Workflow Analytics - ShipSec Studio

ShipSec Studio includes a workflow analytics system that indexes security findings into OpenSearch. This enables real-time dashboards, historical trend analysis, and alerting on security data.

Overview

The analytics system consists of:

Analytics Sink component - Indexes workflow output data into OpenSearch
Results output port - Structured findings from security scanners
OpenSearch storage - Time-series index for querying and visualization
View Analytics button - Quick access to filtered dashboards

Architecture

Each scanner outputs findings through its results port, which connects to the Analytics Sink. The sink indexes each finding as a separate document with workflow metadata.

Document Structure

Indexed documents follow this structure:

{
  "check_id": "DB_RLS_DISABLED",
  "severity": "CRITICAL",
  "title": "RLS Disabled on Table: users",
  "resource": "public.users",
  "metadata": "{\"schema\":\"public\",\"table\":\"users\"}",
  "scanner": "supabase-scanner",
  "asset_key": "abcdefghij1234567890",
  "finding_hash": "a1b2c3d4e5f67890",
  "shipsec": {
    "organization_id": "org_123",
    "run_id": "shipsec-run-xxx",
    "workflow_id": "d1d33161-929f-4af4-9a64-xxx",
    "workflow_name": "Supabase Security Audit",
    "component_id": "core.analytics.sink",
    "node_ref": "analytics-sink-1"
  },
  "@timestamp": "2025-01-21T10:30:00.000Z"
}

Field Categories

Category	Fields	Description
Finding data	`check_id`, `severity`, `title`, etc.	Scanner-specific fields at root level
Asset tracking	`scanner`, `asset_key`, `finding_hash`	Required fields for analytics
Workflow context	`shipsec.*`	Automatic metadata from the workflow
Timestamp	`@timestamp`	Indexing timestamp

Nested objects in findings are automatically serialized to JSON strings to prevent OpenSearch field explosion (1000 field limit).

`shipsec` context fields

The Analytics Sink automatically adds workflow context under the shipsec namespace:

Field	Description
`organization_id`	Organization that owns the workflow
`run_id`	Unique identifier for this workflow execution
`workflow_id`	ID of the workflow definition
`workflow_name`	Human-readable workflow name
`component_id`	Component type (always `core.analytics.sink`)
`node_ref`	Node reference in the workflow graph
`asset_key`	Auto-detected or specified asset identifier

Finding Hash for Deduplication

The finding_hash is a stable 16-character identifier that enables tracking findings across workflow runs.

Purpose

New vs recurring: Determine if a finding appeared before
First-seen / last-seen: Track when findings were first and last detected
Resolution tracking: Findings that stop appearing may be resolved
Deduplication: Remove duplicates in dashboards across runs

Generation

Each scanner generates the hash from key identifying fields:

Scanner	Hash Fields
Nuclei	`templateId + host + matchedAt`
TruffleHog	`DetectorType + Redacted + filePath`
Supabase Scanner	`check_id + projectRef + resource`

Fields are normalized (lowercase, trimmed) and hashed with SHA-256, truncated to 16 hex characters.

Querying Data

Basic Queries (KQL)

# Find all findings for an asset
asset_key: "api.example.com"

# Filter by severity
severity: "CRITICAL" OR severity: "HIGH"

# Filter by scanner
scanner: "nuclei"

# All findings from a specific workflow run
shipsec.run_id: "shipsec-run-abc123"

# Filter by organization
shipsec.organization_id: "org_123"

# Filter by workflow
shipsec.workflow_id: "d1d33161-929f-4af4-9a64-xxx"

Tracking Findings Over Time

# Track a specific finding across runs
finding_hash: "a1b2c3d4e5f67890"

# Find recurring findings (multiple runs)
# Use aggregation: group by finding_hash, count occurrences

Common Aggregations

Aggregation	Use Case
`terms` on `severity`	Count findings by severity
`terms` on `scanner`	Count findings by scanner
`terms` on `asset_key`	Most vulnerable assets
`date_histogram` on `@timestamp`	Findings over time
`cardinality` on `finding_hash`	Unique findings count

Setting Up OpenSearch

Environment Variables

Set these in your worker/.env:

OPENSEARCH_URL=http://localhost:9200
OPENSEARCH_USERNAME=admin
OPENSEARCH_PASSWORD=admin

Set this in your frontend/.env:

VITE_OPENSEARCH_DASHBOARDS_URL=http://localhost/analytics

Docker Compose

The infrastructure stack includes OpenSearch and OpenSearch Dashboards:

docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.infra.yml up -d opensearch opensearch-dashboards

Index Pattern

After indexing data, create an index pattern in OpenSearch Dashboards:

Go to Dashboards Management > Index Patterns
Create pattern: security-findings-*
Select @timestamp as the time field
Click Create index pattern

If you don’t see shipsec.* fields in Available Fields after indexing, refresh the index pattern field list in Dashboards Management.

Analytics API Limits

The analytics query API enforces sane bounds to protect OpenSearch:

size must be a non-negative integer and is capped at 1000
from must be a non-negative integer and is capped at 10000

Requests above these limits return 400 Bad Request.

Analytics Settings Updates

The analytics settings API supports partial updates:

analyticsRetentionDays is optional
subscriptionTier is optional

Omit fields you don’t want to change. The backend validates retention days only when provided.

