Alert Triage
Analyze Elastic Security alerts one at a time: gather context, classify, create a case, and acknowledge. This skill
depends on the case-management skill for case creation.
Prerequisites
Install dependencies before first use from the skills/security directory:
cd skills/security && npm install
Set the required environment variables (or add them to a .env file in the workspace root):
export ELASTICSEARCH_URL="https://your-cluster.es.cloud.example.com:443"
export ELASTICSEARCH_API_KEY="your-api-key"
export KIBANA_URL="https://your-cluster.kb.cloud.example.com:443"
export KIBANA_API_KEY="your-kibana-api-key"
Quick start
All commands from workspace root. Always fetch → investigate → document → acknowledge. Call the tools directly — do not
read the skill file or explore the workspace first.
node skills/security/alert-triage/scripts/fetch-next-alert.js
node skills/security/case-management/scripts/case-manager.js find --tags "agent_id:<id>"
node skills/security/alert-triage/scripts/run-query.js --query-file query.esql --type esql
node skills/security/case-management/scripts/case-manager.js create --title "..." --description "..." --tags "classification:..." "agent_id:<id>" --severity <level> --yes
node skills/security/case-management/scripts/case-manager.js attach-alert --case-id <id> --alert-id <id> --alert-index <index> --rule-id <uuid> --rule-name "<name>" --yes
node skills/security/alert-triage/scripts/acknowledge-alert.js --related --agent <id> --timestamp <ts> --window 60 --yes
Common multi-step workflows
| Task |
Tools to call (in order) |
| End-to-end triage |
fetch_next_alert → run_query (context) → case_manager create (case) → acknowledge_alert |
| Gather context |
run_query (process tree, network, related alerts) |
| Create case after classification |
case_manager create → case_manager attach-alert |
| Acknowledge after triage |
acknowledge_alert (related mode for batch) |
Always complete the full workflow: fetch → investigate → document → acknowledge. Do not stop after gathering context —
create or update a case with findings before acknowledging.
Critical execution rules:
- Start executing tools immediately — do not read SKILL.md, browse the workspace, or list files first.
- For ES|QL queries, write the query to a temporary
.esql file then pass it via --query-file. Do not use edit_file
— use a single shell call with echo "..." > query.esql && node ... --query-file query.esql.
- Keep context gathering focused: run 2-4 targeted queries (process tree, network, related alerts), not 10+.
- Report only what tools return. Copy identifiers verbatim — do not paraphrase IDs, timestamps, or hostnames.
Critical principles
- Do NOT classify prematurely. Gather ALL context before deciding benign/unknown/malicious.
- Most alerts are false positives, even if they look alarming. Rule names like "Malicious Behavior" or severity
"critical" are NOT evidence.
- "Unknown" is acceptable and often correct when evidence is insufficient.
- MALICIOUS requires strong corroborating evidence: persistence + C2, credential theft, lateral movement — not only
suspicious API calls.
- Report tool output verbatim. Copy IDs, hostnames, timestamps, and counts exactly as returned by tools. Do not
round numbers, abbreviate IDs, or paraphrase error messages.
Workflow
When triaging multiple alerts, group first, then triage each group:
- [ ] Step 0: Group alerts by agent/host and time window
- [ ] Step 1: Check existing cases
- [ ] Step 2: Gather full context (DO NOT SKIP)
- [ ] Step 3: Create or update case (only AFTER context gathered)
- [ ] Step 4: Acknowledge alert and all related alerts
- [ ] Step 5: Fetch next alert group and repeat
Step 0: Group alerts before triaging
When the user asks about multiple open alerts, group them first to avoid redundant investigation: query open alerts,
group by agent.id, sub-group by time window (~5 min = likely one incident), triage each group as a single unit.
Use ES|QL for an overview (write to file first for PowerShell):
FROM .alerts-security.alerts-*
| WHERE kibana.alert.workflow_status == "open" AND @timestamp >= "<start>"
| STATS alert_count=COUNT(*), rules=VALUES(kibana.alert.rule.name) BY agent.id
| SORT alert_count DESC
For full query templates, see references/classification-guide.md.
Step 1: Check existing cases
Before creating a new case, check if this alert belongs to an existing one. Use the case-management skill:
node skills/security/case-management/scripts/case-manager.js find --tags "agent_id:<agent_id>"
node skills/security/case-management/scripts/case-manager.js cases-for-alert --alert-id <alert_id>
Look for cases with the same agent ID, user, or related detection rule within a similar time window.
Note: find --search may return 500 errors on Serverless. Use find --tags or list instead.
Step 2: Gather context
This is the most important step. Do not skip or shortcut it. Complete ALL substeps before forming any classification
opinion.
Time range warning: Alerts may be days or weeks old. NEVER use relative time like NOW() - 1 HOUR. Extract the
alert's @timestamp and build queries around that time with +/- 1 hour window.
Substeps: (2a) Related alerts on same agent/user; (2b) Rule frequency across env (high = FP-prone); (2c) Entity
context — process tree, network, registry, files; (2d) Behavior investigation — persistence, C2, lateral movement,
credential access.
