Data Redactor

A powerful, client-side data redaction tool for securing sensitive information before sending to AI systems or external services. Proving that AI can be used securely with proper input sanitization.

Live Demo

https://data-redactor-ui.vercel.app/

Overview

Data Redactor is a monorepo containing three packages:

| Package | Description | Published | |---------|-------------|-----------| | data-redactor-core | Core redaction engine | npm v1.0.5 | | ui | Vanilla JS web interface | Vercel | | api | Bun REST API for community patterns | Local/Self-hosted |

All redaction happens 100% client-side - no data is ever sent to a server.

Features

Redaction Strategies

| Strategy | Description | Example | |----------|-------------|---------| | Token | Replace with typed placeholders | [email protected] → [EMAIL_1] | | Mask | Replace with mask character, preserve structure | [email protected] → ****@*****.*** | | Format-Preserving | Replace with realistic fake data | [email protected] → [email protected] |

Built-in Pattern Detection

| Category | Patterns | |----------|----------| | Network | IPv4 (with CIDR), IPv6, MAC Address, Hostname/FQDN | | Personal | Email, Phone (incl. vanity), SSN, Names (8,849+ name database) | | Financial | Credit Card (13-19 digits), Credit Card Last 4 | | Business | Ticket/Case Numbers |

Pattern Builder (New in v1.0.5)

Visual tool to create custom regex patterns from sample data:

• Mark Selection - Highlight text in your sample to mark what should be matched
• Multi-Sample Support - Add multiple samples to refine pattern accuracy
• Auto-Generation - Automatically generates optimized regex from marked text
• Pattern Explanation - Human-readable breakdown of what the pattern matches
• Live Testing - Test generated patterns against sample data in real-time
• One-Click Add - Add patterns directly to your configuration

Community Patterns (New in v1.0.5)

Browse, share, and vote on community-contributed regex patterns:

• Pattern Library - Discover patterns submitted by other users
• Voting System - Upvote/downvote patterns to help surface the best ones
• Category Filtering - Filter by identifier, financial, healthcare, infrastructure, personal
• One-Click Use - Add community patterns to your configuration instantly
• Submit Your Own - Share useful patterns with the community

Presets

Pre-configured pattern sets for common use cases:

| Preset | Description | |--------|-------------| | strict-ai | Maximum redaction for AI/LLM inputs | | minimal | Light redaction, preserves readability | | logs | Optimized for log file sanitization | | financial | Focus on financial data (accounts, cards) | | healthcare | HIPAA-focused (MRN, NPI, patient info) |

Extensibility

• Custom Patterns - Define your own regex patterns with configurable strategies
• Custom Entities - Whitelist specific values (company names, project names, etc.)
• Regex Builder - Programmatic pattern generation from samples

Engine Features

• Deterministic redaction (same input → same output within session)
• Overlap detection and resolution
• Configurable token format per pattern type
• Configurable mask character
• Import/Export JSON configurations

Packages

data-redactor-core

The core TypeScript redaction engine. Zero browser dependencies - works in Node.js and browser environments.

Key exports:

• DataRedactor - Main redaction class
• ConfigLoader - Configuration loading and validation
• DEFAULT_CONFIG - Default configuration with all patterns enabled
• getPreset() / hasPreset() - Preset configuration helpers
• generateFromSample() / refineFromSamples() - Regex builder utilities
• Pattern classes: IPv4Pattern, EmailPattern, NamePattern, etc.
• Strategy classes: TokenStrategy, MaskStrategy, FormatPreservingStrategy

UI

Vanilla JavaScript web application (no framework dependencies) with five main views:

1. Pattern Detection - Toggle patterns on/off, select strategies per pattern
2. JSON Editor - Full configuration editing with validation
3. Output Format - Interactive per-pattern testing with live preview of all strategies
4. Pattern Builder - Visual tool to create custom regex patterns from sample data
5. Community - Browse and use community-contributed patterns

UI Features:

• Mobile-responsive design with optimized touch targets
• Collapsible accordion sections for better organization
• Dark mode support
• Keyboard shortcuts for common actions

API Server

Bun-powered REST API for community patterns and feedback:

| Endpoint | Method | Description | |----------|--------|-------------| | /api/health | GET | Health check | | /api/redact | POST | Redact text (server-side option) | | /api/presets | GET | List available presets | | /api/patterns | GET | List community patterns | | /api/patterns | POST | Submit a new pattern | | /api/patterns/:id | GET | Get pattern details | | /api/patterns/:id/vote | POST | Vote on a pattern | | /api/patterns/:id/use | POST | Mark pattern as used | | /api/feedback | GET/POST | Feedback collection |

Database: MongoDB Atlas - works both locally and on Vercel. Set MONGODB_URI environment variable.