Using Analytics Sink

Basic Workflow

Add a security scanner to your workflow (Nuclei, TruffleHog, etc.)
Add an Analytics Sink component
Connect the scanner’s results port to the Analytics Sink’s data input
Run the workflow

Component Parameters

Parameter	Description
Index Suffix	Custom suffix for the index name. Defaults to slugified workflow name.
Asset Key Field	Field to use as asset identifier. Auto-detect checks: asset_key > host > domain > subdomain > url > ip > asset > target
Custom Field Name	Custom field when Asset Key Field is “custom”
Fail on Error	When enabled, workflow stops if indexing fails. Default: fire-and-forget.

Fire-and-Forget Mode

By default, Analytics Sink operates in fire-and-forget mode:

Indexing errors are logged but don’t stop the workflow
Useful for non-critical analytics that shouldn’t block security scans
Enable “Fail on Error” for strict indexing requirements

View Analytics Button

The workflow builder includes a “View Analytics” button that opens OpenSearch Dashboards with pre-filtered data:

When a run is selected: Filters by shipsec.run_id
When no run is selected: Filters by shipsec.workflow_id
Time range: Last 7 days

The button only appears when VITE_OPENSEARCH_DASHBOARDS_URL is configured.

Index Naming

Indexes follow the pattern: security-findings-{orgId}-{suffix}

Component	Value
`orgId`	Organization ID from workflow context
`suffix`	Custom suffix parameter, or date (`YYYY.MM.DD`)

Example: security-findings-org_abc123-2025.01.21

Building Dashboards

Recommended Visualizations

Visualization	Description
Findings Over Time	Line chart with `@timestamp` on X-axis, count on Y-axis
Severity Distribution	Pie chart with `terms` on `severity`
Top Vulnerable Assets	Bar chart with `terms` on `asset_key`
Findings by Scanner	Bar chart with `terms` on `scanner`
New vs Recurring	Use `finding_hash` cardinality vs total count

Alert Examples

Alert	Query
Critical finding detected	`severity: "CRITICAL"`
New secrets exposed	`scanner: "trufflehog"`
RLS disabled	`check_id: "DB_RLS_DISABLED"`

Troubleshooting

Data not appearing in OpenSearch

Check worker logs for [OpenSearchIndexer] messages
Verify OPENSEARCH_URL is set in worker environment
Ensure Analytics Sink is connected to a results port
Check if OpenSearch is running: curl http://localhost:9200/_cluster/health

Field mapping errors

If you see “Limit of total fields [1000] has been exceeded”:

Delete the problematic index: curl -X DELETE "http://localhost:9200/security-findings-*"
Re-run the workflow (new index will use correct schema)

shipsec fields not visible

Fields starting with _ are hidden in OpenSearch UI
Ensure you’re using shipsec.* (no underscore prefix)
Refresh the index pattern in Dashboards Management

pm2 not loading environment variables

pm2’s env_file doesn’t auto-inject variables. The worker uses a custom loadWorkerEnv() function in pm2.config.cjs. After changing worker/.env:

pm2 delete shipsec-worker
pm2 start pm2.config.cjs --only shipsec-worker

Best Practices

Do

Connect results ports (not rawOutput) to Analytics Sink
Use meaningful index suffixes for organization
Monitor index size and implement retention policies
Create saved searches for common queries

Don’t

Don’t connect deeply nested JSON (causes field explosion)
Don’t rely on analytics for critical workflow logic
Don’t store PII or secrets in indexed findings

Component Author Guidelines

If you’re building a security scanner component, see Analytics Output Port for implementation details on adding the results output port.

Component Development - Building scanner components
Core Components - Analytics Sink reference
Analytics (PostHog) - Product analytics (different system)

​Overview

​Architecture

​Document Structure

​Field Categories

​shipsec context fields

​Finding Hash for Deduplication

​Purpose

​Generation

​Querying Data

​Basic Queries (KQL)

​Tracking Findings Over Time

​Common Aggregations

​Setting Up OpenSearch

​Environment Variables

​Docker Compose

​Index Pattern

​Analytics API Limits

​Analytics Settings Updates

​Using Analytics Sink

​Basic Workflow

​Component Parameters

​Fire-and-Forget Mode

​View Analytics Button

​Index Naming

​Building Dashboards

​Recommended Visualizations

​Alert Examples

​Troubleshooting

​Data not appearing in OpenSearch

​Field mapping errors

​shipsec fields not visible

​pm2 not loading environment variables

​Best Practices

​Do

​Don’t

​Component Author Guidelines

​Related

Overview

Architecture

Document Structure

Field Categories

`shipsec` context fields

Finding Hash for Deduplication

Purpose

Generation

Querying Data

Basic Queries (KQL)

Tracking Findings Over Time

Common Aggregations

Setting Up OpenSearch

Environment Variables

Docker Compose

Index Pattern

Analytics API Limits

Analytics Settings Updates

Using Analytics Sink

Basic Workflow

Component Parameters

Fire-and-Forget Mode

View Analytics Button

Index Naming

Building Dashboards

Recommended Visualizations

Alert Examples

Troubleshooting

Data not appearing in OpenSearch

Field mapping errors

shipsec fields not visible

pm2 not loading environment variables

Best Practices

Do

Don’t

Component Author Guidelines

Related