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Overview

Workflows let you automate Notion page creation and updates for incident retrospectives. You can trigger page creation when an incident resolves or a retrospective begins, and populate the page with timeline data, action items, and custom template content using Liquid variables.

Available Actions

ActionDescription
Create Notion PageCreates a new retrospective page in a specified Notion parent page
Update Notion PageOverwrites an existing Notion page with the latest incident data

Create a Workflow

1

Open Workflow Creation

Navigate to Workflows in Rootly and click Create Workflow.
Rootly workflows page
Create workflow button
2

Choose Workflow Type

Select the workflow type that matches your use case — Incident, Retrospective, or Pulse.
Workflow type selection
3

Configure Triggers

Triggers define when the workflow runs. Choose the event that should kick off page creation.
Workflow trigger configuration
TriggerWhen it fires
Incident CreatedA new incident opens
Incident UpdatedSeverity, status, or other fields change
Incident Status ChangedThe incident moves to a specific status
Incident ResolvedThe incident is resolved
Retrospective StartedThe retrospective process begins
Manual TriggerRun on demand from the UI
4

Add Conditions (Optional)

Use conditions to control when the workflow fires after the trigger. For example, only create a Notion page for SEV-1 or SEV-2 incidents, or only for specific teams or environments.
Workflow conditions panel
5

Add the Notion Action

Click Add Action and search for Notion.
Add action with Notion search

Create Notion Page

Use this action to create a new retrospective page in Notion for an incident. The page is created under a parent page you select and is populated using the template and fields you configure.
Create Notion Page action
Notion page action configuration
FieldDescription
PageThe parent Notion page where the new page will be created. Must be a page Rootly was granted access to during installation.
TitleThe page title. Supports Liquid syntax — use the incident title or any other variable.
Post Mortem TemplateA pre-built retrospective template from Retrospective Templates.
Mark Post Mortem as PublishedSet the retrospective status to published immediately rather than leaving it as draft.
Show Timeline as TableInclude the incident timeline. Uncheck if you want images to appear inline — Notion does not support images in tables.
Show Action Items as TableInclude follow-up action items. Only follow-up type items are included — tasks are excluded as they are completed during the incident, before the retrospective.
Skip on FailurePrevent the workflow from stopping if this action fails.
EnabledToggle this action on or off for testing.

Update Notion Page

Use this action to overwrite an existing Notion page with the latest incident data. This is useful for keeping the retrospective page current as the incident progresses.
Update Notion Page action
This is an overwrite operation. Any manual changes made to the Notion page will be replaced when this action runs.
FieldDescription
FileThe Notion page to update. Use incident.notion_page_id via Liquid to reference the incident’s existing page.
TitleUpdated page title. Leave blank to keep the existing title.
Post Mortem TemplateTemplate to apply when updating. Overwrites existing content.
Show Timeline as TableInclude the incident timeline.
Show Action Items as TableInclude follow-up action items.
Skip on FailurePrevent the workflow from stopping if this action fails.
EnabledToggle this action on or off for testing.

Variable Reference

Use these variables in page titles and templates. Use the Liquid Variable Explorer to test variables with real incident data.

Incident Variables

VariableDescription
incident.titleIncident title
incident.summaryIncident summary
incident.severitySeverity level (e.g., SEV1)
incident.statusCurrent status
incident.started_atWhen the incident started
incident.resolved_atWhen the incident was resolved
incident.commander.nameIncident commander name
incident.urlLink to the incident in Rootly

Notion Variables

VariableDescription
incident.notion_page_idID of the incident’s Notion page — used in the Update action
incident.notion_page_urlURL to the Notion page

Frequently Asked Questions

Check the workflow run log under Workflows → Your Workflow → View Runs for error details. Confirm the parent page selected in the action is one Rootly was granted access to during installation. Re-authorize the integration if the connection has expired.
The Update Notion Page action is a full overwrite. If you need to preserve manual edits, disable any workflows that trigger an update on that page, or add conditions to prevent them from running after a certain point in the incident lifecycle.
Yes — define a custom retrospective template in Retrospective Templates and select it in the Post Mortem Template field. Use the Liquid Variable Explorer to build and test your template.
Notion does not support images inside tables. Uncheck Show Timeline as Table to render the timeline inline, which will allow images to display correctly.