> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://knowledge-base-starter-mintlify-85d166f9.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Postmortem process

> How to write a blameless postmortem, facilitate the review, and make sure action items land.

Postmortems are required for all SEV-1 and SEV-2 incidents, and optional for recurring SEV-3 patterns. The goal is learning, not blame.

## Blameless means

Blameless means we focus on what failed in the system — processes, tooling, alerting, communication — not on who made a mistake. Engineers make good decisions with the information available at the time. The postmortem identifies where the system let them down.

## Timeline

| Timing                        | Action                                                  |
| ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| Within 24 hours of resolution | Create the postmortem doc from the template             |
| Within 48 hours               | Draft the timeline and contributing factors             |
| Within 5 business days        | Hold the postmortem review meeting                      |
| Within 2 weeks                | Action items assigned and tracked in your issue tracker |

## Postmortem template

Create a new doc in your wiki using the Postmortem template. Fill in:

1. **Incident summary** — one paragraph: what happened, when, and what the impact was.
2. **Timeline** — chronological log of events (use UTC). Include when the issue started, when it was detected, key actions taken, and when it was resolved.
3. **Root cause** — what was the underlying cause? Use "5 Whys" if helpful.
4. **Contributing factors** — what else made this worse or harder to detect?
5. **Impact** — number of users affected, duration, data involved.
6. **What went well** — things that helped during response.
7. **Action items** — concrete, assigned, with due dates. At least one per significant contributing factor.

## The review meeting

Keep it to 30–45 minutes. The incident owner facilitates. Everyone who was involved should attend; others are welcome.

Agenda:

1. Walk through the timeline (10 min)
2. Discuss root cause and contributing factors (10 min)
3. Review and assign action items (15 min)

Don't re-hash decisions made during the incident. Focus on what to do differently next time.

## Action items

Action items without owners don't get done. Every item needs:

* A clear description of what "done" looks like
* A single owner (not a team)
* A due date

Track them in your issue tracker. The engineering manager reviews open postmortem action items in the weekly team meeting.