Role in the Hellgate Cloud Platform
Specter gives you a straightforward way to encode complex fraud detection and prevention logic. It is built for composition and can be extended through Link to connect to virtually any external fraud-detection service. Like every service on the Hellgate Cloud Platform, Specter can be used standalone or in composition with other services.Main features
Specter combines three sources of signal and control in a single ruleset.Local rules
Standard FeatureConditions and velocity counters evaluated inside the engine — boolean
expressions over the decision context plus rolling-window counts per card,
customer, device, or IP. No external calls, evaluated in-process for minimal latency.
Blacklist
Standard FeatureField-based blocking with optional TTLs. Entries are managed through the
Admin API or auto-populated from lifecycle
events such as chargebacks and
fraud reports.
Backends
Specter ConnectExternal risk engines — reached through a Link integration and invoked from
backend rules to assess a transaction. Available on the
Specter Connect edition.
Integration patterns
Specter offers two ways to put a fraud check in front of authorization. Both evaluate the same rulesets and return the same outcomes — they differ in where the integration lives. See the integration overview to choose the right approach for your situation.Decision API
Your system calls
POST /api/decisions before authorizing and branches on
the result. Full control over the payment flow, with the richest request
context.Interceptor
Specter sits inline as a transparent proxy in front of your acquirer —
forwarding approved transactions and returning a configured response for
those it flags. Adds fraud checks with no backend changes.
Next steps
Plans & Access
Dedicated infrastructure, tiers, and how to obtain a Specter instance.
Authentication
Authenticate to your instance, and the scopes that gate each endpoint.