[Security Assistant] Conversation sharing by stephmilovic · Pull Request #230614 · elastic/kibana

stephmilovic · 2025-08-05T15:17:41Z

Summary

Adds conversation sharing functionality to the Security Assistant, allowing users to share conversations with team members. The implementation includes ownership tracking, sharing controls, and appropriate access restrictions for shared conversations.

Adds user profile system for sharing conversations with specific team members
- Includes new suggest internal endpoint to search users as required by user profile service
Implements conversation ownership tracking and access controls
Provides UI components for managing conversation visibility and permissions

API changes

New fields on conversation

createdBy is now a required field on conversations.
messages[0].user is now included when the message has role === 'user'.
The users array can now be updated when modifying a conversation:
- An empty users array indicates a shared conversation.
- A users array with one entry indicates a private conversation.
- A users array with multiple entries indicates a restricted conversation.

Note on legacy conversations:
Older conversations do not include the new createdBy field. Instead, they follow the previous convention where the users array contains a single entry for the conversation owner.

There is no migration step. Instead, when a legacy conversation is updated:

The createdBy field is backfilled using the value from users[0].
Each role=user message is assigned a user value during the update.
This logic is applied in the painless update script.

Because of this, permission checks are required on both the client and server:

Two helper methods, getCurrentConversationOwner and getIsConversationOwner, handle owner resolution by checking createdBy first, then falling back to users[0].
On the server, getIsConversationOwner prevents users from updating conversations they do not own.
On the client, getCurrentConversationOwner is used to determine the user avatar when a role=user message does not already specify a user.

Find conversation route updates

The find conversation route now supports a new query parameter, is_owner (default: false).

When is_owner: false
Returns private conversations the user owns, restricted conversations shared with them, and globally shared conversations:
```
users:{ name: "elastic" OR id: "123" } OR (NOT users: { name: * } and NOT users: { id: * })
```

When is_owner: true
Returns only conversations owned by the user::

(created_by.id : "123" OR created_by.name : "elastic") OR (NOT created_by:* AND users:{ name: "elastic" OR id: "123" })

Documents data writer

The getFilterByUser query was updated to restrict updates to conversations unless owned by the current user, consistent with the owned-conversation KQL.

Telemetry

The following server telemetry event types have been added:

conversation_shared_success
conversation_shared_error
shared_conversation_accessed - when a non-owner accesses a conversation
conversation_duplicated

Audit logging

The following audit logging been added:

security_assistant_conversation_shared

   {
  "event": {
    "action": "security_assistant_conversation_shared",
    "category": [
      "database"
    ],
    "type": [
      "change"
    ],
    "outcome": "success"
  },
  "user": {
    "id": "u_xSVO6jcSCvoEcle7e3XVVfBU4Swm1R8-x7pi5bxrSvU_0",
    "name": "test_daija_glover",
    "roles": [
      "superuser"
    ]
  },
  "kibana": {
    "space_id": "default",
    "session_id": "1AZ8kfSYHzVO5ZMZ97DrNi1wjN6BFKHTw75KH8WiF7w="
  },
  "trace": {
    "id": "7e080b32-41b4-453b-80fe-b9c1e12a1c57"
  },
  "client": {
    "ip": "127.0.0.1"
  },
  "http": {
    "request": {
      "headers": {
        "x-forwarded-for": "127.0.0.1"
      }
    }
  },
  "service": {
    "node": {
      "roles": [
        "background_tasks",
        "ui"
      ]
    }
  },
  "ecs": {
    "version": "9.0.0"
  },
  "@timestamp": "2025-08-26T13:16:10.422-06:00",
  "message": "User has shared conversation [id=b873b917-2fd0-4452-98e8-8c359f6acbfa, title=\"Getting Started with Elastic Security\"] to all users in the space",
  "log": {
    "level": "INFO",
    "logger": "plugins.security.audit.ecs"
  },
  "process": {
    "pid": 61536,
    "uptime": 65.705743792
  },
  "span": {
    "id": "8364fa9bf07311d6"
  }
}

