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Audit Logging

Track all tool, resource, and prompt executions with MXCP's enterprise-grade audit logging. Essential for security, compliance, and usage analysis.

mxcp audit logging

compliance logging

security auditing

usage tracking

jsonl logs

enterprise security

4

/features/auditing

Audit Logging

MXCP provides enterprise-grade audit logging to track all tool, resource, and prompt executions across your organization. Audit logs are essential for security, compliance, debugging, and understanding usage patterns.

Overview

When enabled, MXCP logs every execution that goes through the server (mxcp serve) with:

Timestamp: When the execution occurred (UTC)
Caller: Who initiated the execution (http, stdio)
Type: What was executed (tool, resource, prompt)
Name: The specific item executed
Input: Parameters passed (with sensitive data redacted)
Duration: Execution time in milliseconds
Policy Decision: Whether it was allowed, denied, or warned
Status: Success or error
Error Details: If the execution failed

Note: Audit logging only occurs when endpoints are executed through the MXCP server (mxcp serve). Direct CLI execution via mxcp run does not generate audit logs as it bypasses the server layer.

Storage Format

Audit logs are stored in JSONL (JSON Lines) format - one JSON object per line. This format offers several advantages:

Human-readable: Can be inspected with standard text tools
Streaming-friendly: Can be tailed in real-time
Tool-compatible: Works with many log analysis tools

Configuration

Enable audit logging in your mxcp-site.yml:

profiles:
  production:
    audit:
      enabled: true
      path: logs-production.jsonl  # Optional, defaults to logs-`{profile}`.jsonl

The log file will be created automatically when the first event is logged.

Querying Logs

Use the mxcp log command to query audit logs:

# Show recent logs
mxcp log

# Filter by tool
mxcp log --tool my_tool

# Show only errors
mxcp log --status error

# Show denied executions
mxcp log --policy deny

# Show logs from last 10 minutes
mxcp log --since 10m

# Combine filters
mxcp log --type tool --status error --since 1h

Time Filters

The --since option accepts:

10s - 10 seconds
5m - 5 minutes
2h - 2 hours
1d - 1 day

Output Formats

# Default table format
mxcp log

# JSON output for programmatic use
mxcp log --json

# Export to CSV
mxcp log --export-csv audit.csv

# Export to DuckDB for complex analysis
mxcp log --export-duckdb audit.db

Log Fields

Each log entry contains:

Field	Description	Example
timestamp	ISO 8601 timestamp (UTC)	2024-01-15T10:30:45.123Z
caller	Source of the request	cli, http, stdio
type	Type of execution	tool, resource, prompt
name	Name of the item	my_sql_tool
input_json	JSON string of parameters	`{"query": "SELECT *..."}`
duration_ms	Execution time	145
policy_decision	Policy engine result	allow, deny, warn, n/a
reason	Explanation if denied/warned	"Blocked by policy"
status	Execution result	success, error
error	Error message if failed	"Connection timeout"

Caller Types

The caller field indicates how the endpoint was invoked:

http: HTTP API request (when running mxcp serve with default transport)
stdio: Standard I/O protocol (when running mxcp serve --transport stdio)

Security

Sensitive Data Redaction

The audit logger automatically redacts fields marked as sensitive in the endpoint schema. This provides precise control over which data should be protected in logs.

Example endpoint definition:

parameters:
  - name: username
    type: string
    description: User's username
  - name: api_key
    type: string
    sensitive: true  # This field will be redacted in audit logs
    description: API key for authentication
  - name: config
    type: object
    properties:
      host:
        type: string
      password:
        type: string
        sensitive: true  # Nested sensitive field

Resulting audit log entry:

{
  "username": "john_doe",
  "api_key": "[REDACTED]",
  "config": {
    "host": "example.com",
    "password": "[REDACTED]"
  }
}

Important: Only fields explicitly marked with sensitive: true in the endpoint schema will be redacted. If no schema is provided or fields are not marked as sensitive, they will appear in plain text in the audit logs.

Access Control

Audit logs may contain sensitive information. Ensure:

Log files are stored securely
Access is restricted to authorized personnel
Regular rotation and archival policies are in place

Performance

The audit logger uses:

Background thread: No impact on request latency
Async queue: Requests return immediately
Batch writing: Efficient I/O operations
Graceful shutdown: Ensures all events are written

Analysis Examples

Using DuckDB for Complex Queries

Export to DuckDB for SQL analysis:

# Export to DuckDB
mxcp log --export-duckdb audit.db

# Query with DuckDB CLI
duckdb audit.db

-- Top 10 most used tools
SELECT name, COUNT(*) as count
FROM logs
WHERE type = 'tool'
GROUP BY name
ORDER BY count DESC
LIMIT 10;

-- Error rate by hour
SELECT 
  DATE_TRUNC('hour', timestamp) as hour,
  COUNT(CASE WHEN status = 'error' THEN 1 END) as errors,
  COUNT(*) as total,
  ROUND(100.0 * COUNT(CASE WHEN status = 'error' THEN 1 END) / COUNT(*), 2) as error_rate
FROM logs
GROUP BY hour
ORDER BY hour DESC;

-- Policy violations by user
SELECT 
  caller,
  COUNT(*) as violations
FROM logs
WHERE policy_decision = 'deny'
GROUP BY caller
ORDER BY violations DESC;

Real-time Monitoring

Since JSONL files can be tailed, you can monitor in real-time:

# Watch for errors
tail -f logs-production.jsonl | grep '"status":"error"'

# Watch for policy denials
tail -f logs-production.jsonl | grep '"policy_decision":"deny"'

# Pretty-print recent entries
tail -n 10 logs-production.jsonl | jq .

Integration with Log Analysis Tools

JSONL format is compatible with many tools:

# Import into Elasticsearch
cat logs-production.jsonl | curl -X POST "localhost:9200/_bulk" --data-binary @-

# Analyze with jq
cat logs-production.jsonl | jq 'select(.status == "error") | .name' | sort | uniq -c

# Convert to CSV with Miller
mlr --ijson --ocsv cat logs-production.jsonl > logs.csv

Best Practices

Enable in Production: Always enable audit logging in production environments
Regular Review: Set up alerts for errors and policy violations
Retention Policy: Define how long to keep logs based on compliance requirements
Backup: Include audit logs in your backup strategy
Monitoring: Track log file size and implement rotation if needed

Troubleshooting

Logs Not Appearing

Check if audit logging is enabled:

profiles:
  production:
    audit:
      enabled: true

Verify the log file path exists and is writable
Check MXCP server logs for any errors

Large Log Files

JSONL files can grow large over time. Consider:

Implementing log rotation (e.g., with logrotate)
Archiving old logs to compressed storage
Exporting to DuckDB and querying the database instead

Query Performance

For better query performance on large datasets:

Export to DuckDB format
Use the DuckDB database for queries
Add appropriate indexes for your query patterns

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