Audit event streaming (ULTIMATE)
- API Introduced in GitLab 14.5 with a flag named
ff_external_audit_events_namespace
. Disabled by default.- API Enabled on GitLab.com and by default on self-managed in GitLab 14.7.
- API Feature flag
ff_external_audit_events_namespace
removed in GitLab 14.8.- UI Introduced in GitLab 14.9.
- Subgroup events recording fixed in GitLab 15.2.
- Custom HTTP headers API introduced in GitLab 15.1 with a flag named
streaming_audit_event_headers
. Disabled by default.- Custom HTTP headers API enabled on GitLab.com and self-managed in GitLab 15.2.
- Custom HTTP headers API made generally available in GitLab 15.3. Feature flag
streaming_audit_event_headers
removed.- Custom HTTP headers UI introduced in GitLab 15.2 with a flag named
custom_headers_streaming_audit_events_ui
. Disabled by default.- Custom HTTP headers UI made generally available in GitLab 15.3. Feature flag
custom_headers_streaming_audit_events_ui
removed.- Improved user experience in GitLab 15.3.
- User-specified verification token API support introduced in GitLab 15.4.
- Event type filters API introduced in GitLab 15.7.
Users can set a streaming destination for a top-level group to receive all audit events about the group, its subgroups, and projects as structured JSON.
Top-level group owners can manage their audit logs in third-party systems. Any service that can receive structured JSON data can be used as the streaming destination.
Each streaming destination can have up to 20 custom HTTP headers included with each streamed event.
NOTE:
GitLab can stream a single event more than once to the same destination. Use the id
key in the payload to deduplicate incoming data.
Add a new streaming destination
WARNING: Streaming destinations receive all audit event data, which could include sensitive information. Make sure you trust the streaming destination.
Use the GitLab UI
Users with the Owner role for a group can add streaming destinations for it:
- On the top bar, select Main menu > Groups and find your group.
- On the left sidebar, select Security and Compliance > Audit events.
- On the main area, select Streams tab.
- Select Add streaming destination to show the section for adding destinations.
- Enter the destination URL to add.
- Optional. Locate the Custom HTTP headers table.
- Ignore the Active checkbox because it isn't functional. To track progress on adding functionality to the Active checkbox, see issue 367509.
- Select Add header to create a new name and value pair. Enter as many name and value pairs as required. You can add up to 20 headers per streaming destination.
- After all headers have been filled out, select Add to add the new streaming destination.
Use the API
To enable streaming and add a destination, users with the Owner role for a group must use the
externalAuditEventDestinationCreate
mutation in the GraphQL API.
mutation {
externalAuditEventDestinationCreate(input: { destinationUrl: "https://mydomain.io/endpoint/ingest", groupPath: "my-group" } ) {
errors
externalAuditEventDestination {
id
destinationUrl
verificationToken
group {
name
}
}
}
}
Group owners can also optionally specify their own verification token (instead of the default GitLab-generated one) using the GraphQL auditEventsStreamingHeadersCreate
mutation. Verification token length must be within 16 to 24 characters and trailing whitespace are not trimmed. GitLab recommends setting a cryptographically random and unique value. For example:
mutation {
externalAuditEventDestinationCreate(input: { destinationUrl: "https://mydomain.io/endpoint/ingest", groupPath: "my-group", verificationToken: "unique-random-verification-token-here" } ) {
errors
externalAuditEventDestination {
id
destinationUrl
verificationToken
group {
name
}
}
}
}
Event streaming is enabled if:
- The returned
errors
object is empty. - The API responds with
200 OK
.
Group owners can add an HTTP header using the GraphQL auditEventsStreamingHeadersCreate
mutation. You can retrieve the destination ID
by listing all the streaming destinations for the group or from the mutation above.
mutation {
auditEventsStreamingHeadersCreate(input: { destinationId: "gid://gitlab/AuditEvents::ExternalAuditEventDestination/24601", key: "foo", value: "bar" }) {
errors
}
}
The header is created if the returned errors
object is empty.
