Splunk Knowledge Objects Setup

Prerequisites

Tool or access	Purpose	Verify
Bash and Python 3	Run bundled setup and validation helpers	bash --version && python3 --version
Required product/platform access	Inspect or configure the selected target	Complete the documented preflight
Credential files for live modes	Keep secrets out of chat	Verify paths only

Workflow Overview

┌───────────┐   ┌───────────────┐   ┌───────────────┐   ┌─────────────────┐
│ Preflight │ → │ Render/review │ → │ Apply/handoff │ → │ Validate evidence │
└───────────┘   └───────────────┘   └───────────────┘   └─────────────────┘

When to Activate

• Create or govern saved searches, scheduled searches, alerts, macros, lookups, eventtypes, tags, or to set knowledge-object permissions, ownership, or app sharing. Not for Enterprise Security detections, which live in.
• Preview and review the splunk knowledge objects setup workflow before any live apply phase.
• Diagnose failed prerequisites, generated assets, configuration, or validation evidence.

Scope

Follow the documented read-only or render-first path whenever it is available. This skill does not imply permission to mutate live systems. Require explicit apply flags, protected credentials, and operator review for state changes.

Examples

Inspect the supported setup modes before selecting one:

bash skills/splunk-knowledge-objects-setup/scripts/setup.sh --help

Expected output: usage, supported modes, and required arguments are displayed without changing the target environment.

Inspect validation modes before running completion checks:

bash skills/splunk-knowledge-objects-setup/scripts/validate.sh --help

Expected output: offline, live, and completion options are displayed when the skill supports them; help exits without mutation.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Cause	Resolution
Preflight fails	A required tool or access path is missing	Resolve it before rendering or applying
Rendered assets are incomplete	Required non-secret inputs are absent	Complete intake and render again
Apply is blocked	Review, credentials, or explicit acceptance is missing	Use the documented handoff
Validation is incomplete	Live evidence is unavailable	Record the gap and keep completion open

This skill renders and applies common Splunk knowledge objects and their permissions. It is render-first so you can review the exact conf stanzas and ACL plan before writing them live.

Agent Behavior

Never ask for the Splunk admin password; apply reads the project credentials file via the shared helper. Setting sharing=global is broad and refuses to apply without --accept-global-sharing. App/global objects must use owner nobody; private (user) objects must name a user owner. Owner names must match the strict Splunk username allowlist, and every REST namespace segment is URL-encoded before use.

Quick Start

Render a search macro:

bash skills/splunk-knowledge-objects-setup/scripts/setup.sh --object-kind macro --name net_idx --definition 'index IN ("a","b")'

Apply a scheduled saved search live:

bash skills/splunk-knowledge-objects-setup/scripts/setup.sh --phase apply \
  --object-kind savedsearch --name "Daily Count" --app-name search \
  --search 'index=main | stats count' --is-scheduled true --cron-schedule '0 6 * * *'

Apply a KV Store lookup definition shared at app scope:

bash skills/splunk-knowledge-objects-setup/scripts/setup.sh --phase apply \
  --object-kind lookup --name asset_lookup --lookup-type kvstore --collection asset_inventory \
  --fields-list "_key,ip,risk" --sharing app --owner nobody --read-roles "*"

Query the real object, ACL, and optional automatic-lookup binding and fail on drift:

bash skills/splunk-knowledge-objects-setup/scripts/setup.sh --phase status \
  --object-kind macro --name net_idx --definition 'index IN ("a","b")'

What It Renders

• savedsearches.conf, macros.conf, transforms.conf, props.conf, eventtypes.conf, tags.conf (whichever the object kind needs)
• lookup-stub.csv for CSV lookups
• acl-plan.json describing sharing/ownership applied to the object /acl

Apply And ACL

preflight is a live, read-only phase: it authenticates, proves the target app and conf collection are readable, and snapshots the existing object, ACL, and optional automatic-lookup stanza. status also performs live REST reads and writes a mode-600 knowledge-objects/state/live-status.json; it is not an alias for rendered intent.

Apply uses the REST configs/conf-* endpoints, sets the object's /acl, reads the result back, and fails if content or governance differs from the request. If any step fails after mutation, it performs GET-only reconciliation. A pre-existing or newly created object, ACL, or automatic-lookup stanza is never restored, overwritten, or deleted automatically: Splunk exposes no verified conditional If-Match write/delete contract, so another actor can edit state after any guard GET. Failed state is retained with mode-600 before/current snapshots under a mode-700 knowledge-objects/state/manual-cleanup-* directory, explicit reviewed recovery guidance, and rollback=partial/manual_cleanup_required=true in mode-600 apply-evidence.json. If every queried target already matches its exact pre-transaction state, reconciliation records that no failed mutation remains.

Transactional REST apply fails closed for SHC deployer-bundle delivery because a member REST ACL update cannot be atomic with a deployer file write. This skill does not render local.meta or a bulk SHC bundle; prepare and review a deployer-owned app bundle through a supported SHC deployment workflow. CSV lookup content remains a separate file: place it in the app lookups/ directory or upload it through the lookup editor.