security_assistant_conversation_private

{
  "event": {
    "action": "security_assistant_conversation_private",
    "category": [
      "database"
    ],
    "type": [
      "change"
    ],
    "outcome": "success"
  },
  "user": {
    "id": "u_xSVO6jcSCvoEcle7e3XVVfBU4Swm1R8-x7pi5bxrSvU_0",
    "name": "test_daija_glover",
    "roles": [
      "superuser"
    ]
  },
  "kibana": {
    "space_id": "default",
    "session_id": "1AZ8kfSYHzVO5ZMZ97DrNi1wjN6BFKHTw75KH8WiF7w="
  },
  "trace": {
    "id": "ae998403-8453-44ae-a9b8-ac8002c3bf28"
  },
  "client": {
    "ip": "127.0.0.1"
  },
  "http": {
    "request": {
      "headers": {
        "x-forwarded-for": "127.0.0.1"
      }
    }
  },
  "service": {
    "node": {
      "roles": [
        "background_tasks",
        "ui"
      ]
    }
  },
  "ecs": {
    "version": "9.0.0"
  },
  "@timestamp": "2025-08-26T13:15:46.300-06:00",
  "message": "User has made private conversation [id=b873b917-2fd0-4452-98e8-8c359f6acbfa, title=\"Getting Started with Elastic Security\"]",
  "log": {
    "level": "INFO",
    "logger": "plugins.security.audit.ecs"
  },
  "process": {
    "pid": 61536,
    "uptime": 41.582780958
  },
  "span": {
    "id": "68a0d5f52faa17d4"
  }
}

security_assistant_conversation_restricted

{
  "event": {
    "action": "security_assistant_conversation_restricted",
    "category": [
      "database"
    ],
    "type": [
      "change"
    ],
    "outcome": "success"
  },
  "user": {
    "id": "u_xSVO6jcSCvoEcle7e3XVVfBU4Swm1R8-x7pi5bxrSvU_0",
    "name": "test_daija_glover",
    "roles": [
      "superuser"
    ]
  },
  "kibana": {
    "space_id": "default",
    "session_id": "1AZ8kfSYHzVO5ZMZ97DrNi1wjN6BFKHTw75KH8WiF7w="
  },
  "trace": {
    "id": "b59f9790-87ff-45f0-b28e-1d9ffa6cfb09"
  },
  "client": {
    "ip": "127.0.0.1"
  },
  "http": {
    "request": {
      "headers": {
        "x-forwarded-for": "127.0.0.1"
      }
    }
  },
  "service": {
    "node": {
      "roles": [
        "background_tasks",
        "ui"
      ]
    }
  },
  "ecs": {
    "version": "9.0.0"
  },
  "@timestamp": "2025-08-26T14:40:59.897-06:00",
  "message": "User has restricted conversation [id=b873b917-2fd0-4452-98e8-8c359f6acbfa, title=\"Getting Started with Elastic Security\"] to user ([id=u_LdnmWaOWbWS1ObwqRW2MLWMkWtxCSyiElishzEpew0g_0, name=test_dina_bahringer])",
  "log": {
    "level": "INFO",
    "logger": "plugins.security.audit.ecs"
  },
  "process": {
    "pid": 77921,
    "uptime": 29.727069625
  },
  "span": {
    "id": "80e57252aceea924"
  }
}

UI Changes

Share badge

When the user interacts with the new Share badge, there will be 3 selections: Private, Shared, and Restricted. When the conversation owner changes to Private or Shared, a success toast should appear. If a conversation owner changes to Restricted, a Share Modal opens and allows the user to select specific team members to share the conversation with.

Share modal

Share icons

When Shared is selected, a users icon should appear on the share badge and in the Conversation list item. When Restricted is selected, the Share Icon will be readOnly. The private conversation icon is a lock. If the conversation was owner shared, the Share Icon in the Conversation list item will be pink (changing before release). If the conversation was shared with the user, the Share Icon will be text color.

Owner shared callout

When a conversation has been shared and the current user is the owner, they will see the Owner shared callout. The callout informs the user that the conversation is shared and any further edits/messages will also be shared. It can be dismissed per conversation, the dismissal status is stored in local storage. The Owner shared callout will also have the appropriate Share Icon.

