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Writing Retrospectives

Once an incident resolves, you can write your retrospective using either:
  1. Rootly’s document editor
  2. An external document editor like Notion, Confluence or Google Docs.
Many teams use a hybrid approach by drafting in the Rootly document editor and export a copy to their external editor of choice.
Integrations are configured by your administrator. Check Configuration → Integrations for a full list of external document providers available to you.

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Using The Rootly Editor

We built a rich text editor directly into retrospectives that supports live incident data and real-time collaboration - all without leaving the platform. When an incident is resolved, the retrospective workflow begins. The editor is where your team can capture what happened, why it happened, and what improvements your team intends to make to prevent the incident from recurring.

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How Teams Collaborate with The Editor

Writing retrospectives is a core part of the incident lifecycle, but it often breaks team momentum. Important context lives across emails, documents, Slack threads, Zoom calls, and knowledge base tools like Notion or Confluence. Teams are forced to hunt for details, manually copy and paste information into a document, and reformat it every time. As a result, collaboration slows down, context gets lost, and it becomes harder to maintain a single, reliable source of truth for how the incident was resolved. The Rootly editor solves these problems by providing:
  • Incident metadata that resolves to actual values and stay in sync as you write
  • Dynamic data blocks that pull in live updates to your incident from Timelines and Action Items
  • Real-time collaboration so multiple authors can work together and contribute
  • Inline comments for feedback and discussion in context
  • @mentions to tag users and reference incidents directly in the document
It’s also packed with a host of features to make retrospective documents pleasant to write and collaborate in.

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Key Features at a Glance

FeatureDescription
Variable Incident MetadataDynamic placeholders like {{ incident.title }} that resolve to actual values
Complex Incident MetadataInsert rich liquid variable blocks with conditional syntax that resolve to their actual values
Data BlocksInsert dynamic Timeline and Follow-ups blocks that pull live data from the incident
Real-time CollaborationMultiple users edit simultaneously with live cursors and presence indicators
CommentsInline feedback and threaded discussions on selected text
@MentionsTag users and reference incidents directly in the document with interactive popovers
Export & SyncExport content to Google Docs, Confluence, Notion, and other providers. Download as PDF or copy as Markdown
Document StatusDraft and Published states with visual status indicators and publish confirmation flows
Invite CollaboratorsInvite team members via Slack or email to collaborate on the retrospective
TemplatesPre-built content structures inserted via slash commands
Version history and analyticsFull visibility into viewers and editors of a document. Track document changes and revert to previous versions with a click.

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Where the Editor Fits in the Incident Lifecycle

The retrospective editor is part of the broader retrospective workflow that begins when an incident is resolved. The editor is primarily used in the Write the Retrospective step, although teams can start writing their document at any point before or after the incident resolves.

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Retrospective Workflow Steps

  1. Gather and Confirm Data: Collect incident metadata, impacted services, and initial findings
  2. Write the Retrospective: Write the retrospective document using the Rootly document editor
  3. Create Follow-ups: Define action items to prevent recurrence
  4. Publish and Export the Retrospective: Publish the retrospective document to make it accessible, export to external providers, and notify your team to review

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External Document Editors

Rootly supports integrations with Notion, Google Docs, Confluence, SharePoint, Dropbox Paper, Coda and Quip. If you have workflows set up to create retrospective documents in an external editor, you can find links to your external documents under the Exports section in the Retrospectives tab. If you’d like to try the Rootly document editor, you can create a Rootly document from the Retrospective tab at any time. The Rootly document and external documents are independent — workflows that create external documents (e.g., in Confluence) do not create or modify the Rootly document.
You can choose to use the Rootly document editor, an external document editor, or both depending on your team’s needs. External providers are configured in Configuration → Integrations.

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How the Rootly Document Is Created

The Rootly document is created in one of two ways:
  • Manually: Click the Create Rootly Document button in the Retrospective tab to create a document on demand. You can start from a blank document or choose a template.
  • Via workflow: Set up a Create Rootly Retrospective workflow to automatically create the Rootly document when an incident resolves (or another trigger fires).
Workflows that export to external providers (like Confluence or Google Docs) do not create or write to the Rootly document. These are separate paths. If you want both, configure separate workflows for each.

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Where to Go Next

These pages provide detailed guidance on specific aspects of the retrospective editor:
  • Using the Editor: Formatting, slash commands, data blocks, and templates
  • Live Incident Variables: Dynamic content placeholders and available variables
  • Real-Time Collaboration: Multi-user editing, comments, and presence
  • Exporting Retrospectives: Export to external providers, download as PDF, and sync workflows

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FAQs

Yes. The editor supports real-time collaboration with live cursors showing where each user is working. Changes from all users are merged automatically without conflicts.
The editor automatically saves changes every second. If you lose connection, your changes are preserved locally and will sync when connectivity is restored
Yes. Rootly supports external document editors like Confluence, Google Docs, and Notion. If you have a workflow that creates documents in an external editor, those will continue to work as before. The Rootly document editor is optional and independent — workflows for external providers don’t affect it.
The Rootly document can be created manually by clicking Create Rootly Document in the Retrospective tab, or automatically via a Create Rootly Retrospective workflow. Workflows that export to external providers (like Confluence) do not create or modify the Rootly document — these are separate paths. If you create the document manually before a workflow fires, the workflow will not override your document.
Click the Export button in the editor header and select Export to new document. Choose your destination provider, set a title, and configure any provider-specific options. You can also update previously exported documents by selecting Update external document from the same dropdown.
Use data blocks by typing /timeline or /followups in the editor. These blocks pull live data from the incident and update automatically. You can also use liquid variables like {{ incident.title }} for individual data points, or a liquid variable block to display conditional outputs or data types like arrays.
Yes. Type @ in the editor to search for and mention users or incidents. User mentions display an interactive popover showing the person’s name, avatar, email, teams, and incident roles.
This depends on your team’s configuration. Retrospective workflows can be configured to trigger based on severity, incident type, or other conditions. Some steps can be marked as skippable while others are required.
Select any text in the editor and click the comment button to start a discussion thread. Team members can reply, resolve, or delete their comments. Comments are synced in real-time for all collaborators.
Yes. The editor shows presence indicators with user avatars/initials for everyone currently viewing or editing the document. Collaborative cursors with names show exactly where each person is working.