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Runbooks

Runbooks are step-by-step procedures your team can follow during incidents or routine operations.

What Are Runbooks?

Runbooks document repeatable procedures in a structured format. Instead of keeping procedures in wikis or documents, runbooks provide an interactive execution experience with tracking.

Key Features

Wizard Interface Execute runbooks one step at a time with clear navigation.

Decision Branching Create conditional paths like “If service is down, go to step 10” to handle different scenarios.

Rich Instructions Format text, add code blocks, and include commands in each step.

Status Management Keep drafts private while developing, then publish when ready for use.

Execution Tracking See who ran each runbook and when.

Common Uses

Runbooks work well for any repeatable procedure:

  • Service restarts: Graceful shutdown, wait, restart, verify
  • Rollbacks: Find previous version, deploy, test
  • Maintenance: Database vacuum, index rebuilds, cleanup
  • Renewals: SSL certificates, API keys, licenses
  • Troubleshooting: Common issues and their solutions

Why Use Runbooks?

Consistency Everyone follows the same steps, reducing errors and forgotten steps.

Knowledge Capture Document important procedures before they’re lost when people leave.

Reduce Errors Structured steps prevent skipping critical actions during stressful incidents.

Training Help new team members follow established procedures.

Runbook Structure

Each runbook contains:

Component Description
Title Clear name describing the procedure
Description When and why to use this runbook
Steps Numbered sequence with detailed instructions
Decisions Optional branching to different steps
Status Draft (for testing) or Published (ready for use)

Getting Started

  1. Go to Runbooks in your project
  2. Click Create to start a new runbook
  3. Add steps with clear instructions
  4. Publish when ready for your team to use

Linking to Incidents

Runbooks can be attached to incidents for quick access during response:

  1. Open an incident
  2. In the runbooks section, link appropriate runbooks
  3. Execute them as needed during response