Getting Started as a Responder

Who is a Responder?

A responder is an on-call engineer responsible for acknowledging and resolving alerts for assigned application services. As a responder, you play a critical role in incident management, ensuring the stability and reliability of the application services you oversee.

Responsibilities of a Responder:

1. Acknowledging and Assessing Incidents: Recognize and evaluate the severity and impact of the incident.

2. Taking Immediate Action: Implement measures to mitigate the impact of the incident.

3. Investigating Root Causes: Analyze the underlying causes of the incident.

4. Implementing Fixes or Workarounds: Apply necessary fixes or temporary solutions to resolve the incident.

5. Communicating Status: Keep stakeholders informed about the incident status and progress.

6. Documenting the Incident and Response: Record details of the incident and the actions taken for future reference and learning.

7. Participating in Post-Incident Reviews: Engage in reviews to discuss the incident and identify improvements.

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How to Get Started as a Responder

Scenario 1: Existing Temperstack User

1. Create an On-Call Policy:

   • As an existing Temperstack user, start by creating an on-call policy.

   • Add yourself as an on-call engineer and include other responders if escalation is required.

2. Map to Application Services:

   • Map the on-call policy to the application services where you will be the primary responder.

   • Assign the set of resources to the respective application services.

Read more on On-call Policy and Escalation in this guide. On-call scheduling and Escalation Policies

Read more on Setting and Mapping to services in these guides: Setting up Services

Map to Service

3. Incident Response Workflow: When an incident occurs, such as an issue with the resource "fetch_gcp_resources_dlq" mapped to the application service named "Payments":

• The application service is linked to the on-call policy "NewServiceOncallPolicy"

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• As the on-call engineer, you will be notified, typically through voice notification.

• You are responsible for acknowledging and addressing the incident promptly.

Scenario 2: New Temperstack User

1. Receive an Invitation:

   • If you do not have access to Temperstack, the admin of your organization will navigate to the Manage Organization page and send you an invitation.

   • Accept the invitation link to become a Temperstack user.

2. Follow the Same Workflow:

   • Once you have accepted the invitation and gained access, follow the same steps as outlined in Scenario 1.