List streaming destinations
Users with the Owner role for a group can list streaming destinations.
Use the GitLab UI
To list the streaming destinations:
- On the top bar, select Main menu > Groups and find your group.
- On the left sidebar, select Security and Compliance > Audit events.
- On the main area, select Streams tab.
- To the right of the item, select Edit ({pencil}) to see all the custom HTTP headers.
Use the API
Users with the Owner role for a group can view a list of streaming destinations at any time using the
externalAuditEventDestinations
query type.
query {
group(fullPath: "my-group") {
id
externalAuditEventDestinations {
nodes {
destinationUrl
verificationToken
id
headers {
nodes {
key
value
id
}
}
eventTypeFilters
}
}
}
}
If the resulting list is empty, then audit streaming is not enabled for that group.
You need the ID values returned by this query for the update and delete mutations.
Update streaming destinations
Users with the Owner role for a group can update streaming destinations.
Use the GitLab UI
To update a streaming destinations custom HTTP headers:
- On the top bar, select Main menu > Groups and find your group.
- On the left sidebar, select Security and Compliance > Audit events.
- On the main area, select Streams tab.
- To the right of the item, select Edit ({pencil}).
- Locate the Custom HTTP headers table.
- Locate the header that you wish to update.
- Ignore the Active checkbox because it isn't functional. To track progress on adding functionality to the Active checkbox, see issue 367509.
- Select Add header to create a new name and value pair. Enter as many name and value pairs as required. You can add up to 20 headers per streaming destination.
- Select Save to update the streaming destination.
Use the API
Users with the Owner role for a group can update streaming destinations custom HTTP headers using the
auditEventsStreamingHeadersUpdate
mutation type. You can retrieve the custom HTTP headers ID
by listing all the custom HTTP headers for the group.
mutation {
externalAuditEventDestinationDestroy(input: { id: destination }) {
errors
}
}
Streaming destination is updated if:
- The returned
errors
object is empty. - The API responds with
200 OK
.
Group owners can remove an HTTP header using the GraphQL auditEventsStreamingHeadersDestroy
mutation. You can retrieve the header ID
by listing all the custom HTTP headers for the group.
mutation {
auditEventsStreamingHeadersDestroy(input: { headerId: "gid://gitlab/AuditEvents::Streaming::Header/1" }) {
errors
}
}
The header is deleted if the returned errors
object is empty.
Delete streaming destinations
Users with the Owner role for a group can delete streaming destinations.
When the last destination is successfully deleted, streaming is disabled for the group.
Use the GitLab UI
To delete a streaming destination:
- On the top bar, select Main menu > Groups and find your group.
- On the left sidebar, select Security and Compliance > Audit events.
- On the main area, select the Streams tab.
- To the right of the item, select Delete ({remove}).
To delete only the custom HTTP headers for a streaming destination:
- On the top bar, select Main menu > Groups and find your group.
- On the left sidebar, select Security and Compliance > Audit events.
- On the main area, select the Streams tab.
- To the right of the item, Edit ({pencil}).
- Locate the Custom HTTP headers table.
- Locate the header that you wish to remove.
- To the right of the header, select Delete ({remove}).
- Select Save to update the streaming destination.
Use the API
Users with the Owner role for a group can delete streaming destinations using the
externalAuditEventDestinationDestroy
mutation type. You can retrieve the destinations ID
by listing all the streaming destinations for the group.
mutation {
externalAuditEventDestinationDestroy(input: { id: destination }) {
errors
}
}
Streaming destination is deleted if:
- The returned
errors
object is empty. - The API responds with
200 OK
.
Group owners can remove an HTTP header using the GraphQL auditEventsStreamingHeadersDestroy
mutation. You can retrieve the header ID
by listing all the custom HTTP headers for the group.
mutation {
auditEventsStreamingHeadersDestroy(input: { headerId: "gid://gitlab/AuditEvents::Streaming::Header/1" }) {
errors
}
}
The header is deleted if the returned errors
object is empty.
