ClickHouse GitHub Forensics#

Query 10+ billion GitHub events for security investigations.

Author: Rufio @ Permiso Security

Use Case: Built during the Trivy supply chain compromise investigation (March 2026)

Quick Start#

bash

curl -s "https://play.clickhouse.com/?user=play" \
  --data "SELECT ... FROM github_events WHERE ... FORMAT PrettyCompact"

• Endpoint: https://play.clickhouse.com/?user=play
• Table: github_events
• Auth: None required (public read-only)
• Freshness: Near real-time (~minutes behind)
• Volume: 10+ billion events

Key Columns#

ColumnTypeUsecreated_atDateTimeEvent timestampevent_typeEnumPushEvent, CreateEvent, DeleteEvent, ReleaseEvent, etc.actor_loginStringGitHub usernamerepo_nameStringowner/repo formatrefStringBranch/tag name (e.g., refs/heads/main, 0.33.0)ref_typeEnumbranch, tag, repository, none``actionEnumpublished, created, opened, closed, etc.

For full schema (29 columns): see references/schema.md

Common Investigation Patterns#

1. Actor Timeline (Who did what, when?)#

sql

SELECT created_at, event_type, repo_name, ref, action
FROM github_events
WHERE actor_login = 'TARGET_ACCOUNT'
AND created_at >= '2026-03-01'
ORDER BY created_at

2. Repo Activity Window (What happened during incident?)#

sql

SELECT created_at, event_type, actor_login, ref, ref_type, action
FROM github_events
WHERE repo_name = 'owner/repo'
AND created_at >= 'START_TIME'
AND created_at <= 'END_TIME'
ORDER BY created_at

3. Anomaly Detection (First-time repo access)#

sql

SELECT repo_name,
       countIf(created_at < 'ATTACK_DATE') as before,
       countIf(created_at >= 'ATTACK_DATE') as during
FROM github_events
WHERE actor_login = 'SUSPECT_ACCOUNT'
AND created_at >= 'LOOKBACK_START'
GROUP BY repo_name
ORDER BY during DESC

4. Tag/Release Tampering#

sql

SELECT created_at, event_type, actor_login, ref, ref_type
FROM github_events
WHERE repo_name = 'owner/repo'
AND event_type IN ('CreateEvent', 'DeleteEvent', 'ReleaseEvent')
AND ref_type = 'tag'
ORDER BY created_at

5. Actor Profile (Is this account legitimate?)#

sql

SELECT toStartOfMonth(created_at) as month,
       count() as events,
       uniqExact(repo_name) as unique_repos
FROM github_events
WHERE actor_login = 'TARGET_ACCOUNT'
GROUP BY month
ORDER BY month

6. Org-Wide Activity (All repos in an org)#

sql

SELECT created_at, event_type, actor_login, repo_name, ref
FROM github_events
WHERE repo_name LIKE 'orgname/%'
AND created_at >= 'START_TIME'
ORDER BY created_at

7. New Accounts During Incident (Potential attacker alts)#

sql

SELECT actor_login, min(created_at) as first_ever, count() as events
FROM github_events
WHERE repo_name LIKE 'orgname/%'
GROUP BY actor_login
HAVING first_ever >= 'INCIDENT_START' AND first_ever <= 'INCIDENT_END'
ORDER BY first_ever

8. Hourly Breakdown (Attack timeline)#

sql

SELECT toStartOfHour(created_at) as hour,
       actor_login,
       count() as events,
       groupArray(distinct repo_name) as repos,
       groupArray(distinct event_type) as types
FROM github_events
WHERE repo_name LIKE 'orgname/%'
AND created_at >= 'START_TIME'
GROUP BY hour, actor_login
ORDER BY hour

Event Types Reference#

EventSignificancePushEventCode pushed to branchCreateEventBranch/tag/repo createdDeleteEventBranch/tag deletedReleaseEventRelease published/editedPullRequestEventPR opened/closed/mergedIssueCommentEventComment on issueForkEventRepo forkedWatchEventRepo starred

Tips#

• Output formats: FORMAT PrettyCompact for tables, FORMAT TabSeparated for parsing
• macOS curl: Use --data not -d for multi-line queries
• Timestamps: Use UTC, format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS
• No payload JSON: Raw event payloads aren't available; use structured columns
• Bot accounts: Filter with actor_login NOT IN ('github-actions[bot]', 'dependabot[bot]')

Security & Privacy#

• Uses ClickHouse's public playground — all queries sent to play.clickhouse.com
• Data queried is GitHub's public event stream only
• No private repo data, credentials, or sensitive information is accessible
• Use responsibly: GitHub ToS prohibits scraping for spam or harassment