IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

Bwbach, My Guardian Goblin

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

Theme 1 – Interest in Erlang/Elixir edge proxies and desire for open‑source options
- “It seems to be used by many large companies but with less open source projects of size. I would be interested in trying this proxy in the future if you do opensource it.” – Algernoon
- “I'd be very curious if anyone else knows of any… it wouldn’t surprise me if there's a number of closed‑source ones in use at scale.” – robotmay

Theme 2 – Discussion of iocaine as an alternative proxy approach
- “There's the option of trying something like iocaine (https://iocaine.madhouse-project.org/) behind your current proxy too, which I mentioned in my previous article.” – robotmay
- “It's not quite the same as it doesn't chuck the bots into tarpit requests, which is obviously the most fun bit.” – robotmay

Theme 3 – Security/attack‑mitigation perspective (a step away from an attack barrier)
- “One step away from an attack barrier.” – downrightmike

🚀 Project Ideas

Generating project ideas…

ElixirEdge: Open‑Source Erlang/Elixir Reverse Proxy with Bot Tarpit

Summary

  • A lightweight, high‑concurrency edge reverse proxy written in Elixir/OTP that can replace Traefik, NGINX, or Coolify’s default proxy while adding configurable bot detection and tarpit responses.
  • Core value: provides the performance and fault‑tolerance of the BEAM with built‑in anti‑abuse features that are missing from most open‑source proxies.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Developers, DevOps engineers, and site‑reliability teams seeking an open‑source, BEAM‑based edge proxy
Core Feature Protocol‑agnostic reverse proxy (HTTP/HTTPS, WebSocket) with pluggable bot‑detection middleware that can slow‑drop or hold connections for suspected bots
Tech Stack Elixir, OTP, Ranch, Cowboy (or Pistacho for TLS), Plug for middleware, Prometheus exporter for metrics
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • Algernoon expressed interest in trying an open‑source Erlang/Elixir proxy: “I would be interested in trying this proxy in the future if you do opensource it.”
  • Robotmay highlighted the fun of tarpitting bots: “It wouldn't surprise me if there's a number of closed‑source ones in use at scale … the most fun bit…”, indicating a desire for a publicly available tarpit‑enabled proxy.

BotTrap Plug: Erlang‑Powered Bot Detection Middleware for Existing Proxies

Summary

  • A drop‑in middleware service (exposed as an HTTP endpoint) that can be used with Traefik’s forwardAuth, NGINX auth_request, or Coolify’s custom plugins to identify and tarpit bots before they reach your main proxy.
  • Core value: lets you keep your current proxy stack while adding sophisticated Erlang‑based bot mitigation without rewriting your edge configuration.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Users of Traefik, Coolify, NGINX, or any reverse proxy that supports external authentication/check‑hook mechanisms
Core Feature HTTP service that analyzes request headers, IP reputation, and behavior; returns 200 with a delayed response or 429/403 to tarpit bots, otherwise forwards the request unchanged
Tech Stack Elixir/Phoenix (or plain Plug/Cowboy) for the service, optional gRPC/JSON for configuration, Dockerfile for easy deployment
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • Robotmay mentioned using iocaine behind a current proxy: “There's the option of trying something like iocaine … behind your current proxy too…”, showing appetite for a complementary bot‑tarpit component.
  • Downrightmike noted being “One step away from an attack barrier”, indicating a need for an easy‑to‑add layer that raises the barrier against automated attacks.

Managed Elixir Edge Proxy SaaS

Summary

  • A globally distributed, fully managed edge proxy platform built on the Erlang VM, offering automatic TLS, WAF, rate limiting, and intelligent bot tarpitting via a simple DNS/CNAME setup.
  • Core value: eliminates the operational burden of running your own edge proxy while delivering BEAM‑level resiliency and built‑in abuse mitigation.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Startups, SMBs, and indie developers who want enterprise‑grade edge security without DevOps overhead
Core Feature One‑click edge proxy deployment (via CNAME), auto‑managed certificates, real‑time dashboard with bot‑traffic analytics, and configurable tarpit rules
Tech Stack Control plane: Elixir/Phoenix + Postgres; Data plane: Erlang/Elixir (Ranch/Cowboy) running in containers on Kubernetes; CDN‑style distribution via anycast or cloud provider edge nodes
Difficulty High
Monetization Revenue-ready: usage‑based pricing (e.g., $0.01 per GB processed, free tier up to 10 GB/month)

Notes

  • Algernoon’s comment about wanting to try an open‑source proxy hints at a market eager for BEAM‑based solutions, which a managed service could commercialize.
  • The discussion’s focus on bot tarpitting and attack barriers aligns with a SaaS that offers these features out‑of‑the‑box, reducing the need for users to assemble them themselves.

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