Verify event authenticity
Introduced in GitLab 14.8.
Each streaming destination has a unique verification token (verificationToken
) that can be used to verify the authenticity of the event. This
token is either specified by the Owner or generated automatically when the event destination is created and cannot be changed.
Each streamed event contains the verification token in the X-Gitlab-Event-Streaming-Token
HTTP header that can be verified against
the destination's value when listing streaming destinations.
Use the GitLab UI
Introduced in GitLab 15.2.
Users with the Owner role for a group can list streaming destinations and see the verification tokens:
- On the top bar, select Main menu > Groups and find your group.
- On the left sidebar, select Security and Compliance > Audit events.
- On the main area, select the Streams.
- View the verification token on the right side of each item.
Event type filters
Event type filters API introduced in GitLab 15.7.
When this feature is enabled for a group, you can use an API to permit users to filter streamed audit events per destination. If the feature is enabled with no filters, the destination receives all audit events.
A streaming destination that has an event type filter set has a filtered ({filter}) label.
Use the API to add an event type filter
Prerequisites:
- You must have the Owner role for the group.
You can add a list of event type filters using the auditEventsStreamingDestinationEventsAdd
query type:
mutation {
auditEventsStreamingDestinationEventsAdd(input: {
destinationId: "gid://gitlab/AuditEvents::ExternalAuditEventDestination/1",
eventTypeFilters: ["list of event type filters"]}){
errors
eventTypeFilters
}
}
Event type filters are added if:
- The returned
errors
object is empty. - The API responds with
200 OK
.
Use the API to remove an event type filter
Prerequisites:
- You must have the Owner role for the group.
You can remove a list of event type filters using the auditEventsStreamingDestinationEventsRemove
query type:
mutation {
auditEventsStreamingDestinationEventsRemove(input: {
destinationId: "gid://gitlab/AuditEvents::ExternalAuditEventDestination/1",
eventTypeFilters: ["list of event type filters"]
}){
errors
}
}
Event type filters are removed if:
- The returned
errors
object is empty. - The API responds with
200 OK
.
Payload schema
Documentation for an audit event streaming schema was introduced in GitLab 15.3.
Streamed audit events have a predictable schema in the body of the response.
Field | Description | Notes |
---|---|---|
author_id |
User ID of the user who triggered the event | |
author_name |
Human-readable name of the author that triggered the event | Helpful when the author no longer exists |
created_at |
Timestamp when event was triggered | |
details |
JSON object containing additional metadata | Has no defined schema but often contains additional information about an event |
entity_id |
ID of the audit event's entity | |
entity_path |
Full path of the entity affected by the auditable event | |
entity_type |
String representation of the type of entity | Acceptable values include User , Group , and Key . This list is not exhaustive |
event_type |
String representation of the type of audit event | |
id |
Unique identifier for the audit event | Can be used for deduplication if required |
ip_address |
IP address of the host used to trigger the event | |
target_details |
Additional details about the target | |
target_id |
ID of the audit event's target | |
target_type |
String representation of the target's type |
JSON payload schema
{
"properties": {
"id": {
"type": "string"
},
"author_id": {
"type": "integer"
},
"author_name": {
"type": "string"
},
"details": {},
"ip_address": {
"type": "string"
},
"entity_id": {
"type": "integer"
},
"entity_path": {
"type": "string"
},
"entity_type": {
"type": "string"
},
"event_type": {
"type": "string"
},
"target_id": {
"type": "integer"
},
"target_type": {
"type": "string"
},
"target_details": {
"type": "string"
},
},
"type": "object"
}
Audit event streaming on Git operations
- Introduced in GitLab 14.9 with a flag named
audit_event_streaming_git_operations
. Disabled by default.- Enabled on GitLab.com in GitLab 15.0.
