Workflows & Features

To use these features, you must first connect GitHub to Rootly. See GitHub Installation.

Workflow Actions

These actions are available in Incident Workflows and Alert Workflows.

Create a GitHub Issue

Creates a new issue in the specified GitHub repository and links it to the Rootly incident or action item.

Field	Description	Required
Repository	The GitHub repository where the issue will be created (e.g. `org/repo`)	Yes
Title	Issue title. Supports Liquid templating (e.g. `{{ incident.title }}`)	Yes
Body	Issue body/description. Supports Liquid templating	No
Labels	Comma-separated list of label names to apply to the issue	No
Issue Type	The type of issue to create (e.g. `Bug`, `Feature`, `Task`)	No
Parent Issue Number	Issue number of the parent issue. Use this to create a sub-issue	No

Update a GitHub Issue

Updates an existing GitHub issue linked to the incident or action item.

Field	Description	Required
Issue ID	The ID of the GitHub issue to update. Use the stored ID from a prior Create Issue action	Yes
Title	New title for the issue. Supports Liquid templating	No
Body	New body/description. Supports Liquid templating	No
Labels	Comma-separated list of label names to apply	No
Issue Type	Updated issue type	No
Completion	Set to Auto to mirror the incident or action item status. Closes the issue when the incident resolves or the action item is marked done	No

When Completion is set to Auto, Rootly will automatically close the GitHub issue when the linked incident is resolved or the linked action item is completed.

Get Commits

Fetches recent commits from one or more GitHub repositories and optionally posts them to the incident timeline or a Slack channel.

Field	Description	Required
Services Impacted by Incident	When enabled (default), automatically queries the GitHub repositories linked to the services impacted by the incident. Disable this to specify repositories manually	No
Service IDs	Rootly service IDs whose linked GitHub repositories will be queried. Required when Services Impacted by Incident is disabled and Repository Names is not set	Conditional
Repository Names	Explicit list of GitHub repository names to query (e.g. `org/repo`). Required when Services Impacted by Incident is disabled and Service IDs is not set	Conditional
Branch	The branch to fetch commits from. Defaults to `master`	No
Past Duration	How far back to look for commits (e.g. `1h`, `30m`)	No
Post to Incident Timeline	When enabled, appends fetched commits as an event in the incident timeline	No
Post to Slack Channels	Slack channel names to post the commit list to	No

When Services Impacted by Incident is disabled, either Service IDs or Repository Names must be provided. Each service used must have a GitHub repository configured in its settings.

PR Link Enrichment

When an engineer pastes a GitHub PR URL into the incident’s Slack channel, Rootly automatically:

Detects the PR link and attaches it to the incident
Tracks the PR status (open, approved, merged) in real time
Posts status updates in Slack as the PR progresses
Adds each status change as an event in the incident timeline

Inbound Events (Pulses)

Rootly receives GitHub webhook events and stores them as pulses — timestamped signals you can correlate with incidents.

Supported Events

Event	Trigger
Push	Any push to any repository branch
Pull Request: Opened	A new pull request is opened
Pull Request: Closed	A pull request is closed without merging
Pull Request: Merged	A pull request is merged
Pull Request: Approved	A pull request review approval is submitted
Issues	A GitHub issue is opened, closed, or edited

Pulse Labels

Each pulse includes the following labels for filtering and routing:

Label	Description	Events
`action`	Event action (e.g. `push`, `pr_merged`)	All
`repository`	Repository name where the event originated	All
`ref`	Branch or tag ref (e.g. `refs/heads/main`)	Push, Pull Request
`base`	Target branch of the pull request	Pull Request (merged)
`merged_by`	GitHub login of the user who merged the PR	Pull Request (merged)

Secret Scanning

GitHub scans public repositories for known secret patterns, including Rootly API tokens. Rootly has partnered with GitHub’s secret scanning program. When a Rootly token is detected in a public repository, GitHub notifies Rootly, which then alerts workspace owners and allows them to revoke the token within seconds. GitHub Advanced Security customers can additionally enable push protection to block Rootly tokens from entering repositories at push time.

Troubleshooting

Issues are not being created

Confirm the repository name is in org/repo format
Verify the connected GitHub account has write access to the target repository
Check that the rootlyhq GitHub App is still installed and has access to the repository

Get Commits returns no results

Confirm the branch name is correct and exists in the repository
Check that the Past Duration window is wide enough to include recent commits
When using Service IDs, verify each service has a GitHub repository configured in its settings

PR enrichment is not working

The incident must have an active Slack channel
The PR URL must be pasted directly in the incident Slack channel (not a thread)
Confirm the GitHub App has Read access to pull requests

Pulses are not appearing

Navigate to the Rootly integrations page and verify the GitHub connection is active
Re-authenticate if the OAuth token has expired
Confirm the rootlyhq GitHub App is installed and the webhook is active in your GitHub organization settings

​Workflow Actions

​Create a GitHub Issue

​Update a GitHub Issue

​Get Commits

​PR Link Enrichment

​Inbound Events (Pulses)

​Supported Events

​Pulse Labels

​Secret Scanning

​Troubleshooting

Workflow Actions

Create a GitHub Issue

Update a GitHub Issue

Get Commits

PR Link Enrichment

Inbound Events (Pulses)

Supported Events

Pulse Labels

Secret Scanning

Troubleshooting