Case Management
Manage SOC cases through the Kibana Cases API. All cases are scoped to
— this skill operates
exclusively within Elastic Security. Cases appear in Kibana Security and can be assigned to analysts, linked to alerts,
and pushed to external incident management systems via connectors.
Prerequisites
Install dependencies before first use from the
directory:
bash
cd skills/security && npm install
Set the required environment variables (or add them to a
file in the workspace root):
bash
export KIBANA_URL="https://your-cluster.kb.cloud.example.com:443"
export KIBANA_API_KEY="your-kibana-api-key"
When to use
- Creating a case after alert triage (classification, IOCs, findings)
- Searching for existing cases to correlate related alerts
- Adding investigation comments or attaching alerts to an existing case
- Updating case status or severity
- Listing recent cases for review
When NOT to use
- Do not use this skill for Observability or Elasticsearch cases — it hardcodes
- Do not use for cases outside the Security solution space
Execution rules
- Start executing tools immediately — do not read SKILL.md, browse the workspace, or list files first.
- Report tool output faithfully. Copy case IDs, titles, tags, severities, and counts exactly as returned by the API. Do
not abbreviate case IDs, truncate titles, invent details, or round numbers.
- When the API returns zero results, state that explicitly — do not guess at possible results.
- When listing or finding cases, report the exact total count from the API response and present each case with its
verbatim title, severity, and status.
Quick start
All commands run from the workspace root. All output is JSON. Call the tools directly — do not read the skill file or
explore the workspace first. For attach-alert/attach-alerts,
and
are required by the Kibana
API (use
--rule-id unknown --rule-name unknown
if unknown). Use
for batch with automatic rate-limit
retry and 2-second spacing between API calls.
Common multi-step workflows
| Task | Tools to call (in order) |
|---|
| Create a case | create (title, description, tags, severity) |
| Find cases for a host | find --tags "agent_id:<id>" or find --search "<hostname>" |
| Attach alert to case | attach-alert (case-id, alert-id, alert-index, rule-id/name) |
| Add investigation notes | add-comment (case-id, comment text) |
| List recent open cases | list --status open --per-page <n> |
| Update case | update (case-id, status/severity/tags changes) |
Finding cases for a host: Use
find --search "<hostname>"
to search by hostname across title, description, and
comments. Alternatively use
find --tags "agent_id:<agent_id>"
if the agent ID is known. Always add
to
filter to active cases only. Report the exact
count and each case title verbatim from the API response.
bash
# Create (syncAlerts enabled by default; disable with --sync-alerts false)
node skills/security/case-management/scripts/case-manager.js create --title "Malicious DLL sideloading on host1" --description "Crypto clipper malware detected via DLL sideloading..." --tags "classification:malicious" "confidence:88" "mitre:T1574.002" --severity critical --yes
# Find, list, get
node skills/security/case-management/scripts/case-manager.js find --tags "agent_id:550888e5-357d-4bc1-a154-486eb7b4e076"
node skills/security/case-management/scripts/case-manager.js find --search "DLL sideloading" --status open
node skills/security/case-management/scripts/case-manager.js list --status open --per-page 10
node skills/security/case-management/scripts/case-manager.js get --case-id <case_id>
# Attach single alert
node skills/security/case-management/scripts/case-manager.js attach-alert --case-id <case_id> --alert-id <alert_doc_id> --alert-index .ds-.alerts-security.alerts-default-2025.12.01-000013 --rule-id <rule_uuid> --rule-name "Malware Detection Alert"
# Attach multiple alerts (batch)
node skills/security/case-management/scripts/case-manager.js attach-alerts --case-id <case_id> --alert-ids <id1> <id2> <id3> --alert-index .ds-.alerts-security.alerts-default-2026.02.16-000016 --rule-id <rule_uuid> --rule-name "Malware Detection Alert"
# Add comment, update (--tags merges with existing tags, does not replace)
node skills/security/case-management/scripts/case-manager.js add-comment --case-id <case_id> --comment "Process tree analysis shows..."
node skills/security/case-management/scripts/case-manager.js update --case-id <case_id> --status closed --severity low --yes
Write operations (
,
) prompt for confirmation by default. Pass
to skip the prompt (required when
called by an agent).
Reporting list and find results
When reporting results from
or
:
- State the exact count from the JSON response (e.g., "There are 12 open cases total").
- Present each case as a compact one-line entry:
<title> | <severity> | <case_id_short> | <created_at>
- If the user asked for N cases, present exactly N entries (or fewer if fewer exist). Do not add extra columns (alerts
count, description, status) unless the user specifically requested them.
- Do not add information beyond what the API returned. If a field is null or missing, omit it.
- After presenting the results, stop. Do not add analysis, commentary, or observations about the cases.
Tag conventions
Use structured tags for machine-searchable metadata:
| Tag pattern | Example | Purpose |
|---|
| | Triage classification (benign/unknown/malicious) |
| | Confidence score 0-100 |
| | MITRE ATT&CK technique IDs |
| | Elastic agent ID for correlation |
| rule:Malicious Behavior Detection
| Detection rule name |
Case severity mapping
| Classification | Kibana severity |
|---|
| benign (score 0-19) | |
| unknown (score 20-60) | |
| malicious (score 61-80) | |
| malicious (score 81-100) | |
Known limitations
syncAlerts is security-only
The
setting (enabled by default) synchronizes case status with attached alert statuses. This feature is
only available for Security Solution cases. Pass
when creating a case if alert sync is not needed.
Rate limiting
The Kibana API enforces rate limits. When attaching multiple alerts, the
batch command automatically
handles 429 responses with retry. If using
one at a time, space calls ~10 seconds apart.
on Serverless
The
parameter may return 500 errors on Kibana Serverless deployments. Use
for filtering
instead, or
to browse recent cases.
requires exact match
Tag searches are exact-match only.
find --tags "agent_id:abc123"
works, but partial matches do not.
Kibana Cases API reference
For detailed API endpoints, request/response formats, and examples, see
references/kibana-cases-api.md.
Examples
- "Create a case for the phishing alert I triaged with severity high"
- "Search for open cases related to brute force attacks"
- "Add the investigation findings as a comment to case ID abc-123"
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.
- When presenting case lists or search results, copy the exact title from each case. Do not paraphrase, abbreviate,
or summarize titles. Include the total count from the API field.
- Start executing tools immediately. Do not read SKILL.md, browse directories, or list files before acting.
Production use
- Write operations (, ) prompt for confirmation. Pass or to skip when called by an agent.
- Verify and point to the intended cluster before running any command.
- Cases are scoped to — this skill does not affect Observability or other Kibana case owners.
Environment variables
| Variable | Required | Description |
|---|
| Yes | Kibana base URL (e.g., https://my-kibana.kb.cloud.example.com
|
| Yes | Kibana API key for authentication |