Python Auditing Hooks

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Today we’re going to talk about something that might sound like a fancy term from the world of espionage or cybersecurity: “audit hook.” No worries, though, this is just a fancy way of saying that you can monitor certain events in your Python code and do some cool stuff with them.

So what exactly are audit hooks? Well, they’re basically functions that get called whenever something interesting happens in your program. For example, when you import a module or load a file from disk, an audit hook can be triggered to log this event or do some other fancy stuff. And the best part is: it’s super easy to set up!

Here’s how you add an auditing hook in Python using the new `sys` module:

# Import the sys module
import sys

# Define a function for the audit hook
def my_audit_hook(event, args):
    # Print a message with the event and arguments
    print(f"Event {event} occurred! Args: {args}")
    
    # Return True to allow the operation to continue or False to prevent it
    return True

# Add the audit hook to the sys module
sys.addaudithook(my_audit_hook)

# This function will be triggered whenever an event occurs in the program
# and will print a message with the event and arguments. It will also return
# True to allow the operation to continue.

That’s it! Now whenever an auditing event occurs, your `my_audit_hook()` function will be called with some information about the event and any arguments that were passed to it. You can do whatever you want in this function log something to a file, send a message to Slack, or even prevent the operation from continuing if you’re feeling mischievous!

If you prefer C programming and want to add auditing hooks at a lower level, you can use the new `PySys_AddAuditHook()` function instead. Here’s an example:

// This script adds an auditing hook to a Python program, allowing for logging, messaging, or preventing operations from continuing.
// It also demonstrates the use of the `PySys_AddAuditHook()` function for lower level auditing.
// The `my_audit_hook()` function is called when an event occurs and returns a boolean value to allow or prevent the operation.
// The `my_audit_hook_init()` function initializes the auditing hook by adding it to the system.
// The `initmyaudithooks()` function initializes the module and adds the auditing hook methods.
#include <Python.h>

// This function is the auditing hook that is called when an event occurs.
// It takes in the event name, arguments, and user data as parameters.
// It prints the event name and returns a boolean value to allow or prevent the operation.
static int my_audit_hook(const char *event, PyObject *args, void *userData) {
    printf("Event %s occurred!\n", event); // Print the event name
    return 1; // Return True to allow the operation to continue
}

// This function initializes the auditing hook by adding it to the system.
static int my_audit_hook_init(void) {
    PySys_AddAuditHook(my_audit_hook, NULL); // Add the auditing hook to the system
    return 0;
}

// This function initializes the module and adds the auditing hook methods.
PyMODINIT_FUNC initmyaudithooks() {
    (void) Py_InitModule("myaudithooks", my_audit_hooks_methods); // Initialize the module and add the auditing hook methods
}

In this example, we’re defining a C function `my_audit_hook()` that gets called whenever an auditing event occurs. We’re also initializing the module using `PyMODINIT_FUNC`, which is a fancy way of saying “this is our entry point into Python.”

Audit hooks are a powerful tool for monitoring and controlling your Python code, whether you prefer to use Python or C. And best of all: they’re super easy to set up! So go ahead and give them a try who knows what kind of cool stuff you might discover in your own programs?

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