---
id: pycadf
version: "4.1.0"
license: Apache-2.0
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# pycadf — CADF Library

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 329.2K/mo

## What it is and what it does

PyCADF is a Python library that implements the Cloud Auditing Data Federation (CADF) specification published by the DMTF. It provides a data model and serialization layer for audit events, allowing systems to emit structured, standardized audit notifications that comply with the CADF schema. The library is primarily used within OpenStack but can be adopted by any system that needs to produce audit trails meeting the CADF standard.

The package depends on oslo.config and oslo.serialization for configuration and JSON serialization. It establishes strict expectations about audit event structure, making it easier for auditors and compliance tools to parse and validate audit logs from diverse sources. The library has been actively maintained since its initial release and supports modern Python versions.

Use it for:

- Emit standardized CADF-compliant audit events from OpenStack services.
- Build audit logging into cloud applications that need to meet compliance or security standards.
- Serialize audit events to JSON for ingestion into centralized audit log aggregation systems.
- Validate audit event structure against the CADF specification before transmission.
- Integrate audit trail generation into systems that must interoperate with CADF-aware tools.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

PyCADF implements the Cloud Auditing Data Federation specification to provide a standardized auditing data model for OpenStack and other systems that need to emit structured audit events.

Yes, if you are building or extending OpenStack or need to emit CADF-compliant audit events. The low install friction, active maintenance, permissive license, and zero known vulnerabilities make it a safe choice. If you are not working within an OpenStack context or do not need CADF compliance, this library is unlikely to be relevant.

## Install

pip install pycadf
uv add pycadf
poetry add pycadf

## Installing pycadf

Before you install: Low install friction with only two runtime dependencies (oslo.config and oslo.serialization). Active maintenance with a release 36 days ago. Supports current Python versions (3.11–3.14).

License in practice: Apache-2.0 permissive license allows commercial and private use with minimal restrictions; suitable for most deployment contexts.

Quickstart:

pip install pycadf

from pycadf import cadf_base
from oslo.serialization import jsonutils

event = cadf_base.CADFBase()
event_json = jsonutils.dumps(event.as_dict())

Requires Python 3.11 or later.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package is actively maintained by OpenStack or has transitioned to community maintenance.
- Real-world adoption rate beyond OpenStack projects.
- Performance characteristics when serializing large audit event volumes.

## Package facts

- License: Apache-2.0 (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 329.2K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

CADF audit events, cloud auditing data federation, OpenStack audit logging, structured audit trail, compliance audit model, audit event serialization, DMTF CADF implementation, openstack, audit-logging, compliance

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