Conversation list items

We already covered that the Conversation list items now have a Share icon indicating the conversation's shared status. The Conversation list items were also updated to include a context menu, with options to Copy URL, Duplicate, and if conversation owner, Delete. We'll cover the new actions in a bit.

Conversation settings menu

The assistant's context settings menu has split into two menus, a Conversation settings menu and an Assistant settings menu. As their titles indicate, the category of actions depends on which menu. The assistant setting actions will be the same regardless of ownership. The conversation settings actions will depend on conversation ownership, much like the conversation list items.

Responsive assistant header

Due to the addition of the Share Badge and the Conversation Settings Menu, I needed to make adjustments for the header to be responsive.

Screen.Recording.2025-08-26.at.3.19.01.PM.mov

Shared Conversation Callout

When a conversation has been shared with you, you will be unable to make edits to the conversation or send any new messages in the conversation. The original owner could continue the conversation and you will see their new messages appear. The Shared Conversation Callout informs the user of the functionality, and suggests they duplicate the conversation (see below) if they want to continue. Like the Owner shared callout, this callout can also be dismissed and the dismissal state is tracked per conversation id in local storage.

Copy URL action

As mentioned earlier, we now support a Copy URL action. This is currently the only way to inform a user of a message shared with them. The message owner must send them a URL to open it directly, or they may discover it themselves in their conversation list. The url copied always links to the getting started page to ensure there are not access issue. However, any url within security that has the query parameter ?assistant=12345 will open the assistant with the conversation selected. If you do not have access to the conversation, the assistant will open to a new conversation just as if you had tried to open a deleted conversation from local storage. We can iterate later on some conversation not shared with you messaging. There are Copy URL buttons in the Share Modal, Conversation List Items, and Conversation Settings Menu.

Duplicate conversation action

Any conversation can now be duplicated from the Shared Conversation Callout, Conversation List Items, and Conversation Settings Menu. It will be titled [Duplicate] Original title and the user will become the owner of this new conversation. The usefulness of this feature comes when someone has shared a conversation with you and you can duplicate the conversation to continue the conversation.

Screen.Recording.2025-08-26.at.3.20.12.PM.mov

Conversation settings

The final area with UI changes is the Conversation settings page. This page only shows user owned conversation. A new column has been added to the table with the share badge. Additionally, the edit flyout has a Share select where the conversation share state can be updated.

Testing Instructions

The sharing feature is behind a feature flag. Enable it by adding:

feature_flags.overrides.elasticAssistant.assistantSharingEnabled: true

In kibana.dev.yml, enable audit logging and telemetry for testing:

xpack.security.audit.enabled: true
telemetry.optIn: true

Setup

Start from main with a fresh instance of Elasticsearch and Kibana.
Start Elasticsearch with the audit logging tag: -E xpack.security.audit.enabled
Create test users by running the create_and_login_users.js script:
```
node create_and_login_users.js 10
```
- This script is checked into the branch for testing. After use, stash it.
- Starting on main ensures the created_at mapping does not exist yet.
Log in with two of these users (User A and User B) and create several conversations in the Assistant UI.
Check out this branch.

Verification Steps

User isolation

Log in as User A. Confirm that only User A’s conversations appear.
Repeat with User B.

Sharing from User A

While logged in as User A:
- Share one conversation with User B
- Share one conversation globally
- Create 3 new conversations
  - Share one with User B
  - Share one globally
Verify with User A:
- The Owner Shared Conversation Callout appears on shared conversations.
- Dismiss one callout, navigate away, and return. Ensure the callout remains dismissed.

Viewing as User B

Log in as User B. Confirm that all 4 conversations shared by User A are visible.
Open one shared conversation:

The Shared Conversation Callout is shown with a Duplicate button.
Continuing the conversation is not possible.
Messages are attributed to User A.
Editing, deleting, or resetting is not possible.

Duplicate the conversation:
- The duplicate is editable and continuable.
- Original messages remain attributed to User A.
  New messages are attributed to User B.
Dismiss the Shared Conversation Callout on a shared conversation, switch to another, then return. Confirm the dismissal persists.

