
Runbook Generator
- 568 installs
- 23.5k repo stars
- Updated July 17, 2026
- alirezarezvani/claude-skills
runbook-generator is a Claude Code skill that generates deployment, incident, and database maintenance runbook skeletons with rollback triggers and verification steps for developers who operationalize production systems.
About
runbook-generator is a Claude skill supplying runbook templates for deployment, incident response, database maintenance, and staleness detection. Deployment runbooks include pre-deployment checks, step-by-step deploy commands with expected output, smoke tests, rollback plans with explicit triggers, and escalation notes. Incident templates define triage in the first five minutes, diagnosis via logs and metrics, mitigation, and postmortem actions. Database maintenance covers backup verification, migration sequencing with lock-risk notes, vacuum or reindex routines, and verification queries. A staleness template reminds teams to update runbooks when referenced config files change. Use it when on-call docs are missing or outdated after architecture shifts.
- Deployment runbook: pre-checks, deploy steps, smoke tests, rollback triggers
- Incident response: 5-minute triage, diagnosis, mitigation, postmortem actions
- Database maintenance: backup verification, migration lock-risk, vacuum/reindex routines
- Staleness detection hooks for Vercel, Helm, Terraform, and CI workflow files
- Python CLI emits dated runbook markdown with owner and environment metadata
Runbook Generator by the numbers
- 568 all-time installs (skills.sh)
- Ranked #253 of 1,440 DevOps & CI/CD skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
- Security screen: LOW risk (skills.sh audit)
- Data as of Jul 31, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
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| Installs | 568 |
|---|---|
| repo stars | ★ 23.5k |
| Security audit | 3 / 3 scanners passed |
| Last updated | July 17, 2026 |
| Repository | alirezarezvani/claude-skills ↗ |
How do you write deployment and incident runbooks?
Generate deployment, incident, and database maintenance runbook skeletons with rollback triggers and quarterly verification steps.
Who is it for?
SREs and backend leads documenting production deploy, incident, and database procedures who need structured skeletons with rollback and verification sections.
Skip if: Greenfield prototypes with no production on-call requirements or teams that already maintain auto-generated runbooks tied to live observability data.
When should I use this skill?
The user needs deployment, incident, or database runbook templates with rollback triggers and quarterly verification steps.
What you get
Deployment, incident-response, and database maintenance runbook drafts with rollback triggers and verification checklists.
- Deployment runbook draft
- Incident response runbook
- Database maintenance checklist
By the numbers
- Includes 4 runbook template types: deployment, incident, database maintenance, staleness detection
- Incident template specifies a first-5-minutes triage phase
Files
Runbook Generator
Tier: POWERFUL Category: Engineering Domain: DevOps / Site Reliability Engineering
---
Overview
Generate operational runbooks quickly from a service name, then customize for deployment, incident response, maintenance, and rollback workflows.
Core Capabilities
- Runbook skeleton generation from a CLI
- Standard sections for start/stop/health/rollback
- Structured escalation and incident handling placeholders
- Reference templates for deployment and incident playbooks
---
When to Use
- A service has no runbook and needs a baseline immediately
- Existing runbooks are inconsistent across teams
- On-call onboarding requires standardized operations docs
- You need repeatable runbook scaffolding for new services
---
Quick Start
# Print runbook to stdout
python3 scripts/runbook_generator.py payments-api
# Write runbook file
python3 scripts/runbook_generator.py payments-api --owner platform --output docs/runbooks/payments-api.md---
Recommended Workflow
1. Generate the initial skeleton with scripts/runbook_generator.py. 2. Fill in service-specific commands and URLs. 3. Add verification checks and rollback triggers. 4. Dry-run in staging. 5. Store runbook in version control near service code.
---
Reference Docs
references/runbook-templates.md
---
Common Pitfalls
- Missing rollback triggers or rollback commands
- Steps without expected output checks
- Stale ownership/escalation contacts
- Runbooks never tested outside of incidents
Best Practices
1. Keep every command copy-pasteable. 2. Include health checks after every critical step. 3. Validate runbooks on a fixed review cadence. 4. Update runbook content after incidents and postmortems.
