Audit Trail

TiDB Cloud Lake system history tables automatically capture detailed records of database activities, providing a complete audit trail for compliance and security monitoring.

Allows the auditing of the user:

• Query execution - Complete SQL execution audit trail (query_history)
• Data access - Database object access and modifications (access_history)
• Authentication - Login attempts and session tracking (login_history)

Available Audit Tables

TiDB Cloud Lake provides five system history tables that capture different aspects of database activity:

Audit Use Cases & Examples

Security Monitoring

Monitor Failed Login Attempts

Track authentication failures to identify potential security threats and unauthorized access attempts.

-- Check for failed login attempts (security audit)
SELECT event_time, user_name, client_ip, error_message
FROM system_history.login_history
WHERE event_type = 'LoginFailed'
ORDER BY event_time DESC;

Example output:

event_time: 2025-06-03 06:07:32.512021
user_name: root1
client_ip: 127.0.0.1:62050
error_message: UnknownUser. Code: 2201, Text = User 'root1'@'%' does not exist.

Compliance Reporting

Track Database Schema Changes

Monitor DDL operations for compliance and change management requirements.

-- Audit DDL operations (compliance tracking)
SELECT query_id, query_start, user_name, object_modified_by_ddl
FROM system_history.access_history
WHERE object_modified_by_ddl != '[]'
ORDER BY query_start DESC;

Example for CREATE TABLE operation:

query_id: c2c1c7be-cee4-4868-a28e-8862b122c365
query_start: 2025-06-12 03:31:19.042128
user_name: root
object_modified_by_ddl: [{"object_domain":"Table","object_name":"default.default.t","operation_type":"Create"}]

Audit Data Access Patterns

Track who accessed what data and when for compliance and data governance.

-- Track data access for compliance
SELECT query_id, query_start, user_name, base_objects_accessed
FROM system_history.access_history
WHERE base_objects_accessed != '[]'
ORDER BY query_start DESC;

Operational Monitoring

Complete Query Execution Audit

Maintain comprehensive records of all SQL operations with user and timing information.

-- Complete query audit with user and timing information
SELECT query_id, sql_user, query_text, query_start_time, query_duration_ms, client_address
FROM system_history.query_history
WHERE event_date >= TODAY() - INTERVAL 7 DAY
ORDER BY query_start_time DESC;

Example output:

query_id: 4e1f50a9-bce2-45cc-86e4-c7a36b9b8d43
sql_user: root
query_text: SELECT * FROM t
query_start_time: 2025-06-12 03:31:35.041725
query_duration_ms: 94
client_address: 127.0.0.1