diff --git a/.cargo/config.toml b/.cargo/config.toml
index e69de29b..424ebfbf 100644
--- a/.cargo/config.toml
+++ b/.cargo/config.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+[target.wasm32-wasip1]
+rustflags = ["-C", "link-arg=--allow-undefined"]
diff --git a/src/data/cel.rs b/src/data/cel.rs
index 4e3fc748..63abaddc 100644
--- a/src/data/cel.rs
+++ b/src/data/cel.rs
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ impl Expression {
             })
             .collect();
 
-        attributes.sort_by(|a, b| a.path.tokens().len().cmp(&b.path.tokens().len()));
+        attributes.sort_by_key(|a| a.path.tokens().len());
 
         Ok(Self {
             attributes,
diff --git a/src/filter/kuadrant_filter.rs b/src/filter/kuadrant_filter.rs
index 32832448..7415d313 100644
--- a/src/filter/kuadrant_filter.rs
+++ b/src/filter/kuadrant_filter.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 use crate::kuadrant::{Pipeline, PipelineFactory, PipelineState, ReqRespCtx};
 use crate::metrics::METRICS;
+use proxy_wasm::hostcalls;
 use proxy_wasm::traits::{Context, HttpContext};
 use proxy_wasm::types::Action;
 use std::ops::Not;
@@ -122,7 +123,15 @@ impl HttpContext for KuadrantFilter {
             Err(e) => {
                 error!("#{} failed to build pipeline: {:?}", self.context_id, e);
                 METRICS.errors().increment();
-                // todo(adam-cattermole): we should deny the request
+                #[allow(clippy::panic)]
+                hostcalls::send_http_response(500, Default::default(), Some(b"Internal Server Error.\n"))
+                    .unwrap_or_else(|err| {
+                               error!(
+                                   "#{} CRITICAL: Failed to send error response: {:?}. WASM runtime is in an invalid state",
+                                   self.context_id, err
+                               );
+                               panic!("CRITICAL: Failed to send HTTP reply after pipeline build failure");
+                           });
                 Action::Continue
             }
         }
diff --git a/src/kuadrant/pipeline/executor.rs b/src/kuadrant/pipeline/executor.rs
index 29460bcf..b4155563 100644
--- a/src/kuadrant/pipeline/executor.rs
+++ b/src/kuadrant/pipeline/executor.rs
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ impl Pipeline {
     }
 
     pub fn eval(mut self) -> PipelineState {
-        let tasks_to_process: Vec<_> = self.task_queue.drain(..).collect();
+        let tasks_to_process: Vec<_> = std::mem::take(&mut self.task_queue);
 
         for task in tasks_to_process {
             if task
diff --git a/src/kuadrant/pipeline/factory.rs b/src/kuadrant/pipeline/factory.rs
index 44fa7958..6755e1f5 100644
--- a/src/kuadrant/pipeline/factory.rs
+++ b/src/kuadrant/pipeline/factory.rs
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ impl TryFrom<PluginConfiguration> for PipelineFactory {
 
             let blueprint = Rc::new(blueprint);
             for hostname in &config_action_set.route_rule_conditions.hostnames {
-                let key = reverse_subdomain(hostname);
+                let key = reverse_subdomain(&hostname.to_ascii_lowercase());
                 index.map_with_default(
                     key,
                     |blueprints| blueprints.push(Rc::clone(&blueprint)),
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ impl PipelineFactory {
         match ctx.get_attribute::<String>("request.host") {
             Ok(AttributeState::Available(Some(host))) => {
                 let split_host = host.split_once(':').map_or(host.as_str(), |(h, _)| h);
-                Ok(split_host.to_owned())
+                Ok(split_host.to_ascii_lowercase())
             }
             Ok(AttributeState::Available(None)) => Err(BuildError::EvaluationError(
                 "hostname not found".to_string(),
@@ -585,6 +585,39 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(factory.request_data.len(), 1);
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn build_matches_hostname_case_insensitively() {
+        let config = build_test_config(vec!["Example.COM".to_string()], vec![], "test-service");
+        let factory = PipelineFactory::try_from(config).unwrap();
+
+        let mock_host = MockWasmHost::new()
+            .with_property("request.host".into(), "example.com".as_bytes().to_vec());
+        let ctx = ReqRespCtx::new(Arc::new(mock_host));
+        assert!(factory.build(ctx).unwrap().is_some());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn build_matches_mixed_case_request_hostname() {
+        let config = build_test_config(vec!["api.example.com".to_string()], vec![], "test-service");
+        let factory = PipelineFactory::try_from(config).unwrap();
+
+        let mock_host = MockWasmHost::new()
+            .with_property("request.host".into(), "API.Example.COM".as_bytes().to_vec());
+        let ctx = ReqRespCtx::new(Arc::new(mock_host));
+        assert!(factory.build(ctx).unwrap().is_some());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn build_matches_wildcard_case_insensitively() {
+        let config = build_test_config(vec!["*.Example.COM".to_string()], vec![], "test-service");
+        let factory = PipelineFactory::try_from(config).unwrap();
+
+        let mock_host = MockWasmHost::new()
+            .with_property("request.host".into(), "API.example.com".as_bytes().to_vec());
+        let ctx = ReqRespCtx::new(Arc::new(mock_host));
+        assert!(factory.build(ctx).unwrap().is_some());
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn factory_handles_multiple_hostnames_for_same_action_set() {
         let config = build_test_config(
diff --git a/src/kuadrant/pipeline/tasks/token_usage/event_parser.rs b/src/kuadrant/pipeline/tasks/token_usage/event_parser.rs
index 1663d126..ef878eb5 100644
--- a/src/kuadrant/pipeline/tasks/token_usage/event_parser.rs
+++ b/src/kuadrant/pipeline/tasks/token_usage/event_parser.rs
@@ -85,11 +85,7 @@ impl EventBuilder {
                         }
                         self.event.data.push_str(val);
                     }
-                    "id" => {
-                        if !val.contains('\u{0000}') {
-                            self.event.id = val.to_string()
-                        }
-                    }
+                    "id" if !val.contains('\u{0000}') => self.event.id = val.to_string(),
                     "retry" => {
                         if let Ok(val) = val.parse::<u64>() {
                             self.event.retry = Some(Duration::from_millis(val))