- Enabled on self-managed in GitLab 15.1 by default.
- Added
details.author_class
field in GitLab 15.3.- Generally available in GitLab 15.6. Feature flag
audit_event_streaming_git_operations
removed.
Streaming audit events can be sent when authenticated users push, pull, or clone a project's remote Git repositories:
- Using SSH.
- Using HTTP or HTTPS.
- Using the Download button ({download}) in GitLab UI.
Audit events are not captured for users that are not signed in. For example, when downloading a public project.
To configure streaming audit events for Git operations, see Add a new streaming destination.
Headers
X-Gitlab-Audit-Event-Type
introduced in GitLab 15.0.
Headers are formatted as follows:
POST /logs HTTP/1.1
Host: <DESTINATION_HOST>
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
X-Gitlab-Event-Streaming-Token: <DESTINATION_TOKEN>
X-Gitlab-Audit-Event-Type: repository_git_operation
Example payloads for SSH events
Fetch:
{
"id": 1,
"author_id": 1,
"entity_id": 29,
"entity_type": "Project",
"details": {
"author_name": "Administrator",
"author_class": "User",
"target_id": 29,
"target_type": "Project",
"target_details": "example-project",
"custom_message": {
"protocol": "ssh",
"action": "git-upload-pack"
},
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project"
},
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"author_name": "Administrator",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project",
"target_details": "example-project",
"created_at": "2022-02-23T06:21:05.283Z",
"target_type": "Project",
"target_id": 29,
"event_type": "repository_git_operation"
}
Push:
{
"id": 1,
"author_id": 1,
"entity_id": 29,
"entity_type": "Project",
"details": {
"author_name": "Administrator",
"author_class": "User",
"target_id": 29,
"target_type": "Project",
"target_details": "example-project",
"custom_message": {
"protocol": "ssh",
"action": "git-receive-pack"
},
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project"
},
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"author_name": "Administrator",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project",
"target_details": "example-project",
"created_at": "2022-02-23T06:23:08.746Z",
"target_type": "Project",
"target_id": 29,
"event_type": "repository_git_operation"
}
Example payloads for SSH events with Deploy Key
Introduced in GitLab 15.3.
Fetch:
{
"id": 1,
"author_id": -3,
"entity_id": 29,
"entity_type": "Project",
"details": {
"author_name": "deploy-key-name",
"author_class": "DeployKey",
"target_id": 29,
"target_type": "Project",
"target_details": "example-project",
"custom_message": {
"protocol": "ssh",
"action": "git-upload-pack"
},
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project"
},
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"author_name": "deploy-key-name",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project",
"target_details": "example-project",
"created_at": "2022-07-26T05:43:53.662Z",
"target_type": "Project",
"target_id": 29,
"event_type": "repository_git_operation"
}
Example payloads for HTTP and HTTPS events
Fetch:
{
"id": 1,
"author_id": 1,
"entity_id": 29,
"entity_type": "Project",
"details": {
"author_name": "Administrator",
"author_class": "User",
"target_id": 29,
"target_type": "Project",
"target_details": "example-project",
"custom_message": {
"protocol": "http",
"action": "git-upload-pack"
},
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project"
},
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"author_name": "Administrator",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project",
"target_details": "example-project",
"created_at": "2022-02-23T06:25:43.938Z",
"target_type": "Project",
"target_id": 29,
"event_type": "repository_git_operation"
}
Push:
{
"id": 1,
"author_id": 1,
"entity_id": 29,
"entity_type": "Project",
"details": {
"author_name": "Administrator",
"author_class": "User",
"target_id": 29,
"target_type": "Project",
"target_details": "example-project",
"custom_message": {
"protocol": "http",
"action": "git-receive-pack"
},
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project"
},
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"author_name": "Administrator",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project",
