endpoints and deployments - 🔧 Provider-Specific Configuration — Azure endpoints, deployments, API versions - 🏷️ Enhanced Model Support — GPT-4, Claude 3, Azure deployments - 📊 Configurable Batch Size — Tune performance vs. API efficiency - 🤖 Multi-Provider Support — OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Azure OpenAI - 📈 Metrics Extraction — Convert legacy unstructured logs into rich JSON metrics. - 🏗️ Backward Compatible — Existing configurations work unchanged Released: May 27, 2026 - 📊 Pattern-Based Metrics — Define custom regex patterns to extract metrics directly from logs - 🎯 User-Defined Patterns — Create metrics for HTTP requests, FTP transfers, database queries, etc. - 💾 Append-Only File — Metrics stored in Prometheus text format with cumulative history - 📈 Logs-to-Metrics Conversion — Convert Log4j2 log entries into counters and labels for monitoring and alerting - ⚙️ Periodic Flushing — Configurable flush interval default: 60 seconds - 🔐 Cardinality Protection — Configurable limits prevent unbounded metric combinations default: 10,000 - 🔌 Zero Dependencies — No external monitoring infrastructure required <LogGuardLayout extractMetrics="true" metricsFilePath="logs/metrics.txt" metricsFlushIntervalMs="60000" metricsMaxCardinality="10000" metricsPatterns="http requests| GET|POST|DELETE /\\w/ + \\d{3} |http requests total|method,endpoint,status"/ See Metrics Configuration /sanitizeai/logguardai/blob/main/docs/guides/metrics-configuration.md for full configuration details and examples. <repositories <repository <id jitpack.io</id <url https://jitpack.io</url </repository </repositories <dependency <groupId com.logguardai</groupId <artifactId logguardai</artifactId <version 0.5.0</version < -- Latest: Logs to metrics -- </dependency <Configuration <Appenders <Console name="Console" target="SYSTEM OUT" <LogGuardLayout/ </Console </Appenders <Loggers <Root level="info" <AppenderRef ref="Console"/ </Root </Loggers </Configuration Tip: To enable pattern-based metrics, set extractMetrics="true" and configure metricsFilePath , metricsFlushIntervalMs , metricsMaxCardinality , and metricsPatterns as shown in the v0.5 section above. LogGuardAI v0.5 makes it easy to transform Log4j2 log messages into Prometheus-compatible metrics. Use metricsPatterns to extract method, endpoint, status, latency, and other useful labels from structured log lines. Example: convert request logs into a counter metric for http requests total with labels like method , endpoint , and status . This is ideal for: - Log4j2 metrics extraction - Logs-to-metrics pipelines - Prometheus text metric generation from application logs - Regex-based log analytics without external agents php < -- OpenAI default -- <LogGuardLayout aiEnabled="true" aiProvider="openai" aiApiKey="${OPENAI API KEY}" aiModel="gpt-3.5-turbo" samplingRate="0.1" extractMetrics="true" batchSize="5"/ < -- Anthropic Claude -- <LogGuardLayout aiEnabled="true" aiProvider="anthropic" aiApiKey="${ANTHROPIC API KEY}" aiModel="claude-3-sonnet-20240229" samplingRate="0.1" batchSize="5"/ < -- Azure OpenAI -- <LogGuardLayout aiEnabled="true" aiProvider="azure-openai" aiApiKey="${AZURE OPENAI API KEY}" aiModel="gpt-35-turbo" azureEndpoint="https://your-resource.openai.azure.com" azureDeployment="your-deployment-name" azureApiVersion="2023-12-01" samplingRate="0.1" batchSize="5"/ | Feature | v0.1 | v0.2 | v0.3 | v0.4 | v0.5 | |---|---|---|---|---|---| Rule-Based Masking | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | AI Sanitization | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | LRU Caching | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | Batch Processing | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | Async/Non-Blocking | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | Multi-Provider AI | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | Metrics Extraction | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ pattern-based | Latency | <5ms | <5ms rule-based ~1500ms API <1ms cached | <5ms guaranteed | <5ms guaranteed | <5ms guaranteed | Cost/10M logs | $0 | $95 no cache $19 with cache | $15-20 with batching | $15-20 with batching | $15-25 depends on metrics config | Dependencies | 0 | 0 new | 0 new | 0 new | 0 new | Backward Compatible | N/A | ✅ 100% | ✅ 100% | ✅ 100% | ✅ 100% | Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger "MyApp" ; // This will be automatically sanitized by LogGuardAI: logger.info "User login: userId=12345 token=sk-abcdef123 password=secret" ; // Output: // User login: userId= token= password= Development AI Testing <LogGuardLayout aiEnabled="true" aiProvider="openai" samplingRate="0.05" aiTimeoutMs="1000" batchSize="3"/ < -- Or with Anthropic: aiProvider="anthropic" aiModel="claude-3-haiku-20240307" -- Production Balanced <LogGuardLayout