Conversation list

Open the conversation list in the Assistant sidebar:
- Shared conversations display the correct icons.
- Context menu for a shared conversation includes Copy URL and Duplicate (not Delete).
- Context menu for an owned conversation includes Delete.
Share User B’s conversations globally and with specific users. Confirm icons display correctly.

Copy URL

Use any Copy URL button. Paste into a new browser window. Ensure the correct conversation opens.

Conversation menus

Start a new conversation. In the Create system prompt menu, confirm that only User B’s own conversations appear (shared ones should not).
Open AI Assistant settings:
- Only User B’s conversations appear (no shared ones).
- Shared icon appears next to titles where appropriate.
- Editing a conversation’s shared state updates only on save (not on cancel).

Role restrictions

Create a role that restricts Assistant access. Assign a user (Bad User) to it.
From User A or User B, try assigning a conversation to Bad User.
- Bad User should not appear in search results.

Telemetry

After several hours, the telemetry should appear on the server. Search in discover for the new telemetry events: https://telemetry-v2-staging.elastic.dev/s/securitysolution/app/r/s/iUKaC

Audit logging

If you started with the audit log enabled, you should have access right away. Search the logs/ directory in root for the audit log actions (security_assistant_conversation_shared,security_assistant_conversation_restricted, and security_assistant_conversation_private)

KDKHD · 2025-08-27T12:40:17Z

Still need to test Telemetry and Audit logging.

e40pud · 2025-08-26T09:38:48Z

...latform/packages/shared/kbn-elastic-assistant-common/impl/schemas/users/suggest_route.gen.ts

+      /**
+       * The full name of the user.
+       */
+      full_name: z.string().optional(),


Not particularly related to your changes, but I see we are mixing camel and snake case styles in assistant APIs. Wondering whether we should try to stick to one of them.

e40pud · 2025-08-26T09:46:10Z

...ck/platform/packages/shared/kbn-elastic-assistant-common/impl/utils/sharing_helpers.test.tsx

+      createdBy: { id: 'userX', name: 'Alice' },
+      users: [user, otherUser],
+    };
+    expect(getIsConversationOwner(conversation, user)).toBe(true);


Just to double check, is the name same as a username?

e40pud · 2025-08-26T13:04:46Z

x-pack/platform/packages/shared/kbn-elastic-assistant-common/impl/utils/sharing_helpers.tsx

+import type { ConversationResponse, User } from '../schemas';
+
+export const getCurrentConversationOwner = (
+  conversation?: Pick<ConversationResponse, 'createdBy' | 'users'>


Is there any reason to make conversation optional?

its optional in the assistant, so it may be undefined if passed to this function

e40pud · 2025-08-26T13:05:45Z

x-pack/platform/packages/shared/kbn-elastic-assistant-common/impl/utils/sharing_helpers.tsx

+ */
+export const getIsConversationOwner = (
+  // keep type loose for use in both assistant package and security plugins
+  conversation: Pick<ConversationResponse, 'createdBy' | 'users' | 'id'> | undefined,


Same here, is there a reason to allow undefined conversation?

its optional in the assistant, so it may be undefined if passed to this function

e40pud · 2025-08-27T12:58:35Z

...form/packages/shared/kbn-elastic-assistant/impl/assistant/share_conversation/share_modal.tsx

+              id: user?.uid ?? '',
+              name: user?.user?.username ?? '',
+            })),
+            // readd current user


Suggested change

// readd current user

// read current user

re-add, not read

x-pack/solutions/security/plugins/elastic_assistant/server/routes/register_routes.ts

e40pud

Thanks for the new feature @stephmilovic!! Code changes LGTM ❤️

Thanks @KDKHD for the local testing! 🚀

Just a note, there are changes coming from my side relevant to the "conversation summary" which might be in conflict with this PR. I'm still waiting for the docs team to add dependencies for the AI Assistant before I can merge those.

stephmilovic · 2025-08-27T14:59:02Z

When a user who has shared conversations is deleted, the conversations are still visible to other users. Is this expected?

could not reproduce

Monty West is a user I deleted; however, they still appear in the share menu

This is happening in other user selects too (cases, alerts). I think it is an issue with the SecurityPluginStart['userProfiles'].suggest api

