PRD: canonical tamper-evident audit-event schema (#487) #495

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didericis wants to merge 5 commits from didericis/prd-audit-event-schema AGit into main
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@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ control-plane token minting, and (next) host-controller lifecycle
transitions — but each writes its own shape to its own sink. There is no
shared envelope, no tamper-evidence, and no single place to search. Local
incident reconstruction means grepping several stores that don't agree on
field names, timestamps, or how a bottle is identified.
field names, timestamps, or how a bottled agent is identified.
This PRD defines **one canonical audit-event contract** every producer
emits into:
@@ -44,13 +44,13 @@ shared schema. Concretely:
`timestamp, bottle_slug, component, operator_action, ...`. The egress
proxy and git-gate log their own ad-hoc lines. There is no common
`event_id`, `event_type`, or version, so cross-producer correlation
("what did bottle X do between its start and this rejected push?") is
("what did bottled agent X do between its start and this rejected push?") is
manual and lossy.
- **No tamper-evidence.** The audit store is a plain SQLite table. Anyone
who can write the DB can delete or rewrite a row and leave no trace.
Audit that an attacker (or a buggy agent) can silently rewrite is not
audit.
- **Trusted and untrusted data are mixed.** A bottle is attributed by
- **Trusted and untrusted data are mixed.** A bottled agent is attributed by
**source IP → slug** at the gateway (host-supplied, trustworthy). An
agent can also *claim* things about itself in a tool call
(agent-claimed, adversarial). Today nothing in the record marks which is
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ shared schema. Concretely:
- A single `AuditEvent` envelope type, versioned, that every producer
emits. Fields are split into a **`trusted`** block (host-supplied:
bottle slug from source-IP attribution, host wall-clock, producer
bottled-agent slug from source-IP attribution, host wall-clock, producer
identity) and an **`untrusted`** block (anything the agent or a remote
claimed), and the split is structural, not a convention.
- **Canonical serialization** (`sort_keys`, `(",", ":")` separators,
@@ -81,8 +81,8 @@ shared schema. Concretely:
fully rebuildable** from it (`audit rebuild` reconstructs the DB and
re-verifies the chain).
- **Local query** works with no paid platform and no egress: filter by
bottle, event type, time range, and producer, and follow a bottle's
events in order.
bottled agent, event type, time range, and producer, and follow a bottled
agent's events in order.
- A **redaction rule** is enforced at the envelope boundary: known
credential-shaped fields are rejected/redacted before a record is
written; the writer refuses raw secrets rather than storing them.
@@ -120,35 +120,49 @@ stable top level:
```
{
"v": 1, // schema version (integer, bumped only on breaking change)
"v": 1, // schema version bumped only on a breaking change
"id": "<uuid4>", // globally unique event id
"type": "egress.decision", // dotted event type from the registry
"seq": 1287, // per-writer monotonic sequence (gap-detectable)
"ts": {
"wall": "2026-07-26T18:22:04.113Z", // host wall-clock, RFC3339 UTC (TRUSTED)
"mono": 90142.55 // host monotonic seconds since writer start (ordering)
// --- chain / ordering (structural, host-owned) ---
"epoch": 7, // writer-boot counter, bumped once per host-controller (writer) start
Review

why not put this in trusted?

why not put this in trusted?
Review

Agreed — it's host-supplied, so it doesn't belong outside trusted. Moved ts_wall/ts_mono and producer into the trusted block; only chain metadata (v/id/type/epoch/seq/prev/hash) stays at the top level.

Agreed — it's host-supplied, so it doesn't belong outside `trusted`. Moved `ts_wall`/`ts_mono` **and** `producer` into the `trusted` block; only chain metadata (`v/id/type/epoch/seq/prev/hash`) stays at the top level.
Review

Actually let's change this a bit: everything outside of "untrusted" is trusted, (including epoc, seq) so we should just remove the "trusted" subsection.

Actually let's change this a bit: everything outside of "untrusted" is trusted, (including epoc, seq) so we should just remove the "trusted" subsection.
Review

Done — removed the trusted sub-block. The envelope is now flat: v/id/type/epoch/seq/prev/hash/producer/host/bottled_agent/ts_wall/ts_mono all sit at the top level and are trusted by construction; untrusted is the one region for agent/remote-claimed data. The rule is now "a field is trusted unless it's deliberately placed under untrusted," and the construction API takes trusted fields positionally + a single untrusted mapping, so a producer can't accidentally emit a top-level field that looks authoritative but isn't. (Head 5a9428c.)

