AI-Powered ChatGPT Prompts for Writing Internal Runbooks
Stop wasting hours writing internal runbooks from scratch. With these AI prompts for internal documentation, you can instantly generate clear, consistent, and comprehensive guides for any process. Use ChatBoost to one-click execute these ChatGPT prompts and streamline your team's operational efficiency.
Create a comprehensive, standardized template for any new internal runbook.
Generate a markdown-formatted template for a new internal runbook. The template should include the following sections:
1. Title: A clear, descriptive title.
2. Owner: The team or individual responsible for this runbook....
P1 Incident Response Runbook Draft
Quickly generate a runbook for handling a critical P1 production incident.
Create an incident response runbook for a P1 outage of our '[System Name]' service. The runbook should be for the on-call engineer. Include these sections:
1. Initial Triage: First steps to confirm the outage and its impact.
2. Communication: Who to notify (include a template message for the internal status page)....
Server Patching Checklist Generation
Generate a detailed checklist for safely applying security patches to servers.
Generate a step-by-step runbook in markdown checklist format for applying security patches to a production server named '[Server Name]'. The process should prioritize safety and minimize downtime. Include steps for:
- Pre-patch checks (backups, health checks)
- Announcing the maintenance window...
Database Restore Procedure Draft
Create a clear runbook for restoring a database from a backup.
Write a detailed runbook for restoring our '[Database Type, e.g., PostgreSQL]' database from the latest backup. The target audience is a junior DevOps engineer. Specify the exact commands needed to:
1. Identify the latest successful backup file.
2. Securely transfer the backup file to the target server....
New Dev Environment Setup Guide
Generate a runbook to guide a new developer through setting up their local environment.
Create an onboarding runbook for a new backend engineer to set up their local development environment for the '[Project Name]' project. The stack is [Tech Stack, e.g., Node.js, Docker, PostgreSQL]. Include steps and commands for:
1. Cloning the Git repository.
2. Installing required software (e.g., nvm, Docker Desktop)....
Zero-Downtime Deployment Outline
Create a high-level runbook for a blue-green or rolling deployment strategy.
Outline the key steps for a zero-downtime deployment of our '[Application Name]' web service, which runs on [Platform, e.g., Kubernetes]. Use a blue-green deployment strategy. The runbook should cover:
1. Pre-deployment checklist.
2. Provisioning the 'green' environment with the new version....
Incident Post-Mortem Template
Create a blameless post-mortem template to analyze incidents and prevent recurrence.
Generate a blameless incident post-mortem template in markdown. It should guide the team to analyze a recent incident without assigning blame. Include these sections:
- Summary: What happened, what was the impact, and how long did it last?
- Timeline: A detailed, timestamped log of key events....
API Key Rotation Runbook Draft
Detail the procedure for rotating a critical third-party API key.
Write a runbook for rotating the API key for the '[Service Name, e.g., Stripe]' integration. The process must ensure no service interruption. Include steps for:
1. Generating a new API key in the [Service Name] dashboard.
2. Adding the new key to our secret management system (e.g., AWS Secrets Manager) as a new version....
Deployment Rollback Plan Draft
Generate a clear and concise plan for rolling back a failed deployment.
Create a rollback runbook for a failed deployment of our '[Application Name]' service. The deployment is managed via [Tool, e.g., Jenkins pipeline]. The steps should be simple and executable under pressure. Include:
1. Criteria for initiating a rollback (e.g., >5% error rate, critical feature failure).
2. The specific command or button to click in [Tool] to trigger the rollback to the previous stable version....
Transform Notes to Markdown Checklist
Turn a block of messy text or notes into a clean, formatted markdown checklist.
Take the following raw text and convert it into a clear, numbered, markdown-formatted checklist. Rephrase each item to be an actionable instruction.
Raw Text:...
Mermaid.js Process Diagram from Steps
Create a Mermaid.js flowchart from a list of steps to visualize a process.
Generate a Mermaid.js graph definition for a flowchart that visualizes the following process. The process is: 'User submits form -> API Gateway receives request -> Lambda function validates data -> Data is saved to DynamoDB -> If successful, send confirmation email; if validation fails, return 400 error'.
Non-Technical Runbook Summary
Create a high-level, jargon-free summary of a technical runbook.
Read the following technical runbook and write a 3-sentence summary for a non-technical audience, like the product management team. Focus on the 'what' and 'why', not the 'how'.
Runbook Text:...
Customer Bug Troubleshooting Runbook
Create a runbook for support engineers to diagnose a recurring user-reported issue.
