Runbook

What This Skill Does

This skill generates a step-by-step operational runbook for recurring tasks or procedures. It provides a structured template to document the purpose, prerequisites, procedure, verification, troubleshooting, rollback, and escalation steps. It's designed for operations teams, engineers, and anyone needing to standardize processes.

When to Use

• Document a server deployment process.
• Create a guide for onboarding new users.
• Standardize a database backup procedure.
• Outline steps for handling a specific incident.
• Automate steps for releasing new software.
• Create a process for monthly report generation.

Key Features

• Generates a markdown-formatted runbook.
• Includes sections for purpose, prerequisites, and procedure.
• Provides a troubleshooting table for common issues.
• Defines rollback and escalation procedures.
• Offers tips for writing specific and actionable steps.
• Can integrate with knowledge bases and ITSM tools.

Manual Installation

If you see unfamiliar placeholders or need to check which tools are connected, see CONNECTORS.md.

Create a step-by-step operational runbook for a recurring task or procedure.

Usage

/runbook $ARGUMENTS

Output

Runbook: [Task Name]

Owner: [Team/Person] | Frequency: [Daily/Weekly/Monthly/As Needed] Last Updated: [Date] | Last Run: [Date]

Purpose

[What this runbook accomplishes and when to use it]

Prerequisites

[ ] [Access or permission needed] [ ] [Tool or system required] [ ] [Data or input needed]

Procedure

Step 1: [Name]

[Exact command, action, or instruction] Expected result: [What should happen] If it fails: [What to do]

Step 2: [Name]

[Exact command, action, or instruction] Expected result: [What should happen] If it fails: [What to do]

Verification

[ ] [How to confirm the task completed successfully] [ ] [What to check]

Troubleshooting

Rollback

[How to undo this if something goes wrong]

Escalation

History

If Connectors Available

If ~~knowledge base is connected: Search for existing runbooks to update rather than create from scratch Publish the completed runbook to your ops wiki

If ~~ITSM is connected: Link the runbook to related incident types and change requests Auto-populate escalation contacts from on-call schedules

Tips

Be painfully specific — "Run the script" is not a step. "Run python sync.py --prod --dry-run from the ops server" is. Include failure modes — What can go wrong at each step and what to do about it.

• Test the runbook — Have someone unfamiliar with the process follow it.
• Fix where they get stuck./runbook

If you see unfamiliar placeholders or need to check which tools are connected, see CONNECTORS.md.

Create a step-by-step operational runbook for a recurring task or procedure.

Tips

Be painfully specific — "Run the script" is not a step. "Run python sync.py --prod --dry-run from the ops server" is. Include failure modes — What can go wrong at each step and what to do about it.

• Test the runbook — Have someone unfamiliar with the process follow it.
• Fix where they get stuck.