> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://getmonitor.io/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Managing Incidents

> Create and update incidents to communicate service disruptions with your users

## What Are Incidents?

Incidents represent unplanned service disruptions or outages. They help you transparently communicate with users about issues affecting your services.

## Creating an Incident

To create a new incident:

1. Navigate to your **Status Page** in the sidebar
2. Select **Incidents**
3. Click **+ New Incident** or similar button
4. Fill in the incident details

### Incident Information

**Incident Title:**

* Clear, concise description of the issue
* Example: "API Response Delays"
* Example: "Website Unavailable"

**Affected Components:**

* Select which monitors/services are impacted
* You can select multiple components
* Helps users quickly see what's affected

**Severity Level:**

* **Minor** - Small issue, limited impact
* **Major** - Significant issue affecting many users
* **Critical** - Complete outage, all users affected

**Status:**

* **Investigating** - You're looking into the issue
* **Identified** - Root cause found
* **Monitoring** - Fix applied, watching for stability
* **Resolved** - Issue completely fixed

## Incident Lifecycle

### 1. Investigating

When you first detect an issue:

* Create incident with "Investigating" status
* Select affected components
* Provide initial description

**Example:**

```
Title: API Response Delays
Status: Investigating
Components: API Services
Message: We're currently experiencing slower than normal API response times.
Our team is investigating the root cause.
```

### 2. Identified

Once you know the cause:

* Update incident status to "Identified"
* Add an update explaining what you found
* Provide estimated resolution time if possible

### 3. Monitoring

After applying a fix:

* Change status to "Monitoring"
* Explain what was fixed
* Note that you're watching for stability

### 4. Resolved

When completely fixed:

* Update status to "Resolved"
* Summarize the fix
* Thank users for patience
* Optionally include post-mortem details

## Incident Updates

Throughout an incident's lifecycle, provide regular updates:

* **First 30 minutes** - Every 10-15 minutes
* **After 30 minutes** - Every 30-60 minutes
* **Even without news** - Update to show you're working on it

<Tip>
  Users prefer frequent updates, even if there's no new information. It shows you're actively working on the issue.
</Tip>

## Best Practices

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Create Incidents Proactively">
    Post incidents before users report them. This reduces support load and builds trust.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Be Transparent">
    Explain what happened in simple terms. Users appreciate honesty about issues.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Update Frequently">
    Regular updates show you're actively working on the problem, even if there's no resolution yet.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Use Clear Language">
    Avoid technical jargon. Use language your users understand.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Include Timestamps">
    Automatic timestamps help users understand the timeline of events.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Resolve Completely">
    Only mark incidents as resolved when you're confident the issue won't recur.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Incident Severity Guidelines

### Minor

* Affects \< 10% of users
* Workarounds available
* Non-critical features impacted
* Example: "Image uploads slower than usual"

### Major

* Affects 10-50% of users
* Significant feature degradation
* No easy workaround
* Example: "Login delays affecting some users"

### Critical

* Affects > 50% of users or all users
* Complete service outage
* Core functionality unavailable
* Example: "Website completely down"

## Communication Tips

### Initial Incident Post

```
Title: Database Connection Issues
Status: Investigating
Severity: Major
Affected: Website, API

We're currently experiencing database connection issues affecting
our website and API. Users may see errors when loading pages.
Our engineering team is investigating the root cause.
```

### Mid-Incident Update

```
Status: Identified
Update: We've identified the cause as a database configuration issue
during our recent deployment. We're rolling back the deployment and
expect service to resume within 15 minutes.
```

### Resolution Post

```
Status: Resolved
Update: The deployment has been rolled back and all services are now
operating normally. Database connections have been restored. We apologize
for the inconvenience and are reviewing our deployment process to prevent
similar issues in the future.
```

## Where Incidents Appear

* **Status Page** - Public-facing incident timeline
* **Email** - Sent to subscribers (if configured)
* **Slack/Teams** - Posted to configured channels
* **RSS Feed** - Available for automation
* **Status Badge** - Reflects incident state

## Post-Incident Review

After resolving an incident, consider:

1. **Root Cause Analysis** - What actually happened?
2. **Impact Assessment** - How many users were affected?
3. **Timeline Review** - How long did it take to resolve?
4. **Process Improvements** - How can we prevent this?
5. **Communication Review** - Did we update users effectively?

<Card title="Create Incident Updates" icon="message" href="/docs/incidents-maintenance/incident-updates">
  Learn how to add updates to incidents
</Card>

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Incident Updates" icon="comments" href="/docs/incidents-maintenance/incident-updates">
    Add timeline updates to incidents
  </Card>

  <Card title="Scheduled Maintenance" icon="wrench" href="/docs/incidents-maintenance/maintenance">
    Plan and communicate maintenance windows
  </Card>

  <Card title="Status Pages" icon="browser" href="/docs/status-pages/overview">
    Configure your status page
  </Card>

  <Card title="Notifications" icon="bell" href="/docs/notifications/alert-rules">
    Set up incident notifications
  </Card>
</CardGroup>