Create a troubleshooting runbook for our customer support team to investigate reports of '[Specific Bug, e.g., users not receiving password reset emails]'. Include:
1. Initial questions to ask the user.
2. Where to check for relevant logs in [Logging Tool, e.g., Datadog]....
Server Decommission Checklist
Generate a safe procedure for decommissioning a server to prevent data loss.
Generate a runbook checklist for decommissioning a server with hostname '[hostname]'. The process must be safe and irreversible only at the final step. Include steps for:
1. Confirming no traffic is being routed to the server.
2. Creating a final backup/snapshot of the server's data....
Scale Up Runbook for Traffic Spike
Create a procedure for manually scaling application instances during a high-traffic event.
Write a runbook for manually scaling up our '[Application Name]' service during a sudden traffic spike. The service runs on [Platform, e.g., AWS Auto Scaling Group]. Include:
1. How to identify a legitimate traffic spike using our [Monitoring Tool, e.g., Grafana] dashboard.
2. The exact steps in the [Platform Console or CLI command] to increase the desired instance count from X to Y....
Security Alert Investigation Runbook
Create a runbook for the initial investigation of a security alert.
Create a runbook for an on-call engineer who receives a '[Specific Alert, e.g., 'High number of failed login attempts']' alert from our security tool, '[Tool Name, e.g., GuardDuty]'. The runbook should guide the initial triage process:
1. Acknowledge the alert.
2. Gather context: What is the source IP? What user account is targeted?...
Application Cache Clearing Procedure
Write a runbook for safely clearing a specific application cache.
Write a runbook explaining how to safely clear the '[Cache Type, e.g., Redis product cache]' for our '[Application Name]' application. Include:
1. Scenarios where this action is necessary.
2. The precise command to run to clear the cache (e.g., `redis-cli FLUSHDB`)....
Full Disk Space Alert Resolution Runbook
Create a runbook for diagnosing and resolving a 'disk space full' alert on a server.
Create a runbook for responding to a 'Disk Space Full' alert on a Linux server. The runbook should provide a systematic way to resolve the issue. Include commands for:
1. Confirming the current disk usage (`df -h`).
2. Identifying the largest files and directories (`du -sh * | sort -rh`)....
Request New Tool Access Guide
Create a simple runbook for employees to request access to a new software tool.
Write a simple runbook for employees on how to request access to a new internal tool. The process is: 'Submit a ticket in [Ticketing System, e.g., Jira] under the 'IT Access' project, include the name of the tool and a business justification, and tag your manager for approval.' Format this as a simple, numbered list.
First Code Commit & PR Process
Create a runbook for a new engineer's first pull request and code review.
Create a runbook for a new engineer on our team detailing the process for their first code commit and pull request. Our process uses Git, GitHub, and requires a linear history. Include steps for:
1. Creating a new branch from the `main` branch.
2. Committing work with a conventional commit message format....
'Who to Contact' Quick Reference Guide
Create a quick reference guide for who to contact for different issues.
Generate a 'Who to Contact' guide in a markdown table format for our engineering team. The table should have three columns: 'Area of Concern', 'Primary Contact (Team/Person)', and 'Slack Channel'. Include rows for:
- Production Outage
- Database Questions...
Simplify Technical Jargon for Junior Engineers
Rewrite a technical paragraph to be more understandable for a junior engineer.
Rewrite the following paragraph to be clearer and more accessible for a junior engineer. Explain any complex jargon or acronyms.
Original Paragraph:...
Auto-Generate Runbook Table of Contents
Automatically generate a markdown table of contents from a long runbook.
Analyze the following runbook text and generate a markdown-formatted Table of Contents. The ToC should use indented bullet points and link to the corresponding headers (H2, H3) in the document.
Runbook Text:...
VPN Connection Troubleshooting Guide
Create a runbook for employees to self-diagnose common VPN connection problems.
Create a troubleshooting runbook for employees who can't connect to the company VPN ([VPN Client Name]). Structure it as a checklist of things to try before contacting IT. Include:
- Check internet connection.
- Restart the VPN client software....
Customer Data Request Handling Runbook
Create a procedure for handling GDPR or CCPA customer data access/deletion requests.
Write a runbook for the support team on how to process a customer data request (e.g., for GDPR). The process must be secure and auditable. Include steps for:
1. Verifying the customer's identity.
2. Creating an internal tracking ticket in [System, e.g., Jira]....
Generate Release Notes from Git Commits
Generate a draft of internal release notes from a list of git commit messages.
Analyze the following list of git commit messages from our latest release. Categorize them into 'New Features', 'Bug Fixes', and 'Improvements'. Then, write a draft of internal release notes summarizing the key changes for the team.
Commit Messages:...
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