Sapcc Audit

SAP CC Audit (Hermes)

Hermes is SAP CC's centralized audit service. It records all API actions across all OpenStack services in CADF (Cloud Auditing Data Federation) format. Events are immutable — the audit trail cannot be modified or deleted by tenants.

MCP Tools

Read Tools

All Hermes tools are read-only. No write or admin tiers exist — audit events are immutable.

Guardrails

• 10,000 offset ceiling: Queries beyond offset 10,000 return HTTP 500. Use time-based windowing to stay below this limit.
• Time format: ISO 8601 UTC timestamps (e.g., 2024-03-15T14:22:00Z)
• Sort format: field:direction (e.g., time:desc, target_type:asc,time:desc)

CADF Event Model

Every audit event follows this structure:

initiator (who) → action (what) → target (to what) → outcome (result)

See references/cadf-event-format.md for the full event schema.

Gotchas

1. target_type uses SLASH format — not service names

Correct: compute/server, network/port, identity/project, dns/zone Wrong: nova/server, server, neutron/port, VM

The format is <service-category>/<resource>. Call hermes_list_attributes with attribute=target_type to discover valid values if unsure.

2. Time filters use PREFIX syntax

The parameter name itself encodes the comparison:

• time_gte="2024-01-01T00:00:00Z" — events at or after this time
• time_lte="2024-01-01T23:59:59Z" — events at or before this time

The value is a plain ISO 8601 timestamp. Do NOT embed operators in the value string.

3. outcome values are words, NOT HTTP status codes

Valid outcomes: success, failure, pending

NOT: 200, 404, 500, created, error. Use hermes_list_attributes with attribute=outcome to confirm.

4. action values are present-tense verbs

Valid: create, update, delete, read, authenticate, start, stop

NOT past tense: created, updated, deleted. NOT nouns: creation, deletion. Call hermes_list_attributes with attribute=action to see all tracked actions.

5. hermes_list_attributes is your discovery tool — call it first

When unsure about valid filter values for target_type, action, or outcome, always call hermes_list_attributes before hermes_list_events. Avoids empty results from typos or wrong format.

6. Default limit is 50 — increase for comprehensive audits

If you need a complete picture (compliance reviews, full resource history), set limit=200 or higher. Default 50 may miss critical events in active projects.

7. sort uses "field:direction" format

Format: sort="time:desc" or sort="time:asc"

Default is newest first (time:desc). Use time:asc when building a chronological narrative of what happened.

8. Events have ingestion delay

Events appear seconds to minutes after the action occurs. If you just performed an action and see no event, wait 30-60 seconds and retry. Do not tell the user "no events exist" immediately after an action.

9. initiator_name is the username, not UUID

Filter by human-readable username (e.g., D012345, technical_user_xyz), not the user's Keystone UUID. This is the name that appears in Keystone token info.

10. Hard limit at 10,000 events — API returns 500 beyond this offset

The Hermes API has a hard ceiling at offset 10,000. If you set limit=15000 or paginate past 10,000 events, the server returns HTTP 500 (not a helpful error). For large audit queries:

• Narrow with time ranges — use time_gte/time_lte to window your query below 10k results
• Narrow with filters — add target_type, action, or outcome to reduce result set
• Use time-based cursoring — query a time window, note the last event's time, use it as the next window's boundary

The CLI tool hermescli has an --over-10k-fix flag that automates this workaround. The MCP tool does not — you must manage it manually by keeping queries scoped.

11. Sort supports multiple keys beyond just time

Valid sort fields: time, observer_type, target_type, target_id, initiator_type, initiator_id, outcome, action.

Each supports :asc or :desc suffix. Multiple sort keys can be comma-separated: sort="target_type:asc,time:desc". Default direction is ascending if omitted.

12. Full event detail includes request/response attachments

hermes_get_event returns the complete CADF event including attachments — these contain the actual API request body and response. Essential for answering "what exactly changed?" (e.g., which field was updated, what value was set).

Common Workflows

"Who changed resource X?"

1. hermes_list_events(target_id="<resource-uuid>", sort="time:desc", limit=20)
2. Review initiator.name on each event → identifies who made changes
3. For detail on a specific change: hermes_get_event(event_id) → check attachments

"What happened in the last hour?"

1. Calculate time_gte = current time minus 1 hour (ISO 8601 UTC)
2. hermes_list_events(time_gte="2024-03-15T13:00:00Z", limit=100)
3. Group by target_type for overview, or filter by action/outcome

"What did user Y do?"

1. hermes_list_events(initiator_name="<username>", sort="time:desc", limit=50)
2. Optionally narrow with time range or target_type
3. Shows all actions taken by that user across all services

"Show me all failures"

1. hermes_list_events(outcome="failure", sort="time:desc", limit=50)
2. Optionally narrow by time range or target_type
3. Each event shows what was attempted and on what resource
4. hermes_get_event for details on specific failures

Compliance audit — full resource history

1. hermes_list_events(target_id="<resource-uuid>", sort="time:asc", limit=500)
2. This gives chronological lifecycle: create → updates → deletes
3. For each event of interest: hermes_get_event → full request/response
4. Build timeline: who did what, when, and the exact changes made

Discovery — what's tracked?

1. hermes_list_attributes(attribute="target_type") → all audited resource types
2. hermes_list_attributes(attribute="action") → all tracked actions
3. hermes_list_attributes(attribute="outcome") → valid outcome values
4. Use results to construct precise queries

Troubleshooting

No events found

Most common causes (check in order):

1. Wrong target_type format — Must be slash format: compute/server not nova/server or server. Call hermes_list_attributes to verify.
2. Time range too narrow — Expand time_gte/time_lte range. Events for old resources may be outside default window.
3. Resource never audited — Not all internal operations generate events. Read-only operations (list, get) may not be tracked for all services.
4. Ingestion delay — If the action just happened, wait 30-60 seconds.
5. Wrong project scope — Hermes returns events scoped to the authenticated project. Events in other projects are invisible.

Too many results / HTTP 500 on large queries

If you get HTTP 500: You've likely hit the 10,000 offset ceiling. The fix:

1. Add time range (time_gte/time_lte) to bound the window below 10k results
2. Use time-based cursoring: query a window, take last event's time as next time_lte

To reduce results generally:

1. Add target_type filter to narrow to specific service
2. Add time range (time_gte/time_lte) to bound the window
3. Add action filter if looking for specific operations (e.g., only delete)
4. Add outcome filter if only interested in failures
5. Never set limit above 10,000 — the API will 500

Event detail missing attachments

Not all events include request/response attachments. Simple actions (delete, start, stop) may have minimal or no attachments. Update events typically include the changed fields.

Security

Audit data is sensitive. It reveals:

• Who performed actions (usernames, technical accounts)
• What they did (including potentially destructive operations)
• When they were active (activity patterns)
• Which resources they accessed (infrastructure topology)

Only query audit data scoped to the authenticated project. Do not expose audit data containing other users' actions or resource details without confirming the requester has legitimate need. The MCP server enforces project-scoped access, but be judicious in what you surface.

Cross-Service References

Routing