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Runbook

  • 2.2k installs
  • 23.1k repo stars
  • Updated July 28, 2026
  • anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins

runbook is an agent skill that Create or update an operational runbook for a recurring task or procedure. Use when documenting a task that on-call or o.

About

If you see unfamiliar placeholders or need to check which tools are connected see CONNECTORS md CONNECTORS md Create a step by step operational runbook for a recurring task or procedure markdown 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 The runbook agent skill provides documented workflows prerequisites triggers and safety guidance from its SKILL md source Agents load it when user requests match the description and follow step by step instructions without inventing capabilities It integrates with standard agent tooling for the tasks inputs outputs and failure modes described in the repository documentation

  • description: Create or update an operational runbook for a recurring task or procedure. Use when documenting a task that
  • argument-hint: "<process or task name>"
  • > If you see unfamiliar placeholders or need to check which tools are connected, see [CONNECTORS.md](../../CONNECTORS.md
  • Follow runbook SKILL.md steps and documented constraints.
  • Follow runbook SKILL.md steps and documented constraints.

Runbook by the numbers

  • 2,241 all-time installs (skills.sh)
  • +114 installs in the week ending Jul 28, 2026 (Skillselion tracking)
  • Ranked #409 of 16,659 AI & Agent Building skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
  • Security screen: LOW risk (skills.sh audit)
  • Data as of Jul 28, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
At a glance

runbook capabilities & compatibility

Capabilities
description: create or update an operational run · argument hint: "<process or task name>" · > if you see unfamiliar placeholders or need to · follow runbook skill.md steps and documented con
Use cases
orchestration
From the docs

What runbook says it does

description: Create or update an operational runbook for a recurring task or procedure. Use when documenting a task that on-call or ops needs to run repeatably, turning tribal knowledge into exact ste
SKILL.md
argument-hint: "<process or task name>"
SKILL.md
> If you see unfamiliar placeholders or need to check which tools are connected, see [CONNECTORS.md](../../CONNECTORS.md).
SKILL.md
npx skills add https://github.com/anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins --skill runbook

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Listed on Skillselion
Installs2.2k
repo stars23.1k
Security audit3 / 3 scanners passed
Last updatedJuly 28, 2026
Repositoryanthropics/knowledge-work-plugins

When should an agent use runbook and what problem does it solve?

Create or update an operational runbook for a recurring task or procedure. Use when documenting a task that on-call or ops needs to run repeatably, turning tribal knowledge into exact step-by-step com

Who is it for?

Developers invoking runbook as documented in the skill source.

Skip if: Skip when requirements fall outside runbook documented scope.

When should I use this skill?

Create or update an operational runbook for a recurring task or procedure. Use when documenting a task that on-call or ops needs to run repeatably, turning tribal knowledge into exact step-by-step com

What you get

Outputs aligned with the runbook SKILL.md workflow and stated deliverables.

  • Operational runbook markdown
  • Rollback procedure section
  • Escalation path documentation

By the numbers

  • Produces runbooks with 4 core sections: steps, troubleshooting, rollback, and escalation

Files

SKILL.mdMarkdownGitHub ↗

/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.

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
| Symptom | Likely Cause | Fix |
|---------|-------------|-----|
| [What you see] | [Why] | [What to do] |

### Rollback
[How to undo this if something goes wrong]

### Escalation
| Situation | Contact | Method |
|-----------|---------|--------|
| [When to escalate] | [Who] | [How to reach them] |

### History
| Date | Run By | Notes |
|------|--------|-------|
| [Date] | [Person] | [Any issues or observations] |

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

1. Be painfully specific — "Run the script" is not a step. "Run python sync.py --prod --dry-run from the ops server" is. 2. Include failure modes — What can go wrong at each step and what to do about it. 3. Test the runbook — Have someone unfamiliar with the process follow it. Fix where they get stuck.

Related skills

How it compares

Use runbook for repeatable production procedures with rollback and escalation; use general doc skills for product or API documentation without ops execution steps.

FAQ

What is runbook?

Create or update an operational runbook for a recurring task or procedure. Use when documenting a task that on-call or ops needs to run repeatably, turning tribal knowledge into ex

When should I use runbook?

Create or update an operational runbook for a recurring task or procedure. Use when documenting a task that on-call or ops needs to run repeatably, turning tribal knowledge into ex

Is runbook safe to install?

Review the Security Audits panel on this page before production use.

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