During message duplication, message metadata such as citations are lost:

Fixed here: 1674cf9

Even when test_edwina_keebler does not have access to the assistant, I can share conversations with them

This one is interesting, happening only some of the times to me. I'll investigate further

…to assistant_sharing

…r/ai_assistant_data_clients/conversations/transform.test.ts`

KDKHD · 2025-08-28T14:05:29Z

In this search, the closest match appears at the bottom, can it be at the top?

elasticmachine · 2025-08-28T22:47:51Z

💚 Build Succeeded

Buildkite Build
Commit: 0f8b86f

Metrics [docs]

Module Count

Fewer modules leads to a faster build time

id	before	after	diff
`alerting`	315	318	+3
`apm`	1969	1972	+3
`automaticImport`	804	834	+30
`cases`	1152	1155	+3
`datasetQuality`	830	833	+3
`discover`	1396	1399	+3
`elasticAssistant`	460	492	+32
`embeddableAlertsTable`	515	518	+3
`infra`	1531	1534	+3
`ml`	2501	2504	+3
`monitoring`	725	728	+3
`observability`	1397	1400	+3
`observabilityAIAssistantApp`	437	440	+3
`observabilityShared`	336	339	+3
`securitySolution`	7884	7904	+20
`slo`	1239	1242	+3
`stackAlerts`	278	281	+3
`synthetics`	1347	1350	+3
`timelines`	248	251	+3
`transform`	784	787	+3
`triggersActionsUi`	966	969	+3
`uptime`	868	871	+3
total			+139

Public APIs missing comments

Total count of every public API that lacks a comment. Target amount is 0. Run node scripts/build_api_docs --plugin [yourplugin] --stats comments for more detailed information.

id	before	after	diff
`@kbn/elastic-assistant`	176	175	-1
`@kbn/elastic-assistant-common`	677	688	+11
total			+10

Async chunks

Total size of all lazy-loaded chunks that will be downloaded as the user navigates the app

id	before	after	diff
`securitySolution`	10.2MB	10.2MB	+18.9KB

Public APIs missing exports

Total count of every type that is part of your API that should be exported but is not. This will cause broken links in the API documentation system. Target amount is 0. Run node scripts/build_api_docs --plugin [yourplugin] --stats exports for more detailed information.

id	before	after	diff
`@kbn/elastic-assistant`	14	13	-1

Page load bundle

Size of the bundles that are downloaded on every page load. Target size is below 100kb

id	before	after	diff
`elasticAssistant`	273.8KB	301.4KB	+27.6KB
`securitySolution`	96.0KB	96.0KB	+2.0B
total			+27.6KB

Unknown metric groups

API count

id	before	after	diff
`@kbn/elastic-assistant`	210	209	-1
`@kbn/elastic-assistant-common`	790	804	+14
total			+13

ESLint disabled line counts

id	before	after	diff
`securitySolution`	680	681	+1

Total ESLint disabled count

id	before	after	diff
`securitySolution`	780	781	+1

History

💚 Build #333589 succeeded 5c97ed9
💚 Build #333378 succeeded 6823bdf
💔 Build #333327 failed 9d204f4
💔 Build #333316 failed 084b384
💔 Build #333189 failed 1674cf9
💔 Build #332905 failed 2e0e4c6

kibanamachine · 2025-09-01T22:48:45Z

Friendly reminder: Looks like this PR hasn’t been backported yet.
To create automatically backports add a backport:* label or prevent reminders by adding the backport:skip label.
You can also create backports manually by running node scripts/backport --pr 230614 locally
cc: @stephmilovic

