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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
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
External SyncExport content to Google Docs, Confluence, Notion, and other providers
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 Dat: 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. Share the Finalized Retrospective: Publish the retrospective document 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 a 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 export its contents to your external documents anytime. If you’d like to try the Rootly document editor, you can export its contents to your external documents anytime.
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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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
  • Retrospective Workflow & Process: Step configuration, publishing, and automation

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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.
The editor supports manual export to any external document provider you’ve connected via your Workflows. When an incident is resolved, we’ll automatically create a Rootly document with your default template applied, along with links to your exports. You can use the native editor and export manually to your external document providers as you make changes, or ignore it completely.
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.
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.