Fill Four On-Call Lists Before You Accept the Rotation

Description and use

Rotations now start with a complete catalog, read‑only first‑command scripts, a defined escalation clock and packet, and a freeze rule that blocks writes until a human authorizes them.

Problem

On‑call rotations often start without fully defined runbooks, leading to improvisation, unclear escalation paths, and unsafe write permissions.

Outcome

Rotations now have auditable, immutable runbooks that prevent accidental writes, clarify escalation paths, and reduce on‑call uncertainty.

Workflow

• 1. Verify every alert ID in the past month has a catalog entry, including a "not this" note.
• 2. Ensure each catalog row points to a read‑only first‑command script on disk.
• 3. Define escalation roles, minute bounds, and packet fields in escalation.yaml.
• 4. Set freeze_on_unknown_alert to true so unknown IDs trigger a freeze until a human edits the catalog.

Evidence

I keep the on‑call file as four lists because each list answers a different failure.

Source

Unknown IDs freeze writes immediately; unfreeze is a filled sentence, not a vibe.

Source