What is an audit log?
An audit log is a record of who did what, and when. For an agent, that includes drafts, tool calls, approvals, and sends.
Also called: audit trail
In plain English
If you cannot answer 'who texted that customer,' you do not have a log that is good enough. Notion lists an audit log on Enterprise. Zapier lists audit logs on Team and Enterprise. n8n keeps execution history, with retention that depends on the plan. The point is the same: you can reconstruct the action. Decide the question the log must answer before you need it. 'Who sent the club email on Thursday?' is a question. A log that only says 'success' cannot answer it. Check how long history lasts on the plan you actually pay for. If a customer could complain after that window, you are keeping the story in someone's head again.
How an owner would use it
Turn on history before you automate a customer message. Look at it when something weird goes out. Keep it long enough to answer a customer who calls the next week.
Common mistakes
A log you cannot open, or that expires before a customer calls back, is not an audit trail. Owners turn on tools and never check where history lives. Vendor pages differ: some reserve longer logs for higher plans. Read that page before you automate a customer message. Do not store card numbers or passwords in the log by pasting them into prompts. The log should show the action, not a new copy of every secret.
A worked example
A wine shop
Who sent the club discount
This is an illustration, not a customer result. A club member got a discount the buyer did not offer this month. The execution history shows an old test automation still active. They turn it off. Without the log they would have blamed the Saturday cashier.
Related terms
Prompts and guides
Questions owners ask
What is an audit log?
An audit log is a timestamped history of actions in a system, including automation runs and, when the product records them, AI tool calls and approvals.
How do I use an audit log?
Check it when a message or a record looks wrong, and glance at failures on a schedule. Pick a tool whose history lasts longer than your memory of the week.
How is an audit log different from a trace?
An audit log answers who approved or sent something and when. A trace is the step-by-step path of one run, including which tool the model called. You want the log for accountability and the trace when a draft is weird.
Product guides are on AI apps for business.