"target_details": "example-project",
"created_at": "2022-02-23T06:26:29.294Z",
"target_type": "Project",
"target_id": 29,
"event_type": "repository_git_operation"
}
Example payloads for HTTP and HTTPS events with Deploy Token
Fetch:
{
"id": 1,
"author_id": -2,
"entity_id": 22,
"entity_type": "Project",
"details": {
"author_name": "deploy-token-name",
"author_class": "DeployToken",
"target_id": 22,
"target_type": "Project",
"target_details": "example-project",
"custom_message": {
"protocol": "http",
"action": "git-upload-pack"
},
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project"
},
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"author_name": "deploy-token-name",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project",
"target_details": "example-project",
"created_at": "2022-07-26T05:46:25.850Z",
"target_type": "Project",
"target_id": 22,
"event_type": "repository_git_operation"
}
Example payloads for events from GitLab UI download button
Fetch:
{
"id": 1,
"author_id": 99,
"entity_id": 29,
"entity_type": "Project",
"details": {
"custom_message": "Repository Download Started",
"author_name": "example_username",
"author_class": "User",
"target_id": 29,
"target_type": "Project",
"target_details": "example-group/example-project",
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project"
},
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"author_name": "example_username",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project",
"target_details": "example-group/example-project",
"created_at": "2022-02-23T06:27:17.873Z",
"target_type": "Project",
"target_id": 29,
"event_type": "repository_git_operation"
}
Audit event streaming on merge request approval actions
Introduced in GitLab 14.9.
Stream audit events that relate to merge approval actions performed within a project.
Headers
Headers are formatted as follows:
POST /logs HTTP/1.1
Host: <DESTINATION_HOST>
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
X-Gitlab-Event-Streaming-Token: <DESTINATION_TOKEN>
X-Gitlab-Audit-Event-Type: audit_operation
Example payload
{
"id": 1,
"author_id": 1,
"entity_id": 6,
"entity_type": "Project",
"details": {
"author_name": "example_username",
"target_id": 20,
"target_type": "MergeRequest",
"target_details": "merge request title",
"custom_message": "Approved merge request",
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project"
},
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"author_name": "example_username",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project",
"target_details": "merge request title",
"created_at": "2022-03-09T06:53:11.181Z",
"target_type": "MergeRequest",
"target_id": 20,
"event_type": "audit_operation"
}
Audit event streaming on merge request create actions
Introduced in GitLab 15.2.
Stream audit events that relate to merge request create actions using the /logs
endpoint.
Send API requests that contain the X-Gitlab-Audit-Event-Type
header with value merge_request_create
. GitLab responds with JSON payloads with an
event_type
field set to merge_request_create
.
Headers
Headers are formatted as follows:
POST /logs HTTP/1.1
Host: <DESTINATION_HOST>
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
X-Gitlab-Audit-Event-Type: merge_request_create
X-Gitlab-Event-Streaming-Token: <DESTINATION_TOKEN>
Example payload
{
"id": 1,
"author_id": 1,
"entity_id": 24,
"entity_type": "Project",
"details": {
"author_name": "example_user",
"target_id": 132,
"target_type": "MergeRequest",
"target_details": "Update test.md",
"custom_message": "Added merge request",
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project"
},
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"author_name": "Administrator",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project",
"target_details": "Update test.md",
"created_at": "2022-07-04T00:19:22.675Z",
"target_type": "MergeRequest",
"target_id": 132,
"event_type": "merge_request_create"
}
Audit event streaming on project fork actions
Introduced in GitLab 15.2.
Stream audit events that relate to project fork actions using the /logs
endpoint.
Send API requests that contain the X-Gitlab-Audit-Event-Type
header with value project_fork_operation
. GitLab responds with JSON payloads with an
event_type
field set to project_fork_operation
.