Runbook Templates
Deployment Runbook Template
- Pre-deployment checks
- Deploy steps with expected output
- Smoke tests
- Rollback plan with explicit triggers
- Escalation and communication notes
Incident Response Template
- Triage phase (first 5 minutes)
- Diagnosis phase (logs, metrics, recent deploys)
- Mitigation phase (containment and restoration)
- Resolution and postmortem actions
Database Maintenance Template
- Backup and restore verification
- Migration sequencing and lock-risk notes
- Vacuum/reindex routines
- Verification queries and performance checks
Staleness Detection Template
Track referenced config files and update runbooks whenever these change:
- deployment config (
vercel.json, Helm charts, Terraform) - CI pipelines (
.github/workflows/*,.gitlab-ci.yml) - data schema/migration definitions
- service runtime/env configuration
Quarterly Validation Checklist
1. Execute commands in staging. 2. Validate expected outputs. 3. Test rollback paths. 4. Confirm contact/escalation ownership. 5. Update Last verified date.
#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""Generate an operational runbook skeleton for a service."""
from __future__ import annotations
import argparse
from datetime import date
from pathlib import Path
def build_runbook(service: str, owner: str, environment: str) -> str:
today = date.today().isoformat()
return f"""# Runbook - {service}
- Service: {service}
- Owner: {owner}
- Environment: {environment}
- Last verified: {today}
## Overview
Describe the service purpose, dependencies, and critical user impact.
## Preconditions
- Access to deployment platform
- Access to logs/metrics
- Access to secret/config manager
## Start Procedure
1. Pull latest config/secrets.
2. Start service process.
3. Confirm process is healthy.
```bash
# Example
# systemctl start {service}
```
## Stop Procedure
1. Drain traffic if applicable.
2. Stop service process.
3. Confirm no active workers remain.
```bash
# Example
# systemctl stop {service}
```
## Health Checks
- HTTP health endpoint
- Dependency connectivity checks
- Error-rate and latency checks
```bash
# Example
# curl -sf https://{service}.example.com/health
```
## Deployment Checklist
1. Verify CI status and artifact integrity.
2. Apply migrations (if required) in safe order.
3. Deploy service revision.
4. Run smoke checks.
5. Observe metrics for 10-15 minutes.
## Rollback
1. Identify last known good release.
2. Re-deploy previous version.
3. Re-run health checks.
4. Communicate rollback status to stakeholders.
```bash
# Example
# deployctl rollback --service {service}
```
## Incident Response
1. Classify severity.
2. Contain user impact.
3. Triage likely failing component.
4. Escalate if SLA risk is high.
## Escalation
- L1: On-call engineer
- L2: Service owner ({owner})
- L3: Platform/Engineering leadership
## Post-Incident
1. Write timeline and root cause.
2. Define corrective actions with owners.
3. Update this runbook with missing steps.
"""
def parse_args() -> argparse.Namespace:
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Generate a markdown runbook skeleton.")
parser.add_argument("service", help="Service name")
parser.add_argument("--owner", default="platform-team", help="Service owner label")
parser.add_argument("--environment", default="production", help="Primary environment")
parser.add_argument("--output", help="Optional output path (prints to stdout if omitted)")
return parser.parse_args()
def main() -> int:
args = parse_args()
markdown = build_runbook(args.service, owner=args.owner, environment=args.environment)
if args.output:
path = Path(args.output)
path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
path.write_text(markdown, encoding="utf-8")
print(f"Wrote runbook skeleton to {path}")
else:
print(markdown)
return 0
if __name__ == "__main__":
raise SystemExit(main())
Related skills
How it compares
Choose runbook-generator to draft human-readable ops docs; prefer monitoring-linked automation when run steps must execute directly from alert context.
FAQ
What runbook types does runbook-generator include?
runbook-generator provides templates for deployment, incident response, database maintenance, and staleness detection, each with checklists for smoke tests, triage, backups, and config-change updates.
Does runbook-generator cover incident triage timing?
runbook-generator’s incident template defines a triage phase for the first 5 minutes, followed by diagnosis using logs, metrics, and recent deploys before mitigation and postmortem actions.
Is Runbook Generator safe to install?
skills.sh reports 3 of 3 security scanners passed. Review the Security Audits panel on this page before installing in production.