runbook-writing

What problem does it solve?

Prevents oncall responders from getting stuck during incidents by ensuring runbooks are structured for fast, correct action even when they have little context and high urgency.

Core Features & Use Cases

• Stress-proof structure: Enforces a consistent six-section format (Title/Trigger, Immediate actions, Diagnosis, Mitigation, Escalation, Related runbooks) in the responder’s read order.
• Precise alert matching: Guides runbook titles and trigger conditions to match alert names and alert rules character-for-character for reliable discovery.
• Actionable execution under pressure: Prioritizes reversible, bounded blast-radius immediate actions, then moves deeper investigation to Diagnosis.
• Safety and durability: Requires irreversibility/high-risk steps to be explicitly annotated with escalation/IC sign-off expectations, and adds post-incident maintenance guidance.
• Crosslinking for correctness: Uses related-runbook crosslinks (upstream/downstream/adjacent) so responders can quickly route to the right playbook.

Quick Start

Use the runbook-writing skill to draft a new runbook for an alert by matching the runbook title exactly to the alert name and filling the six required sections with reversible immediate actions, targeted diagnosis checks, clear mitigation steps, an escalation tree with explicit criteria, and related runbook crosslinks.