Audit log retention policy template (mapped to 7+ year retention)
Download an audit log retention policy template for AI agents: what to log, how long to retain (including 7+ years), integrity, access control, and exportability.
Write a reviewable retention policy in ~30 minutes.
For compliance, risk, product, and ML ops teams shipping agentic workflows into regulated environments.
Last updated: Dec 16, 2025 · Version v1.0 · Fictional sample. Not legal advice.
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What this artifact is (and when you need it)
Minimum viable explanation, written for audits — not for theory.
This template defines what constitutes an audit log event, how long events are retained, how integrity is ensured, and how evidence is exported.
It includes common “7+ year retention” language (as a configurable default) and explicit exceptions like incidents and legal holds.
You need it when
- You need to prove “what ran when” with tamper-evident logs (audits, incidents, procurement).
- You are standardizing retention windows across agents and workflows.
- You are preparing Annex IV documentation, SOC 2 controls, or internal compliance reviews.
Common failure mode
Teams have logs, but no declared event taxonomy, no retention schedule, and no integrity proof or export bundle auditors can verify.
What good looks like
Acceptance criteria reviewers actually check.
- Audit event taxonomy covers decisions, approvals, tool calls, data access, and configuration changes.
- Retention schedule includes defaults, exceptions (incidents), and legal hold behavior.
- Deletion is controlled and produces an auditable deletion report.
- Integrity mechanism is documented (append-only + hash chaining + periodic verification).
- Access control defines view vs export vs administer, including break-glass.
- Exports produce an evidence pack (manifest + checksums) that can be verified independently.
Template preview
A real excerpt in HTML so it’s indexable and reviewable.
## 4) Retention schedule (default + exceptions) Default retention (choose and justify): - 7+ years for audit-grade decision logs (common in regulated contexts) Exceptions: - Incidents: retain related logs for X years from incident close - Legal hold: retain until hold is released (no deletion permitted) ## 5) Integrity & tamper evidence - Append-only storage - Hash chaining / ledger sealing - Periodic integrity verification with reports retained
How to fill it in (fast)
Inputs you need, time to complete, and a miniature worked example.
Inputs you need
- Your audit event taxonomy (what must be logged).
- Retention requirements (regulatory, contractual, internal).
- Integrity approach (append-only, hash chaining, verification cadence).
- Roles allowed to view/export/administer, plus break-glass procedure.
Time to complete: 20–40 minutes for a v1 policy statement.
Mini example: retention window
Retention: - Decision + approval logs: 7 years (default) - Operational metrics aggregates: 18 months - Incidents: 7 years from incident close Integrity verification: daily job, reports retained for 2 years
How KLA generates it (Govern / Measure / Prove)
Tie the artifact to product primitives so it converts.
Govern
- Policy-as-code checkpoints that block or require review for high-risk actions.
- Versioned change control for model/prompt/policy/workflow updates.
Measure
- Risk-tiered sampling reviews (baseline + burst during incidents or after changes).
- Near-miss tracking (blocked / nearly blocked steps) as a measurable control signal.
Prove
- Hash-chained, append-only audit ledger with 7+ year retention language where required.
- Evidence Room export bundles (manifest + checksums) so auditors can verify independently.
FAQs
Written to win snippet-style answers.
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Download retention policy template