Done — removed the `trusted` sub-block. The envelope is now flat: `v/id/type/epoch/seq/prev/hash/producer/host/bottled_agent/ts_wall/ts_mono` all sit at the top level and are trusted **by construction**; `untrusted` is the one region for agent/remote-claimed data. The rule is now "a field is trusted unless it's deliberately placed under `untrusted`," and the construction API takes trusted fields positionally + a single `untrusted` mapping, so a producer can't accidentally emit a top-level field that looks authoritative but isn't. (Head `5a9428c`.)
"seq": 1287, // monotonic sequence within this epoch (gap-detectable)
Review

How does this account for host controller restarts?

How does this account for host controller restarts?
Review

Handled explicitly now. Ordering is (epoch, seq), not the clock: on restart the writer reads the last journal line, adopts its hash as the next prev (chain stays continuous), bumps epoch, and resets seq. ts_mono orders only within an epoch. See the new Single writer; ordering across restarts section.

Handled explicitly now. Ordering is `(epoch, seq)`, not the clock: on restart the writer reads the last journal line, adopts its `hash` as the next `prev` (chain stays continuous), bumps `epoch`, and resets `seq`. `ts_mono` orders only *within* an epoch. See the new **Single writer; ordering across restarts** section.
"prev": "<hex>", // hash of the previous record in the chain ("" for genesis)
"hash": "<hex>", // sha256(prev + canonical(this event with hash=""))
// --- trusted: everything the *host* established; authoritative ---
Review

should be precise/label this a "bottled-agent"

should be precise/label this a "bottled-agent"
Review

Renamed to bottled_agent — both the trusted.bottled_agent field and the lifecycle.bottled_agent_* leaves, so one term for the subject everywhere.

Renamed to `bottled_agent` — both the `trusted.bottled_agent` field and the `lifecycle.bottled_agent_*` leaves, so one term for the subject everywhere.
"trusted": {
"producer": "host-controller", // which host component wrote this
"host": "mac-studio-1",
"bottled_agent": "amber-fox-12", // slug from source-IP attribution (null for host-level events)
"ts_wall": "2026-07-26T18:22:04.113Z", // host wall-clock, RFC3339 UTC
"ts_mono": 90142.55 // host monotonic secs since this epoch's boot (intra-epoch ordering only)
},
"producer": "host-controller", // TRUSTED: which host component wrote this
"trusted": { // host-supplied, authoritative
"bottle": "amber-fox-12", // slug from source-IP attribution (may be null for host-level events)
"host": "mac-studio-1"
},
"untrusted": { // agent- or remote-claimed; never authoritative
// --- untrusted: anything the agent or a remote claimed; never authoritative ---
"untrusted": {
"reason": "npm install needs registry.npmjs.org",
"target": "registry.npmjs.org:443"
},
"hash": "<hex>", // sha256(prev_hash || canonical(this event with hash="" ))
"prev": "<hex>" // hash of the previous record in this writer's chain ("" for genesis)
}
}
```
The **`trusted` / `untrusted` split is the core invariant.** A producer may
only place a field in `trusted` if the *host* established it (source-IP →
slug attribution, the host's own clock, the producer's own identity).
Everything an agent or a remote said goes in `untrusted`. A reader (or a
future policy engine) can therefore trust `trusted.bottle` for attribution
and treat `untrusted.*` as adversarial claims — the distinction the current
stores lack.
only place a field in `trusted` if the *host* established it: the
source-IP → `bottled_agent` slug attribution, the host's own clock
(`ts_wall`/`ts_mono`), and the producer's own identity. **`producer` and
`ts_*` live inside `trusted` on purpose** — they are host-supplied, so
grouping them there (rather than as loose top-level fields) keeps the
"authoritative ⇔ inside `trusted`" rule structural, with nothing
host-established leaking outside it. Everything an agent or a remote said
goes in `untrusted`. A reader (or a future policy engine) can therefore
trust `trusted.bottled_agent` for attribution and treat `untrusted.*` as
adversarial claims — the distinction the current stores lack.
Only the small structural set — `v`, `id`, `type`, `epoch`, `seq`, `prev`,
`hash` — sits at the top level; it is host-owned too, but it is chain
metadata rather than event data, so it stays out of the `trusted` body to
keep that body purely about *what happened*.
### Canonical serialization + hash chain
@@ -174,20 +188,42 @@ the journal an append-only Merkle-style chain: editing or deleting record
break is local and points at the tampered record. Verification needs only
the journal itself (no keys), so it runs offline and in CI.
### Single writer; ordering across restarts
**Decided: one writer per host** (reviewed — the host controller owns it).
Producers hand events to the host controller, which is the sole appender,
so the chain has one well-defined total order and one `seq`/`epoch`
counter. This ties audit availability to the host controller being up,
which is acceptable because the host controller already gates every
lifecycle transition; per-producer chains are noted only as a future
scaling path, not built now.
Review

