CIPP Alerts & Audit Logs

CIPP raises alerts based on standards violations, anomaly detection, and configured thresholds. The two tools in this skill let you triage the alert queue and pull underlying audit log evidence.

Tools

cipp_list_alert_queue

cipp_list_alert_queue()

Returns queued alerts across all tenants — alert type, tenant, severity, raised time, and current status. This is your daily triage list.

cipp_list_audit_logs

cipp_list_audit_logs(tenantFilter='contoso.onmicrosoft.com',
                     startDate?, endDate?,
                     userId?, operation?)

Tenant-scoped audit log entries from the M365 unified audit log. Filter by date range, user, or operation to narrow investigation scope. Use to investigate suspicious sign-ins, admin role changes, mailbox access, app consent grants, and policy modifications.

Workflow patterns

Daily alert triage

1. cipp_list_alert_queue — pull the full queue
2. Group by tenant + alertType to spot patterns (one tenant generating most alerts often signals a broken standard or runaway script)
3. Triage in severity order: critical → high → medium → low
4. For each alert: drill into the related tenant's audit logs with cipp_list_audit_logs filtered to the alert window

Correlate alert → audit evidence

alerts = cipp_list_alert_queue()
critical = [a for a in alerts if a['severity'] == 'critical']
for a in critical:
    logs = cipp_list_audit_logs(
        tenantFilter=a['tenantId'],
        startDate=a['raisedAt'] - 30 minutes,
        endDate=a['raisedAt'] + 5 minutes,
    )

The 30-minute lookback usually captures the precipitating event (sign-in, admin change, app consent) that caused the alert.

Common audit operations to filter on

Investigating a suspected compromise

When cipp_bec_check flags a user, supplement it with audit log queries:

1. Pull all UserLoggedIn operations for the user over the last 7 days — look for unusual countries, IPs, or bursts of failed → success patterns
2. Pull all New-InboxRule and Set-Mailbox operations — hidden forwarding/auto-delete rules
3. Pull all Consent to application operations — illicit consent grants are common BEC vectors

Caveats

• The unified audit log has a lag (typically minutes, sometimes hours) — recent events may not appear immediately.
• Audit retention varies by license: 90 days for E3, 1 year for E5, longer with audit log retention add-ons. Plan investigations around what the tenant's licensing actually allows.
• cipp_list_alert_queue returns active queue items — historic resolved alerts require the CIPP UI.