Headers
Headers are formatted as follows:
POST /logs HTTP/1.1
Host: <DESTINATION_HOST>
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
X-Gitlab-Audit-Event-Type: project_fork_operation
X-Gitlab-Event-Streaming-Token: <DESTINATION_TOKEN>
Example payload
{
"id": 1,
"author_id": 1,
"entity_id": 24,
"entity_type": "Project",
"details": {
"author_name": "example_username",
"target_id": 24,
"target_type": "Project",
"target_details": "example-project",
"custom_message": "Forked project to another-group/example-project-forked",
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project"
},
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"author_name": "example_username",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project",
"target_details": "example-project",
"created_at": "2022-06-30T03:43:35.384Z",
"target_type": "Project",
"target_id": 24,
"event_type": "project_fork_operation"
}
Audit event streaming on project group link actions
Introduced in GitLab 15.2.
Stream audit events that relate to project group link creation, updates, and deletion using the /logs
endpoint.
Send API requests that contain the X-Gitlab-Audit-Event-Type
header with value of either:
-
project_group_link_create
. -
project_group_link_update
. -
project_group_link_destroy
.
GitLab responds with JSON payloads with an event_type
field set to either:
-
project_group_link_create
. -
project_group_link_update
. -
project_group_link_destroy
.
Example Headers
Headers are formatted as follows:
POST /logs HTTP/1.1
Host: <DESTINATION_HOST>
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
X-Gitlab-Audit-Event-Type: project_group_link_create
X-Gitlab-Event-Streaming-Token: <DESTINATION_TOKEN>
Example payload for project group link create
{
"id": 1,
"author_id": 1,
"entity_id": 24,
"entity_type": "Project",
"details": {
"author_name": "example-user",
"target_id": 31,
"target_type": "Group",
"target_details": "another-group",
"custom_message": "Added project group link",
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project"
},
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"author_name": "example-user",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project",
"target_details": "another-group",
"created_at": "2022-07-04T00:43:09.318Z",
"target_type": "Group",
"target_id": 31,
"event_type": "project_group_link_create"
}
Example payload for project group link update
{
"id": 1,
"author_id": 1,
"entity_id": 24,
"entity_type": "Project",
"details": {
"author_name": "example-user",
"target_id": 31,
"target_type": "Group",
"target_details": "another-group",
"custom_message": "Changed project group link profile group_access from Developer to Guest",
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project"
},
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"author_name": "example-user",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project",
"target_details": "another-group",
"created_at": "2022-07-04T00:43:28.328Z",
"target_type": "Group",
"target_id": 31,
"event_type": "project_group_link_update"
}
Example payload for project group link delete
{
"id": 1,
"author_id": 1,
"entity_id": 24,
"entity_type": "Project",
"details": {
"author_name": "example-user",
"target_id": 31,
"target_type": "Group",
"target_details": "another-group",
"custom_message": "Removed project group link",
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project"
},
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"author_name": "example-user",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project",
"target_details": "another-group",
"created_at": "2022-07-04T00:42:56.279Z",
"target_type": "Group",
"target_id": 31,
"event_type": "project_group_link_destroy"
}
Audit event streaming on invalid merge request approver state
Introduced in GitLab 15.5.
Stream audit events that relate to invalid merge request approver states within a project.
Headers
Headers are formatted as follows:
POST /logs HTTP/1.1
Host: <DESTINATION_HOST>
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
X-Gitlab-Event-Streaming-Token: <DESTINATION_TOKEN>
X-Gitlab-Audit-Event-Type: audit_operation
Example payload
{
"id": 1,
"author_id": 1,
"entity_id": 6,
"entity_type": "Project",
"details": {
"author_name": "example_username",
"target_id": 20,
"target_type": "MergeRequest",
"target_details": { title: "Merge request title", iid: "Merge request iid", id: "Merge request id" },
"custom_message": "Invalid merge request approver rules",
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project"
},
"ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
"author_name": "example_username",
"entity_path": "example-group/example-project",
"target_details": "merge request title",
"created_at": "2022-03-09T06:53:11.181Z",
"target_type": "MergeRequest",
"target_id": 20,
"event_type": "audit_operation"
}