Audit log system table reference

This article outlines the audit log table schema and has sample queries you can use with the audit log system table to answer common account usage questions. For information on audit log events, see Diagnostic log reference.

Table path: This system table is located at system.access.audit.

Audit log considerations

• Most audit logs are only available in the region of the workspace.
• Account-level audit logs record workspace_id as 0.

Audit log system table schema

The audit log system table uses the following schema:

Sample queries

The following sections include sample queries you can use to gain insights into your audit logs system table. For these queries to work, replace the values in curly brackets {{}} with your parameters.

This article includes the following example queries:

• Who can access this table?
• Which users accessed a table within the last day?
• Which tables did a user access?
• View permissions changes for all securable objects
• View the most recently run notebook commands
• Which users have logged into a Databricks app?
• Which Databricks apps have been updated to change how the app is shared with other users or groups?

Who can access this table?

This query uses the information_schema to determine which users have permissions on a table.

SELECT DISTINCT(grantee) AS `ACCESSIBLE BY`
FROM system.information_schema.table_privileges
WHERE table_schema = '{{schema_name}}' AND table_name = '{{table_name}}'
  UNION
    SELECT table_owner
    FROM system.information_schema.tables
    WHERE table_schema = '{{schema_name}}' AND table_name = '{{table}}'
  UNION
    SELECT DISTINCT(grantee)
    FROM system.information_schema.schema_privileges
    WHERE schema_name = '{{schema_name}}'

Which users accessed a table within the last day?

SELECT
  user_identity.email as `User`,
  IFNULL(request_params.full_name_arg,
    request_params.name)
    AS `Table`,
    action_name AS `Type of Access`,
    event_time AS `Time of Access`
FROM system.access.audit
WHERE (request_params.full_name_arg = '{{catalog.schema.table}}'
  OR (request_params.name = '{{table_name}}'
  AND request_params.schema_name = '{{schema_name}}'))
  AND action_name
    IN ('createTable','getTable','deleteTable')
  AND event_date > now() - interval '1 day'
ORDER BY event_date DESC

Which tables did a user access?

SELECT
        action_name as `EVENT`,
        event_time as `WHEN`,
        IFNULL(request_params.full_name_arg, 'Non-specific') AS `TABLE ACCESSED`,
        IFNULL(request_params.commandText,'GET table') AS `QUERY TEXT`
FROM system.access.audit
WHERE user_identity.email = '{{User}}'
        AND action_name IN ('createTable',
'commandSubmit','getTable','deleteTable')
        -- AND datediff(now(), event_date) < 1
        -- ORDER BY event_date DESC

Example result

View permissions changes for all securable objects

This query will return an event for every permission change that has occurred in your account. The query will return the user who made the change, the securable object type and name, and the specific changes that were made.

SELECT event_time, user_identity.email, request_params.securable_type, request_params.securable_full_name, request_params.changes
FROM system.access.audit
WHERE service_name = 'unityCatalog'
  AND action_name = 'updatePermissions'
ORDER BY 1 DESC

View the most recently run notebook commands

This query returns the most recently run notebook commands and the user who ran the command.

SELECT event_time, user_identity.email, request_params.commandText
FROM system.access.audit
WHERE action_name = `runCommand`
ORDER BY event_time DESC
LIMIT 100

Which users have logged into a Databricks app?

This query returns an event for each login to a Databricks app instance.

SELECT
  event_date,
  workspace_id,
  request_params.request_object_id as app,
  user_identity.email as user_email,
  user_identity.subject_name as username
FROM
  system.access.audit
WHERE
  action_name IN ("workspaceInHouseOAuthClientAuthentication", "mintOAuthToken", "mintOAuthAuthorizationCode")
AND
  request_params["client_id"] LIKE "{{application-ID}}"
GROUP BY
  event_date,
  workspace_id,
  app,
  user_email,
  username

Replace {{application-ID}} with the Application ID value for the service principal assigned to a specific Databricks app. This value can be found in the admin settings for the Databricks workspace hosting the app.

Which Databricks apps have been updated to change how the app is shared with other users or groups?

This query returns events for permission updates to change the access to Databricks apps, including the permission type, the user or group to which the new permission is assigned, and the user who submitted the change.

SELECT
  event_date,
  workspace_id,
  request_params['request_object_id'] as app,
  user_identity['email'] as sharing_user,
  acl_entry['group_name'],
  acl_entry['user_name'],
  acl_entry['permission_level']
FROM
  system.access.audit t
LATERAL VIEW
  explode(from_json(request_params['access_control_list'], 'array<struct<user_name:string,permission_level:string,group_name:string>>')) acl_entry AS acl_entry
WHERE
  action_name = 'changeAppsAcl'
AND
  request_params['request_object_type'] = 'apps'
ORDER BY
  event_date DESC