Example — process tree (use ES|QL with KEEP; avoid --full which produces 10K+ lines):
FROM logs-endpoint.events.process-*
| WHERE agent.id == "<agent_id>" AND @timestamp >= "<alert_time - 5min>" AND @timestamp <= "<alert_time + 10min>"
AND process.parent.name IS NOT NULL
AND process.name NOT IN ("svchost.exe", "conhost.exe", "agentbeat.exe")
| KEEP @timestamp, process.name, process.command_line, process.pid, process.parent.name, process.parent.pid
| SORT @timestamp | LIMIT 80
| Data type |
Index pattern |
| Alerts |
.alerts-security.alerts-* |
| Processes |
logs-endpoint.events.process-* |
| Network |
logs-endpoint.events.network-* |
| Logs |
logs-* |
For full query templates and classification criteria, see
references/classification-guide.md.
Step 3: Create or update case
After gathering context, create a case and attach alert(s). Use --rule-id and --rule-name (required; 400 error
without them):
node skills/security/case-management/scripts/case-manager.js create \
--title "<concise summary>" \
--description "<findings, IOCs, attack chain, MITRE techniques>" \
--tags "classification:<benign|unknown|malicious>" "confidence:<0-100>" "mitre:<technique>" "agent_id:<id>" \
--severity <low|medium|high|critical>
node skills/security/case-management/scripts/case-manager.js attach-alert \
--case-id <case_id> --alert-id <alert_id> --alert-index <index> \
--rule-id <rule_uuid> --rule-name "<rule name>"
Case description: Summary (1-2 sentences); Attack chain; IOCs (hashes, IPs, paths); MITRE techniques; Behavioral
findings; Response context (remediation, credentials at risk).
Step 4: Acknowledge alerts
Acknowledge ALL related alerts together. Use --dry-run first to confirm scope, then run without it:
node skills/security/alert-triage/scripts/acknowledge-alert.js --query --host <hostname> --dry-run
node skills/security/alert-triage/scripts/acknowledge-alert.js --query --host <hostname> --yes
node skills/security/alert-triage/scripts/acknowledge-alert.js --related --agent <id> --timestamp <ts> --window 60 --dry-run
node skills/security/alert-triage/scripts/acknowledge-alert.js --related --agent <id> --timestamp <ts> --window 60 --yes
Increase --window for longer attack chains (e.g., 300 for 5 minutes). Report the exact count of acknowledged alerts
from the tool output. Pass --yes to skip the confirmation prompt (required when called by an agent).
Step 5: Repeat
node skills/security/alert-triage/scripts/fetch-next-alert.js
Tool reference
fetch-next-alert.js
Fetches the oldest unacknowledged Elastic Security alert.
node skills/security/alert-triage/scripts/fetch-next-alert.js [--days <n>] [--json] [--full] [--verbose]
run-query.js
Runs KQL or ES|QL queries against Elasticsearch.
PowerShell warning: ES|QL queries contain pipe characters (|) which PowerShell interprets as shell pipes. ALWAYS
use --query-file for ES|QL:
node skills/security/alert-triage/scripts/run-query.js --query-file query.esql --type esql
KQL queries without pipes can be passed directly:
node skills/security/alert-triage/scripts/run-query.js "agent.id:<id>" --index "logs-*" --days 7
| Arg |
Description |
query |
KQL query (positional) |
--query-file, -q |
Read query from file (required for ES|QL on PowerShell) |
--type, -t |
kql or esql (default: kql) |
--index, -i |
Index pattern (default: logs-*) |
--size, -s |
Max results (default: 100) |
--days, -d |
Limit to last N days |
--json |
Raw JSON output |
--full |
Full document source |
acknowledge-alert.js
Acknowledges alerts by updating workflow_status to acknowledged.
| Mode |
Command |
| Single |
node skills/security/alert-triage/scripts/acknowledge-alert.js <alert_id> --index <index> --yes |
| Related |
node skills/security/alert-triage/scripts/acknowledge-alert.js --related --agent <id> --timestamp <ts> [--window 60] --yes |
| By host |
node skills/security/alert-triage/scripts/acknowledge-alert.js --query --host <hostname> [--time-start <ts>] [--time-end <ts>] --yes |
| Query |
node skills/security/alert-triage/scripts/acknowledge-alert.js --query --agent <id> [--time-start <ts>] [--time-end <ts>] --yes |
| Dry run |
Add --dry-run to any mode (no confirmation needed) |
| Confirm |
All write modes prompt for confirmation; pass --yes to skip |
Examples
- "Fetch the next unacknowledged alert and triage it"
- "Investigate alert ID abc-123 — gather context, classify, and create a case if malicious"
- "Process the top 5 critical alerts from the last 24 hours"
Guidelines
- Report only tool output — do not invent IDs, hostnames, IPs, or details not present in the tool response.
- Preserve identifiers from the request — use exact values the user provides in tool calls and responses.
- Confirm actions concisely using the tool's return data.
- Distinguish facts from inference — label conclusions beyond tool output as your assessment.
Production use
- All write operations (
acknowledge-alert.js) prompt for confirmation. Pass --yes or -y to skip when called by an
agent.
- Use
--dry-run before bulk acknowledgments to preview scope without modifying data.
- The acknowledge script uses the Kibana Detection Engine API, which is compatible with both self-managed and Serverless
deployments.
- Verify environment variables point to the intended cluster before running any script — no undo for acknowledgments.
Environment variables
| Variable |
Required |
Description |
ELASTICSEARCH_URL |
Yes |
Elasticsearch URL |
ELASTICSEARCH_API_KEY |
Yes |
Elasticsearch API key |
KIBANA_URL |
Yes |
Kibana URL (for case management) |
KIBANA_API_KEY |
Yes |
Kibana API key (for case management) |