Fixes #2815 by documenting chat sharing for AI Assistant. Related Kibana PR: elastic/kibana#230614 --------- Co-authored-by: Mike Birnstiehl <114418652+mdbirnstiehl@users.noreply.github.com> Co-authored-by: Steph Milovic <stephanie.milovic@elastic.co> Co-authored-by: Dhrumil Patel <96066689+dhru42@users.noreply.github.com> Co-authored-by: natasha-moore-elastic <137783811+natasha-moore-elastic@users.noreply.github.com>

stephmilovic added 30 commits June 2, 2025 13:46

add user and createdBy

ccfa519

user avatar and error handling

3572a6e

Merge branch 'main' into assistant_sharing

99985f3

restrict conversation changes, isConversationOwner

5f4b61f

Merge branch 'main' into assistant_sharing

3e0a7af

UserAvatar

f0d6aa3

fix

deec57c

shared badge

bda0fda

flex fix

e3080c1

settings_context_menu fixing

180de89

move translations

c85f006

more translation fix

67fd21b

fixing shared badge

5d6823d

share modal wip

9b6fabd

user profile WIP

a8f9b08

rm unused file

3f66ff4

implement update users api

a6c1773

Merge branch 'main' into assistant_sharing

0cb978b

type and test fixes

d2b475c

api for global

c9e28d0

disable badge

ea44d33

fix query

b6e100d

modal users better

9c8c401

better

d09c1bb

better

0c86bc2

share badge finished

7c79ce4

side menu

5ed0aa3

fix type

5e1b366

update comment

327b621

read from url

44c4fa7

e40pud reviewed Aug 27, 2025

View reviewed changes

e40pud approved these changes Aug 27, 2025

View reviewed changes

fix metadata not duplicated

1674cf9

e40pud and others added 11 commits August 27, 2025 19:23

Merge branch 'main' into assistant_sharing

8a758bd

switch to core UserProfileService

3d15b9f

Merge branch 'assistant_sharing' of github.com:stephmilovic/kibana in…

ae850dd

…to assistant_sharing

Merge branch 'main' into assistant_sharing

ba0c7e3

fix test

9617754

Fix tests: `x-pack/solutions/security/plugins/elastic_assistant/serve…

084b384

…r/ai_assistant_data_clients/conversations/transform.test.ts`

Fix linting

3f36660

Add registered route test

9d204f4

fix

6823bdf

Merge branch 'main' into assistant_sharing

fb35940

[CI] Auto-commit changed files from 'yarn openapi:generate'

5c97ed9

enriquesanchez-elastic approved these changes Aug 28, 2025

View reviewed changes

stephmilovic added 2 commits August 28, 2025 13:20

update icon

20810bc

fix page

0f8b86f

stephmilovic merged commit f00f71e into elastic:main Aug 28, 2025
12 checks passed

ymao1 pushed a commit to ymao1/kibana that referenced this pull request Aug 29, 2025

[Security Assistant] Conversation sharing (elastic#230614)

fa8a14c

kibanamachine added the backport missing Added to PRs automatically when the are determined to be missing a backport. label Sep 1, 2025

stephmilovic added backport:skip This PR does not require backporting and removed backport missing Added to PRs automatically when the are determined to be missing a backport. backport:version Backport to applied version labels labels Sep 2, 2025

benironside mentioned this pull request Sep 10, 2025

AI Assistant chat sharing elastic/docs-content#2903

Merged

Conversation

stephmilovic commented Aug 5, 2025 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Summary

API changes

New fields on conversation

Find conversation route updates

Documents data writer

Telemetry

Audit logging

UI Changes

Share badge

Share modal

Share icons

Owner shared callout

Conversation list items

Conversation settings menu

Responsive assistant header

Shared Conversation Callout

Copy URL action

Duplicate conversation action

Conversation settings

Testing Instructions

Setup

Verification Steps

User isolation

Sharing from User A

Viewing as User B

Conversation list

Copy URL

Conversation menus

Role restrictions

Telemetry

Audit logging

Uh oh!

KDKHD commented Aug 27, 2025

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

e40pud left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

stephmilovic commented Aug 27, 2025 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

KDKHD commented Aug 28, 2025

Uh oh!

elasticmachine commented Aug 28, 2025

💚 Build Succeeded

Metrics [docs]

Module Count

Public APIs missing comments

Async chunks

Public APIs missing exports

Page load bundle

API count

ESLint disabled line counts

Total ESLint disabled count

History

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

kibanamachine commented Sep 1, 2025

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

stephmilovic commented Aug 5, 2025 •

edited

Loading

stephmilovic commented Aug 27, 2025 •

edited

Loading