Managing Lacework

---
name: managing-lacework
description: |
  Use when working with Lacework — lacework cloud security platform for threat
  detection, compliance assessment, vulnerability management, and cloud workload
  protection. Covers alert investigation, compliance report analysis, container
  security, host vulnerability scanning, and anomaly detection. Use when
  investigating cloud security alerts, reviewing compliance posture, analyzing
  vulnerabilities in cloud workloads, or managing Lacework agent deployments.
connection_type: lacework
preload: false
---

# Lacework Management Skill

Manage and analyze Lacework alerts, compliance reports, vulnerabilities, and cloud security posture.

## API Conventions

### Authentication
All API calls use `Authorization: Bearer $LACEWORK_ACCESS_TOKEN` -- injected automatically. Never hardcode tokens.

### Base URL
`https://$LACEWORK_ACCOUNT.lacework.net/api/v2`

### Core Helper Function

```bash
#!/bin/bash

lw_api() {
    local method="$1"
    local endpoint="$2"
    local data="${3:-}"
    local base="https://${LACEWORK_ACCOUNT}.lacework.net/api/v2"

    if [ -n "$data" ]; then
        curl -s -X "$method" \
            -H "Authorization: Bearer $LACEWORK_ACCESS_TOKEN" \
            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
            "${base}${endpoint}" \
            -d "$data"
    else
        curl -s -X "$method" \
            -H "Authorization: Bearer $LACEWORK_ACCESS_TOKEN" \
            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
            "${base}${endpoint}"
    fi
}
```

## Output Rules
- **TOKEN EFFICIENCY**: Extract only needed fields with `jq`
- Target <=50 lines per script output
- Always filter by relevant time range to avoid huge response sets
- Never dump full API responses

## Discovery Phase

```bash
#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Active Alerts ==="
lw_api GET "/Alerts?timeFilter=Last7Days" \
    | jq '{total: (.data | length), critical: ([.data[] | select(.severity == "Critical")] | length), high: ([.data[] | select(.severity == "High")] | length)}'

echo ""
echo "=== Cloud Accounts ==="
lw_api GET "/CloudAccounts" \
    | jq -r '.data[] | "\(.type)\t\(.name)\t\(.enabled)"' | column -t | head -10

echo ""
echo "=== Agent Status ==="
lw_api GET "/AgentInfo" \
    | jq '{total_agents: (.data | length)}' 2>/dev/null || echo "Agent info unavailable"
```

## Analysis Phase

### Alert Investigation

```bash
#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Critical/High Alerts (last 7 days) ==="
lw_api GET "/Alerts?timeFilter=Last7Days" \
    | jq -r '.data[] | select(.severity == "Critical" or .severity == "High") | "\(.startTime[0:16])\t\(.severity)\t\(.alertType)\t\(.alertName[0:50])"' \
    | sort -r | column -t | head -20

echo ""
echo "=== Alerts by Type ==="
lw_api GET "/Alerts?timeFilter=Last7Days" \
    | jq -r '[.data[].alertType] | group_by(.) | map({type: .[0], count: length}) | sort_by(.count) | reverse | .[:10][] | "\(.count)\t\(.type)"' | column -t
```

### Compliance Summary

```bash
#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Compliance Reports ==="
lw_api GET "/Reports?primaryQueryId=LW_AWS_CIS_14&type=COMPLIANCE" \
    | jq -r '.data[0] | {reportType: .reportType, summary: {passed: .summary.numPass, failed: .summary.numFail, suppressed: .summary.numSuppressed}}' 2>/dev/null

echo ""
echo "=== Failed Compliance Checks ==="
lw_api GET "/Reports?primaryQueryId=LW_AWS_CIS_14&type=COMPLIANCE" \
    | jq -r '.data[0].recommendations[] | select(.status == "NonCompliant") | "\(.recId)\t\(.title[0:60])\t\(.resourceCount) resources"' \
    | head -15 | column -t
```

### Host Vulnerabilities

```bash
#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Host Vulnerability Summary ==="
lw_api POST "/Vulnerabilities/Hosts/search" '{"timeFilter":{"startTime":"'"$(date -u -v-7d +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"'","endTime":"'"$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"'"},"filters":[{"field":"severity","expression":"in","values":["Critical","High"]}]}' \
    | jq '{total: (.data | length), critical: ([.data[] | select(.severity == "Critical")] | length), high: ([.data[] | select(.severity == "High")] | length)}' 2>/dev/null

echo ""
echo "=== Top Vulnerable Hosts ==="
lw_api POST "/Vulnerabilities/Hosts/search" '{"timeFilter":{"startTime":"'"$(date -u -v-7d +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"'","endTime":"'"$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"'"}}' \
    | jq -r '[.data[] | {host: .machineTags.Hostname, severity: .severity}] | group_by(.host) | map({host: .[0].host, count: length}) | sort_by(.count) | reverse | .[:10][] | "\(.count)\t\(.host)"' \
    | column -t 2>/dev/null
```

## Output Format

Present results as a structured report:
```
Managing Lacework Report
════════════════════════
Resources discovered: [count]

Resource       Status    Key Metric    Issues
──────────────────────────────────────────────
[name]         [ok/warn] [value]       [findings]

Summary: [total] resources | [ok] healthy | [warn] warnings | [crit] critical
Action Items: [list of prioritized findings]
```

Target ≤50 lines of output. Use tables for multi-resource comparisons.

## Anti-Hallucination Rules

1. **NEVER assume resource names** — always discover via CLI/API in Phase 1 before referencing in Phase 2.
2. **NEVER fabricate metric names or dimensions** — verify against the service documentation or `--help` output.
3. **NEVER mix CLI commands between service versions** — confirm which version/API you are targeting.
4. **ALWAYS use the discovery → verify → analyze chain** — every resource referenced must have been discovered first.
5. **ALWAYS handle empty results gracefully** — an empty response is valid data, not an error to retry.

## Counter-Rationalizations

| Shortcut | Counter | Why |
|----------|---------|-----|
| "I'll skip discovery and check known resources" | Always run Phase 1 discovery first | Resource names change, new resources appear — assumed names cause errors |
| "The user only asked for a quick check" | Follow the full discovery → analysis flow | Quick checks miss critical issues; structured analysis catches silent failures |
| "Default configuration is probably fine" | Audit configuration explicitly | Defaults often leave logging, security, and optimization features disabled |
| "Metrics aren't needed for this" | Always check relevant metrics when available | API/CLI responses show current state; metrics reveal trends and intermittent issues |
| "I don't have access to that" | Try the command and report the actual error | Assumed permission failures prevent useful investigation; actual errors are informative |

## Common Pitfalls

- **Token expiration**: Access tokens expire after 1 hour -- refresh via `/access/tokens`
- **Time filters**: Use predefined filters (`Last7Days`, `Last24Hours`) or ISO 8601 format
- **Account-specific URL**: Each Lacework account has a unique subdomain
- **Rate limits**: 480 requests/hour per API key
- **Pagination**: Large datasets use `nextPage` token -- check response for pagination info