About TracePilot AI

Inspiration

Cybersecurity investigations can be complicated and time-consuming. When someone receives a suspicious email, encounters an unfamiliar URL, or discovers an unusual security log, figuring out what happened and what to do next can be overwhelming.

I wanted to build something that makes security analysis more accessible by combining the reasoning capabilities of AI with evidence from practical investigation tools. That idea inspired TracePilot AI: an AI-powered cybersecurity investigation agent designed to help users investigate potential threats, understand the evidence, and make better-informed decisions.

What It Does

TracePilot AI helps users analyze suspicious URLs, emails, and security indicators through an interactive investigation workflow. Instead of simply generating an answer, it aims to gather relevant evidence, explain potential risks, and organize findings into a clear report.

Key features include:

• AI-powered investigations: Analyze suspicious inputs and identify potential security concerns.
• Evidence-based findings: Connect conclusions to available observations and intelligence sources.
• Investigation timeline: Make the analysis process and tool results easier to understand.
• Risk assessment: Present potential severity, uncertainty, and recommended next steps.
• Case management: Save investigations and review previous findings.
• Actionable reports: Organize results into a format that users can understand and share.

How I Built It

I designed TracePilot AI around a full-stack architecture using React for the frontend and Node.js for the backend, with PostgreSQL for persistent investigation records.

The frontend focuses on a clean dashboard where users can submit evidence, follow investigation progress, inspect findings, and review reports. The backend coordinates the investigation workflow, communicates with the AI model, and manages structured results.

The AI component is designed to work with investigation tools rather than relying entirely on generated text. This approach helps separate retrieved evidence from AI-generated explanations and makes the results easier to review.

My goal was to create a practical, extensible prototype that demonstrates how AI agents can assist with cybersecurity workflows.

Challenges I Faced

One of the biggest challenges was balancing AI flexibility with reliability. A convincing explanation is not necessarily a correct security assessment, so the system needs to distinguish verified observations from assumptions and communicate uncertainty clearly.

Another challenge was designing an investigation workflow that feels intelligent without becoming unnecessarily complex. I focused on making tool usage, evidence, and conclusions understandable through the interface.

Working within a limited hackathon timeframe also meant prioritizing the core experience over building every possible feature. I concentrated on a focused investigation workflow that could be demonstrated from initial input to final report.

What I Learned

Building TracePilot AI reinforced the importance of combining AI reasoning with structured data, reliable tools, and clear user feedback. I also gained a deeper appreciation for the challenges of evaluating AI-generated security assessments and designing systems that communicate uncertainty instead of presenting every conclusion as fact.

Most importantly, the project helped me explore how AI agents can move beyond ordinary chat interfaces and become useful assistants that perform structured tasks, gather evidence, and support human decision-making.

What's Next

I want to expand TracePilot AI with additional threat-intelligence integrations, stronger evaluation datasets, more investigation tools, and improved reporting. Future versions could also support collaborative case reviews and integrations with existing security workflows.

TracePilot AI is built around one principle: security decisions should be supported by evidence, not just generated answers.

Built With

• llms
• prisma
• react
• restapi
• tailwindcss
• vite