---
title: "Audit & rollback"
description: "Append-only event log, hash-chain verification, transactional patches — explain and undo agent work."
source: https://carina.nebutra.com/concepts/audit/
---

# Audit & rollback

> Append-only event log, hash-chain verification, transactional patches — explain and undo agent work.

> **If it happened, you can explain it. If a patch was applied, you can roll it back.** <Badge variant="info">hash-chained</Badge>

## What you'll get

- How the event log and hash chain work  
- Exact CLI for audit, verify, report, export  
- Patch list / show / apply / rollback  

## Event flow

## Audit guarantees

- Append-only log; every event has timestamp + session id  
- Side-effect events reference their **permission decision** id  
- No raw media bytes in transcript/audit — only content-hash <Tooltip tip="Content-addressed media reference; bytes stay in the object store.">MediaRef</Tooltip>s  
- File history is queryable: which agent, task, patch, when  
- Allow/deny is explainable: policy + reason on the decision  
- Targets: intercept out-of-workspace access, zero secret plaintext in logs, every side effect audited  

## CLI — inspect

```bash title="audit-cli.sh"
carina sessions
carina audit SESSION              # raw event stream
carina audit verify SESSION       # hash-chain integrity
carina audit last                 # most recent session summary
carina report SESSION             # violations, files, commands
carina export SESSION             # full audit bundle
carina items SESSION              # normalized UI/SDK item stream
carina session review SESSION     # governance-oriented projection
```

## CLI — patches

File mutations should go through the patch pipeline when policy requires it:

1. Propose (`workspace.patch.propose` / agent patch tool / `carina patch propose`)  
2. Kernel evaluates **PatchApply** (may require approval)  
3. Apply → verify → commit with **rollback pointer**  
4. No half-applied state  

```bash title="patch-cli.sh"
carina patch list SESSION
carina patch show SESSION PATCH_ID
carina patch propose SESSION PATH   # content on stdin
carina patch apply SESSION PATCH_ID
carina patch rollback SESSION PATCH_ID
```

### Transaction review

<Badge variant="accent">next</Badge>

The Fullscreen `/changes` workbench mirrors the transaction boundary rather than inventing a Git-only review model:

```text
patch transaction
  -> affected files (A / M / D, additions, deletions)
     -> numbered hunks with attribution and verification evidence
        -> rollback preview for the same patch + transaction identity
```

The visible diff is a bounded review projection. A continuation row means more lines remain outside the viewport or source cap; it does not weaken verification or truncate the daemon's rollback transaction. Confirmation is allowed only when the preview says the workspace is unchanged and its patch and transaction identifiers still match.

For keys, density, narrow-screen behavior, and accessibility, see [CLI & TUI](/use/cli-tui/#review-workbench).

## Recipe: after a bad edit

    ```bash frame="none"
    carina sessions
    carina audit last
    ```

    ```bash frame="none"
    carina patch list SESSION
    ```

    ```bash frame="none"
    carina patch rollback SESSION PATCH_ID
    ```

    ```bash frame="none"
    carina audit verify SESSION
    ```

## Not a Git replacement

Audit and patches **explain agent work inside a session**. They do not replace Git history, PR review, or branch policy. Use both: Git for collaboration history, Carina for **governance of agent effects**.

## If it fails

| Symptom | Try |
| --- | --- |
| `verify` fails | Treat as integrity incident; do not ignore — export bundle and investigate |
| Empty patch list | Agent may not have written files, or used a path that did not create a txn |
| Cannot find SESSION | `carina sessions` / `carina audit last` |

  - **Raw audit** — `carina audit` for forensics  
  - **Items** — `carina items` for product UIs  
  - **Watch** — `carina watch SESSION` live events  

## Source of truth

- `docs/security-model.md` (audit guarantees)  
- Event / media rules in protocol + control plane  
- CLI: `carina --help` · [CLI reference](/reference/cli/)  
- Related: [Policy](/concepts/policy/) · [Observability traces](/observability/traces/)

## Next

- [Common workflows](/getting-started/common-workflows/) — inspect / rollback recipes  
- [Method catalog](/api/methods/) — `session.*` / audit-related RPC

---
Source: https://carina.nebutra.com/concepts/audit/
Markdown: https://carina.nebutra.com/concepts/audit/index.md