Incident Updates

Overview

Incident updates allow you to add progress reports to ongoing incidents, keeping users informed as you work toward resolution.

Adding an Update

To add an update to an existing incident:

Navigate to your Status Page
Click Incidents
Select the active incident
Click Add Update or similar button

Update Fields

Status (select from dropdown):

Investigating
Identified
Monitoring
Resolved

Message:

Clear, concise update on current situation
What you’ve discovered or fixed
What you’re doing next
Estimated resolution time (if known)

Affected Components (optional):

Update which services are impacted
Can change as incident evolves

Update Timeline

All updates appear in chronological order on your status page, showing:

Timestamp of each update
Status at that time
Update message
Who posted it (internal only)

Update Frequency Guidelines

Critical Incidents

First 15 minutes: Every 5-10 minutes
Next 30 minutes: Every 15 minutes
After 1 hour: Every 30 minutes
Even without progress: Update to show you’re working on it

Major Incidents

First 30 minutes: Every 15 minutes
After 30 minutes: Every 30-60 minutes

Minor Incidents

First hour: Every 30 minutes
After resolution: Final update with summary

Long periods without updates make users assume you’re not working on the issue. Update regularly even if there’s no new information.

Update Examples

Investigating Update

Status: Investigating
Time: 2:05 PM

We're seeing elevated error rates on the API (approximately 5% of requests).
Our team is investigating the root cause. We'll provide another update
within 15 minutes.

Identified Update

Status: Identified
Time: 2:18 PM

We've identified the issue as a misconfiguration in our load balancer
introduced during today's deployment. We're rolling back the deployment
and expect services to stabilize within 10 minutes.

Monitoring Update

Status: Monitoring
Time: 2:35 PM

The deployment has been rolled back and error rates have returned to normal.
We're monitoring closely for the next 30 minutes to ensure stability before
marking this incident as resolved.

Resolved Update

Status: Resolved
Time: 3:10 PM

All systems are operating normally. Error rates have been at baseline levels
for the past 30 minutes. The deployment issue has been resolved and we've
added additional validation to prevent similar issues in the future.
Thank you for your patience.

Best Practices

Be Specific About Actions

Don’t say “working on it” - say “rolling back deployment” or “restarting database servers”.

Include Timeframes When Possible

If you can estimate resolution time, include it. If not, say when you’ll provide the next update.

Explain Impact

Help users understand who is affected and what functionality is impaired.

Use Simple Language

Avoid internal terminology. Write for your users, not your team.

Acknowledge User Impact

Show empathy. “We understand this is frustrating” goes a long way.

Update Even Without Progress

“No update yet, still investigating” is better than silence.

Status Progression

Typical incident progression:

Investigating → Identified → Monitoring → Resolved

But you can skip steps if appropriate:

Investigating → Resolved (for quick fixes)
Investigating → Monitoring → Resolved (if cause is unclear)

What NOT to Include

Internal team member names
Internal ticket/bug IDs
Blame or finger-pointing
Sensitive technical details
Excessive technical jargon
Promises you can’t keep

Notification Behavior

When you add an incident update:

Status page is updated immediately
Subscribers receive notifications (if configured)
Slack/Teams channels receive posts
RSS feed is updated
Status badge reflects current state

Subscribers only get notified when you change the incident status, not for every update. This prevents notification fatigue.

Editing Past Updates

Some platforms allow editing previous updates:

Fix typos or unclear language
Add missing information
Clarify technical details

However, avoid:

Deleting updates to hide mistakes
Changing the meaning of past updates
Removing timestamps or chronology

Templates for Common Scenarios

Database Issues

Investigating: We're experiencing database connection issues affecting
[service]. Users may see errors when [action]. Investigating now.

Identified: Issue traced to [specific cause]. Implementing [solution].
ETA: [timeframe].

Resolved: Database connectivity restored. All services operating normally.

API Slowdowns

Investigating: API response times are slower than normal (500ms vs usual 100ms).
Checking server load and database queries.

Monitoring: Implemented query optimization. Response times improving
(now 150ms average). Monitoring for stability.

Resolved: API performance back to normal levels. Average response time: 95ms.

Deployment Rollback

Investigating: Recent deployment causing errors in [feature]. Rolling back now.

Monitoring: Rollback complete. Error rates decreasing. Watching metrics.

Resolved: All systems stable. Deployment has been rolled back.
Issue will be fixed before next deployment.

Next Steps

Manage Incidents

Back to incident management

Scheduled Maintenance

Plan maintenance windows

Notifications

Configure who receives updates

Status Pages

Manage your status page

Getting Started

Monitoring

Status Pages

Incidents & Maintenance

Notifications

Organization

Overview

Adding an Update

Update Fields

Update Timeline

Update Frequency Guidelines

Critical Incidents

Major Incidents

Minor Incidents

Update Examples

Investigating Update

Identified Update

Monitoring Update

Resolved Update

Best Practices

Status Progression

What NOT to Include

Notification Behavior

Editing Past Updates

Templates for Common Scenarios

Database Issues

API Slowdowns

Deployment Rollback

Next Steps

Manage Incidents

Scheduled Maintenance

Notifications

Status Pages

​Overview

​Adding an Update

​Update Fields

​Update Timeline

​Update Frequency Guidelines

​Critical Incidents

​Major Incidents

​Minor Incidents

​Update Examples

​Investigating Update

​Identified Update

​Monitoring Update

​Resolved Update

​Best Practices

​Status Progression

​What NOT to Include

​Notification Behavior

​Editing Past Updates

​Templates for Common Scenarios

​Database Issues

​API Slowdowns

​Deployment Rollback

​Next Steps

Manage Incidents

Scheduled Maintenance

Notifications

Status Pages

Overview

Adding an Update

Update Fields

Update Timeline

Update Frequency Guidelines

Critical Incidents

Major Incidents

Minor Incidents

Update Examples

Investigating Update

Identified Update

Monitoring Update

Resolved Update

Best Practices

Status Progression

What NOT to Include

Notification Behavior

Editing Past Updates

Templates for Common Scenarios

Database Issues

API Slowdowns

Deployment Rollback

Next Steps