runbook

Name: runbook
Author: anthropics

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…

INSTALLATION

npx skills add https://github.com/anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins --skill runbook

Run in your project or agent environment. Adjust flags if your CLI version differs.

SKILL.md

/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.