Runbook Template¶
Copy this template to docs/runbooks/<symptom>.md whenever you add a runbook. Keep every section concrete and tested — a runbook is only as good as the last time it was executed.
# Runbook: <Symptom / Incident Name>
## Overview
One paragraph: what is happening, what is affected, severity.
## Detection
Signals that indicate this incident:
- log patterns / error codes
- metric or dashboard names
- user-reported symptoms
## Initial assessment
Up to 5 yes/no or quick commands that separate root causes:
```text
Is X reachable? → cmd
Is Y healthy? → cmd
Is it global? → check
```
Fix¶
1. ¶
Commands, config changes, who to involve.
2. ¶
…
Verification¶
How to confirm the fix worked (checks, dashboards, sample request).
Escalation¶
Threshold for paging who and at what point.
Related¶
- ../runbooks/README.md
- related docs / other runbooks
---
## Rules
- **Step-by-step and tested** — never aspirational prose.
- Include real commands with placeholders like `$HOST`.
- One runbook per distinct symptom; cross-link related ones.
- Update it in the same incident if a step was wrong.
## Checklist
- [ ] Detection signals listed
- [ ] Commands are copy-paste safe
- [ ] Escalation criteria defined
- [ ] Verification section present
- [ ] Cross-links to related docs resolve