Installation

# Install the core package
npm install data-redactor-core

# Or use bun
bun add data-redactor-core

Usage

Basic Example

import { DataRedactor } from 'data-redactor-core';

const redactor = new DataRedactor();

const text = "Contact [email protected] at 555-123-4567";
const result = redactor.redact(text);

console.log(result.redactedText);
// "Contact [EMAIL_1] at [PHONE_1]"

console.log(result.mapping);
// { "[email protected]": "[EMAIL_1]", "555-123-4567": "[PHONE_1]" }

Using Presets

import { DataRedactor, getPreset } from 'data-redactor-core';

// Use a preset configuration
const redactor = new DataRedactor(getPreset('strict-ai'));

// Or for healthcare compliance
const hipaaRedactor = new DataRedactor(getPreset('healthcare'));

Custom Configuration

import { DataRedactor } from 'data-redactor-core';

const config = {
  patterns: {
    email: { enabled: true, strategy: 'mask' },
    phone: { enabled: true, strategy: 'token' },
    ipv4: { enabled: false }
  },
  formatOptions: {
    tokenFormat: '[{TYPE}_{INDEX}]',
    maskChar: '*',
    preserveStructure: true
  }
};

const redactor = new DataRedactor(config);

Custom Patterns

const config = {
  patterns: {
    custom: [
      {
        name: 'caseId',
        regex: 'CASE-\\\\d{6}',
        strategy: 'token',
        flags: 'gi'
      }
    ]
  }
};

const redactor = new DataRedactor(config);
const text = "Please reference CASE-123456 in your response";
const result = redactor.redact(text);
// "Please reference [CASEID_1] in your response"

Regex Builder (Programmatic)

import { generateFromSample, refineFromSamples } from 'data-redactor-core';

// Generate pattern from a single sample
const result = generateFromSample('ABC-12345', {
  wordBoundaries: true,
  caseInsensitive: false
});

console.log(result.regex);
// "[A-Z]{3}-\\d{5}"

// Refine with multiple samples
const refined = refineFromSamples(
  ['ABC-12345', 'XYZ-67890', 'DEF-11111'],
  { wordBoundaries: true }
);

Custom Entities

Redact specific values like company names, project names, or customer names:

const config = {
  customEntities: {
    companyNames: ["Acme Corp", "Globex Corporation"],
    projectNames: ["Project Phoenix", "Operation Sunrise"],
    customerNames: ["John Smith", "Jane Doe"]
  }
};

const redactor = new DataRedactor(config);
const text = "Acme Corp is working on Project Phoenix with John Smith";
const result = redactor.redact(text);
// "[COMPANYNAMES_1] is working on [PROJECTNAMES_1] with [CUSTOMERNAMES_1]"

Customizing Token Format

const config = {
  formatOptions: {
    tokenFormat: '<{TYPE}:{INDEX}>',  // Default: '[{TYPE}_{INDEX}]'
    maskChar: '#',                      // Default: '*'
    preserveStructure: true             // Default: true
  },
  patterns: {
    email: { enabled: true, strategy: 'token' },
    phone: { enabled: true, strategy: 'mask' }
  }
};

const redactor = new DataRedactor(config);
const text = "Email: [email protected] Phone: 555-1234";
const result = redactor.redact(text);
// "Email: <EMAIL:1> Phone: ###-####"

Loading Configuration from File (Node.js)

import { DataRedactor, ConfigLoader } from 'data-redactor-core';

// Load from JSON file
const config = ConfigLoader.loadFromFile('./my-config.json');
const redactor = new DataRedactor(config);

// Or get default config
const defaultConfig = ConfigLoader.getDefault();

// Validate config
const validation = ConfigLoader.validateConfig(config);
if (!validation.valid) {
  console.error('Config errors:', validation.errors);
}

Development

bun install        # Install dependencies (also builds core)
bun dev            # Run both UI and API dev servers
bun dev:ui         # Run UI dev server with hot reload
bun dev:api        # Run API server only
bun build          # Build everything (core + UI)
bun build:core     # Build core library only
bun build:ui       # Build UI for static deployment
bun lint           # Run ESLint
bun typecheck      # Run TypeScript type checking
bun format         # Run Prettier

Project Structure

data-redactor/
├── package.json        # Root package config
├── tsconfig.json       # TypeScript config
├── build-ui.js         # UI bundler script (Bun.build)
├── dev.ts              # Combined dev server runner
├── vercel.json         # Vercel deployment config
├── dist/               # Built UI (static files for deployment)
├── packages/
│   ├── core/src/       # Redaction engine source (TypeScript)
│   │   ├── index.ts    # Main exports
│   │   ├── engine.ts   # Core redaction logic
│   │   ├── config.ts   # Configuration handling
│   │   ├── presets.ts  # Preset configurations
│   │   ├── patterns/   # Pattern implementations
│   │   ├── regex-builder/  # Pattern generation from samples
│   │   └── scenarios/  # Context-aware redaction scenarios
│   ├── ui/             # Vanilla JS UI source
│   │   ├── index.html
│   │   ├── main.js
│   │   └── styles.css
│   └── api/            # REST API server
│       ├── server.ts   # Main server entry
│       ├── routes/     # API route handlers
│       └── db/         # SQLite database client
├── config-examples/
└── examples/
    └── tampermonkey-redactor.js  # Browser userscript example

Tech Stack

Latest versions as of 11/29/2025

| Category | Package | Version | |----------|---------|---------| | Runtime | Bun | 1.3+ | | UI | Vanilla JavaScript | ES2022 | | Build | tsup (core), Bun.build (UI) | ^8 | | Language | TypeScript (core) | ^5 | | Database | MongoDB Atlas | ^7 | | Name Data | common-last-names | ^1 | | | datasets-male-first-names-en | ^1 | | | datasets-female-first-names-en | ^1 | | Deploy | Vercel (static) | - |

License

MIT

Author

Matthew Goluba - @goobz22

Contributing

Contributions welcome! See open issues for planned features.

Ways to Contribute

• Submit Patterns - Use the Pattern Builder to create and submit useful patterns
• Vote on Patterns - Help surface the best community patterns
• Report Issues - Found a bug or false positive? Open an issue
• Feature Requests - Ideas for new patterns or features? We'd love to hear them