aiEnabled="true" aiProvider="openai" samplingRate="0.1" aiTimeoutMs="2000" batchSize="5"/ < -- Or with Azure: aiProvider="azure-openai" azureEndpoint="..." azureDeployment="..." -- High-Security Premium <LogGuardLayout aiEnabled="true" aiProvider="openai" aiModel="gpt-4" samplingRate="1.0" batchSize="10"/ < -- Or with Claude: aiProvider="anthropic" aiModel="claude-3-sonnet-20240229" -- Fast No AI php <LogGuardLayout aiEnabled="false"/ < -- v0.1 behavior -- — 5-minute setup with AI examples Quick Start Guide /sanitizeai/logguardai/blob/main/docs/versions/v0.2/QUICK START.md — Deep dive into AI features 3000+ words AI Integration Guide /sanitizeai/logguardai/blob/main/docs/versions/v0.2/AI GUIDE.md — v0.1 → v0.2 upgrade path Migration Guide /sanitizeai/logguardai/blob/main/docs/versions/v0.2/MIGRATION.md — All configuration options Configuration Reference /sanitizeai/logguardai/blob/main/docs/guides/configuration.md — Common issues & solutions Troubleshooting /sanitizeai/logguardai/blob/main/docs/guides/troubleshooting.md — Code organization Project Structure /sanitizeai/logguardai/blob/main/docs/guides/project-structure.md — How LogGuardAI works System Overview /sanitizeai/logguardai/blob/main/docs/architecture/overview.md — Detailed component descriptions Components /sanitizeai/logguardai/blob/main/docs/architecture/components.md — Interface reference AIService API /sanitizeai/logguardai/blob/main/docs/api/air-service-interface.md — Complete version history CHANGELOG /sanitizeai/logguardai/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md — v0.2 features v0.2.0 Release Notes /sanitizeai/logguardai/blob/main/docs/versions/v0.2/RELEASE NOTES.md — Previous version v0.1.0 Docs /sanitizeai/logguardai/blob/main/docs/versions/v0.1 — How to publish JitPack Publishing /sanitizeai/logguardai/blob/main/docs/guides/jitpack-publishing.md // Transaction logs with credit card & billing info logger.info "Transaction: user id={} amount={} card={} crypto key={}", userId, amount, creditCard, encryptionKey ; // Automatically masked ✅ // Auth logs with tokens & credentials logger.info "Auth attempt: username={} password={} jwt token={}", username, password, jwtToken ; // All masked automatically ✅ // Headers & API keys logger.info "Incoming request: Authorization={} X-API-Key={} User-Agent={}", bearerToken, apiKey, userAgent ; // Headers sanitized intelligently ✅ Also: use metricsPatterns to extract request counts, paths and status codes for lightweight in-app metrics collection. Rule-Based Path: <5ms fast, no external calls AI Hit cached : <1ms in-memory cache AI Miss API : ~1.5s to OpenAI, happens ~20% with 80% cache hit rate Without AI: $0/month rule-based only With AI no cache : $95/month 5% sampling With AI + caching: $19/month 5% sampling, 80% cache hits Savings: 80% Rule-Based Only: 50,000 logs/sec With AI Sampling: 45,000 logs/sec minimal impact With Caching: 100,000 logs/sec cached dominate ✅ Secrets Never Exposed - API keys, passwords, tokens, PII automatically masked - Fail-safe: if LogGuard fails, logging still works never breaks - Timeout protection: no hanging requests ✅ API Key Protection - API key stored in environment variable, never hardcoded - No logs sent to external services caching keeps results locally ✅ Non-Blocking Design - Independent executor for AI calls - No thread blocking - Application never slows down - Java 8+ - Maven 3.6+ mvn clean package mvn test ls target/logguardai-0.5.0.jar | Version | Release Date | Status | What's New | |---|---|---|---| v0.5.0 | 2026-05-27 | ✅ Latest | Pattern-Based Metrics user-defined regex metrics | v0.4.0 | 2026-05-03 | ✅ Stable | Multi-Provider AI Support | v0.3.0 | 2026-05-01 | ✅ Stable | Plugin Registration Fix | v0.2.0 | 2026-04-23 | ✅ Stable | AI + Caching | v0.1.0 | 2026-04-22 | ✅ Stable | Rule-based masking | → See CHANGELOG /sanitizeai/logguardai/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md for complete history Contributions welcome Please: - Fork the repository - Create a feature branch - Add tests for new features - Submit a pull request Questions? GitHub Discussions https://github.com/sanitizeai/logguardai/discussions Report Issues: GitHub Issues https://github.com/sanitizeai/logguardai/issues Full Documentation: docs/README.md /sanitizeai/logguardai/blob/main/docs/README.md MIT License - See LICENSE /sanitizeai/logguardai/blob/main/LICENSE for details Get Started → Quick Start Guide /sanitizeai/logguardai/blob/main/docs/versions/v0.2/QUICK START.md Enable AI → AI Integration Guide /sanitizeai/logguardai/blob/main/docs/versions/v0.2/AI GUIDE.md Configure → Configuration Reference /sanitizeai/logguardai/blob/main/docs/guides/configuration.md Troubleshoot → Troubleshooting Guide /sanitizeai/logguardai/blob/main/docs/guides/troubleshooting.md LogGuardAI: Secure your logs. Automatically. Built with ❤️ by sanitizeai