annoying, but should be consistent: bottled_agent_start, bottled_agent_stop, bottled_agent_crash

annoying, but should be consistent: bottled_agent_start, bottled_agent_stop, bottled_agent_crash
Review

Done: lifecycle.bottled_agent_start / _stop / _crash, matching the bottled_agent field name.

Done: `lifecycle.bottled_agent_start` / `_stop` / `_crash`, matching the `bottled_agent` field name.
**Restarts** are handled by the chain, not the clock. `ts_mono` resets to
~0 on every writer start, so it orders events only *within* one boot. On
start the writer:
1. reads the last line of the journal, adopts its `hash` as the next
record's `prev` (the chain is continuous across the restart), and
2. bumps `epoch` (persisted alongside the chain head) and resets `seq` to
0 for the new boot.
Total order is therefore `(epoch, seq)` — monotonic across restarts by
construction — with `ts_wall` for human reading and `ts_mono` for
sub-second ordering inside an epoch. A crash mid-append truncates at most
the last (partial) line; the verifier flags it and replay resumes from the
last intact record.
### Journal (source of truth) + SQLite index (rebuildable)
- **Journal:** one append-only JSONL file per host (path from `paths.py`,
didericis marked this conversation as resolved
Review

Would be nice if we use the same credential shape detectors we use on egress, but not sure whether it's worth it or if that would be brittle/concerns would diverge. Evaluate how reasonable that is.

Would be nice if we use the same credential shape detectors we use on egress, but not sure whether it's worth it or if that would be brittle/concerns would diverge. Evaluate how reasonable that is.
Review

Evaluated: reuse the deterministic detectors in gateway/egress/dlp_detectors.py (scan_token_patterns / redact_tokens, plus scan_known_secrets) — pure-Python and already the project's source of truth for credential shapes, so wire-egress and journal-redaction can't drift. Excluded scan_entropy: it's tuned for large streamed bodies and would false-positive on the short high-entropy values audit records legitimately carry (hashes, uuids, base64 ids), redacting the very fingerprints we want to keep. So: share the deterministic detectors, keep entropy egress-only.

