Audit log
Who did what, to which record and when, written down so it can't be quietly edited afterwards.
Updated October 2026 · with examples from our own builds
What does audit log mean in practice?
An audit log records significant actions: a refund issued, a role changed, a record deleted, a payout approved. Each entry names the person or system, the action, the target and the time, and it is how a business answers 'who changed this?' months later.
It matters most when something has gone wrong: a dispute, a fraud, a regulator's question. A log kept in an ordinary table that admins can edit proves little, so stronger designs make entries insert-only and chain them so that any edit shows.
Logs mustn't become a leak themselves. Record what happened, not the private content involved.
Audit log at a glance
- Records
- Who, what, which record and when
- Make it
- Insert-only, and tamper-evident where it matters
- Avoid logging
- Private content and secrets
Where has audit log come up in our builds?
Every staff change goes through one writer that inserts an entry with a sequence number and the previous entry's SHA-256 hash over a canonical JSON form. No code path updates or deletes an entry, the database role can't either, and a verifier in the console re-hashes any range.
The SuperAdmin console keeps an audit log of privileged actions, and every ledger entry stores a SHA-256 hash of itself and the previous entry, so an edit made straight in the database breaks the chain.
At the pharmacy counter, each prescription collection found through Scan to Shelf is logged in an audit trail.
Common questions about audit log
Which actions should go in an audit log?
Anything that changes money, access or someone else's data: refunds, payouts, role changes, deletions, approvals and settings. Routine reads usually don't need logging, though reads of sensitive records may.
Should an audit log record what a user wrote?
Usually not. Log the action and a pointer to the record rather than the private content, so the log never becomes a second copy of sensitive data.
Related terms
Sources
Planning a product and not sure where audit log fits? Ask us, or browse all 116 terms in the glossary.