What Is a Runbook?
A runbook is a documented set of procedures for diagnosing and resolving specific operational issues. Unlike general documentation or architectural diagrams, runbooks are action-oriented: they tell responders what to do when something breaks, step by step.
Think of a runbook as a recipe for fixing problems. It codifies the knowledge of how to respond to a particular alert, restore a degraded service, or execute a complex operational task—without requiring the responder to figure it out from scratch.
Why Runbooks Matter
When an incident strikes, time is critical. Teams under pressure make mistakes. Context gets lost. People panic.
Runbooks counter this by providing:
- Consistency: Everyone follows the same steps, reducing variability in response quality
- Speed: No need to search Slack history or reverse-engineer what worked last time
- Knowledge transfer: New team members can respond effectively without tribal knowledge
- Reduced cognitive load: Clear instructions let responders focus on execution, not discovery
Without runbooks, teams rely on memory, luck, and whoever happens to be online. With runbooks, even junior engineers can handle complex issues confidently.
What Belongs in a Runbook?
A good runbook typically includes:
1. Symptoms and Triggers
What does this problem look like? Which alerts fire? What user-facing behavior occurs?
Example: “Alert: api_latency_p95 > 2000ms for 5 minutes. Users report slow page loads.”
2. Impact Assessment
Who is affected? How severe is this issue? Should we escalate immediately or investigate first?
3. Diagnostic Steps
How do we confirm the root cause? What logs, metrics, or queries should we check?
Example:
- Check database connection pool saturation
- Review recent deployments in the past hour
- Query error rate by endpoint
4. Remediation Steps
The actual fix, broken into clear, numbered actions.
Example:
- Scale API replicas from 3 to 6:
kubectl scale deployment api --replicas=6 - Verify latency drops below threshold within 2 minutes
- If latency persists, proceed to “Database Connection Pooling” runbook
5. Verification
How do we know the issue is resolved? What should we monitor post-fix?
6. Rollback or Escalation
What if the fix doesn’t work? Who should be contacted next?
When to Create a Runbook
You don’t need runbooks for everything. Focus on:
- Recurring incidents: If you’ve handled the same issue twice, document it
- High-impact scenarios: Database failover, traffic spikes, security breaches
- Complex procedures: Multi-step deployments, data migrations, certificate renewals
- On-call preparation: Common alerts that wake people up at 3 a.m.
If an issue requires more than 3 steps to fix, or if you’ve ever said “I wish I’d written this down last time,” it’s time for a runbook.
Runbooks vs. Documentation
Runbooks are not the same as general documentation.
| Documentation | Runbooks |
|---|---|
| Explains how systems work | Explains how to fix systems |
| Architectural context | Action-oriented steps |
| Reference material | Emergency procedures |
| Read during planning | Read during incidents |
Good teams maintain both. Documentation helps you understand the system. Runbooks help you save it.
Common Pitfalls
Outdated Runbooks
The worst thing is a runbook that no longer works. Systems change. Steps become obsolete. Responders lose trust.
Solution: Treat runbooks as living documents. Update them after every use. Store them centrally where they can be easily found and maintained.
Over-Documentation
Not every edge case needs a runbook. Trying to document everything leads to bloated, unused playbooks that nobody reads.
Solution: Start small. Write runbooks for the top 10 most frequent or impactful issues. Expand as needed.
No Ownership
Runbooks without owners go stale. Nobody updates them. Nobody maintains them.
Solution: Assign ownership per runbook. Link runbooks to specific teams or services. Make updates part of post-incident reviews.
Using Tools for Runbook Management
While runbooks can live in wikis, Notion, or Google Docs, purpose-built tools offer advantages:
- Searchability: Find the right runbook fast during incidents with full-text search
- Execution tracking: Track progress through each step and record decisions made during execution
- Integration: Link runbooks to specific incidents and services for contextual access
- Structured workflows: Organize procedures with branching decision points and clear step progression
Tools like Upstat let teams create runbooks with step-by-step execution tracking, link them directly to incidents and catalog services, and maintain a history of procedure executions. This helps teams continuously improve their operational procedures based on real-world usage.
Runbooks as Living Documents
The best runbooks evolve. After every incident, teams should:
- Review the runbook that was used
- Note what worked and what didn’t
- Update steps that were unclear or incorrect
- Add new diagnostic checks discovered during troubleshooting
This feedback loop transforms runbooks from static instructions into battle-tested playbooks that get better over time.
Final Thoughts
Runbooks are not a sign of over-engineering. They’re a sign of operational maturity.
By documenting procedures upfront, teams reduce chaos, onboard faster, and respond more effectively when systems fail. The time invested in writing a good runbook pays back many times over when incidents strike.
If you’re exploring ways to improve your incident response process, consider integrating runbooks into your workflow. Tools like Upstat help teams create, maintain, and execute runbooks seamlessly—but even a simple shared document is better than nothing.
The key is to start writing them. Your future on-call self will thank you.
Explore In Upstat
Create executable runbooks with step-by-step tracking, link them directly to incidents and services, and maintain execution history that improves procedures over time.