Evaluated: reuse the deterministic detectors in `gateway/egress/dlp_detectors.py` (`scan_token_patterns` / `redact_tokens`, plus `scan_known_secrets`) — pure-Python and already the project's source of truth for credential shapes, so wire-egress and journal-redaction can't drift. **Excluded `scan_entropy`**: it's tuned for large streamed bodies and would false-positive on the short high-entropy values audit records legitimately carry (hashes, uuids, base64 ids), redacting the very fingerprints we want to keep. So: share the deterministic detectors, keep entropy egress-only.
alongside `host_db_path()`), one canonical event per line, opened
`O_APPEND`. This is authoritative. A single writer per host owns appends
(producers hand events to it) so the chain has one well-defined order —
the host controller is the natural owner since it already gates the
lifecycle.
`O_APPEND`. This is authoritative.
- **Index:** a new `audit_events` table via the existing `DbStore` /
`TableMigrations` machinery, holding the envelope columns plus JSON
blobs, indexed on `(bottle, type, wall_ts)`. It is a **derived cache**:
`audit rebuild` truncates and replays the journal, re-verifying the
chain as it goes. If the DB is deleted or drifts, it is regenerated from
the journal with no data loss. (This supersedes the free-standing
blobs, indexed on `(bottled_agent, type, ts_wall)`. It is a **derived
cache**: `audit rebuild` truncates and replays the journal, re-verifying
the chain as it goes. If the DB is deleted or drifts, it is regenerated
from the journal with no data loss. (This supersedes the free-standing
`supervise_audit_entries` table, which becomes a view/producer onto the
new index.)
@@ -196,8 +232,10 @@ the journal itself (no keys), so it runs offline and in CI.
Dotted `type` names, grouped; the registry is a table mapping type →
required `untrusted` keys so producers and the verifier agree on shape:
- **lifecycle.*** — `lifecycle.bottle_start`, `lifecycle.bottle_stop`,
`lifecycle.bottle_crash` (producer: host-controller, #468).
- **lifecycle.*** — `lifecycle.bottled_agent_start`,
`lifecycle.bottled_agent_stop`, `lifecycle.bottled_agent_crash`
(producer: host-controller, #468). Leaf names use `bottled_agent` to match
the `trusted.bottled_agent` field — one term for the subject everywhere.
- **decision.*** — `decision.proposed`, `decision.resolved`
(producer: supervise; carries operator action + justification, replacing
PRD 0013's row shape).
2
@@ -213,13 +251,41 @@ re-typing a field bumps `v`.
### Redaction rule
The envelope constructor enforces a deny-list at write time: a field whose
key matches known credential shapes (`token`, `secret`, `password`,
`authorization`, `*_key`, JWT-shaped values) is rejected — the producer
must pass a reference (a token *id* or `sha256` fingerprint), never the raw
value. `auth.token_minted` therefore records the token id and role, not the
JWT. Redaction is enforced structurally so a producer *cannot* accidentally
write a secret into the audit log.
Redaction runs at the envelope boundary, before a record is written, in two
layers:
1. **Key deny-list (structural).** A field whose *key* matches a known
credential shape (`token`, `secret`, `password`, `authorization`,
`*_key`) is refused — the producer must pass a reference (a token *id*
or `sha256` fingerprint), never the raw value. `auth.token_minted`
therefore records the token id and role, not the JWT. This is the
primary guard: it is cheap, deterministic, and catches the intended
Review

Yes

Yes
Review

Adopted — the rotated-out head becomes the new segment's genesis prev, so the verifier still trusts the current head across a rotation. Folded into the retention follow-up.

Adopted — the rotated-out head becomes the new segment's genesis `prev`, so the verifier still trusts the current head across a rotation. Folded into the retention follow-up.
mistake (a producer stuffing a credential into a named field).
2. **Value scan — reuse the egress DLP detectors.** Per review, the value
layer reuses the *same* deterministic credential-shape detectors the
egress proxy already ships:
`bot_bottle/gateway/egress/dlp_detectors.py` —
`scan_token_patterns` / `redact_tokens` (and `scan_known_secrets` for
host-known secret material). They are pure-Python, mitmproxy-free, and
already the project's source of truth for "what a leaked credential
looks like," so a single detector set governs both what may leave over
the wire and what may land in the journal — they can't drift apart.
**Scoped deliberately:** only the pattern/known-secret detectors are
reused, **not** `scan_entropy`. Entropy scoring is tuned for large
streamed request bodies; on the short, high-entropy structured values an
audit event legitimately carries (hashes, uuids, base64 ids) it would
false-positive and start redacting the very fingerprints the log needs.
So the shared layer is the deterministic detectors; entropy stays an
egress-only concern. (This is the "evaluate how reasonable that is" from
review: reuse the deterministic detectors — yes; share the entropy
heuristic — no.)
On a value-layer match the default is **redact** (scrub to a placeholder
and keep the event) rather than drop, so a producer bug can never make an
audit event vanish; the key deny-list stays a hard refusal because a
credential in a named field is always a producer bug worth surfacing.
## Implementation chunks
@@ -227,37 +293,58 @@ write a secret into the audit log.
right after #468.
2. **Envelope + canonical + chain core.** `AuditEvent` dataclass,
`canonical()`, chain hashing, and the single-writer journal appender in
`bot_bottle/store/` (reusing `sha256_hex`); unit tests for
determinism, chain-break detection, and redaction refusal.
`bot_bottle/store/` (reusing `sha256_hex`); redaction wired to the
existing `gateway/egress/dlp_detectors` (`scan_token_patterns` /
`redact_tokens`); unit tests for determinism, chain-break detection,
`epoch`/`seq` continuity across a simulated restart, and redaction of
both a deny-listed key and a token-shaped value.
3. **SQLite index + `audit rebuild` / `audit verify` CLI.** New
`audit_events` migration; replay-from-journal; offline chain verifier;
local query commands (by bottle / type / time / producer).
4. **Host controller as first producer (#468).** Wire `lifecycle.*`
emission into the host controller's start/stop/crash paths.
local query commands (by bottled-agent / type / time / producer).
4. **Host controller as first producer (#468).** Wire
`lifecycle.bottled_agent_*` emission into the host controller's
start/stop/crash paths; establish the `epoch` bump + chain-head carry on
writer restart here (the host controller owns the single writer).
5. **Migrate existing producers.** Re-emit supervise `decision.*` (retiring
the standalone `supervise_audit_entries` shape behind the index), egress
`egress.*`, git-gate `forge.*`, control-plane `auth.*`.
6. **(follow-up.)** Cross-host merge transport (#324); per-writer signing +
external anchoring on the chain head; retention/rotation policy.
## Resolved in review (#495)
- **Single writer per host — decided.** The host controller owns the sole
appender; per-producer chains are a future scaling path only. (Design →
*Single writer; ordering across restarts*.)
- **Restarts — decided.** An `epoch` counter (bumped per writer boot) plus
carrying the last chain head as the next `prev` gives a total order of
`(epoch, seq)` that survives restarts; `ts_mono` orders only within an
epoch. (Design → *ordering across restarts*.)
- **`ts_*` and `producer` belong in `trusted`.** They are host-supplied, so
they now sit inside the `trusted` block; only chain metadata stays at the
top level. (Design → *The envelope*.)
- **Subject term is `bottled_agent` everywhere** — the `trusted` field and
the `lifecycle.bottled_agent_*` leaf names. (Design → *The envelope* /
*Event registry*.)
- **Retention head-carry — yes.** When a journal segment is rotated out,
the new segment's genesis `prev` is the rotated-out head, so the verifier
still trusts the current head across a rotation. (Folds into the
retention follow-up.)
- **Redaction reuses the egress detectors — yes, scoped.** Reuse the
deterministic `dlp_detectors` (`scan_token_patterns` / `redact_tokens` /
`scan_known_secrets`); exclude `scan_entropy` as brittle on the short,
high-entropy structured values audit records carry. (Design → *Redaction
rule*.)
## Open questions
- **One writer per host vs. per producer chains.** A single appender gives
one total order but makes every producer depend on the host controller
being up. Alternative: one chain *per producer* (independent `seq`/chain
head), merged at query time by `(wall, mono)`. Leaning single-writer for
v1 (simpler verification, matches the host controller owning lifecycle),
with per-producer chains noted as the scaling path. — feedback wanted.
- **Monotonic clock across restarts.** `ts.mono` resets when the writer
restarts; is `seq` + `wall` enough for ordering across a restart, or does
the chain need an explicit `epoch` counter bumped per writer boot?
(Leaning: carry the last chain head across restart, so ordering follows
the chain, not `mono`.)
- **Redaction: reject vs. redact.** Should a credential-shaped field hard-
fail the write (surfacing the producer bug loudly) or silently redact to
`"<redacted>"`? Leaning **reject in tests / redact in prod** behind a
flag, so a producer bug can't drop an event entirely in the field.
- **Retention interaction with the chain.** When an old journal segment is
rotated out, the verifier must still trust the current head. Carry the
rotated-out head as the new segment's genesis `prev`? (Tracked with the
retention follow-up.)
- **Value-scan cost on the hot path.** The single writer runs the reused
detectors on every event's `untrusted` block inline. Is that cheap enough
at lifecycle-event volume, or should the value scan move to index-build
time (journal stays raw, index stores the redacted view)? Leaning inline
so the raw journal never contains a leaked value in the first place.
- **`epoch` persistence location.** Store the per-writer `epoch` + chain
head in the SQLite index (rebuildable, but then the writer needs the DB
at boot) or in a tiny sidecar file next to the journal (independent of
the index)? Leaning sidecar, so the writer can start and append without
the index present.