When you’re added to a schedule rotation, you will regularly be assigned on-call shifts. Sometimes things come up and you won’t be able to be on-call for your assigned shift. Rootly lets you easily get coverage for your shift from the teammates on the same schedule by submitting a Coverage Request on web or Slack.

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Coverage Requests

Coverage Requests allow you to flag a shift you won’t be able to take. By creating a Coverage Request, Rootly will automatically send a notification to your teammates, and prompt them to either accept or ignore the request: once your teammate accepts the request, the shift will automatically be reassigned to them.

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Submitting Coverage Requests

If you have Shift Override permissions, you’ll also be able to create an Override (reassign the shift to someone else) by following these steps.

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On Web

You can submit a Coverage Request on the Shift and Schedule page in Rootly Web. On the Shift page, select the Coverage Request button to begin submitting your Coverage Request. Clean Shot2025 08 06at12 41 54@2x Pn On the Schedule page, edit a schedule that you are actively on the rotation for. Then select the Override & Coverage tab and click the Request Coverage button. Clean Shot2025 08 06at12 43 19@2x Pn Follow the steps in the modal to create your Coverage Request:
  1. Add the start and end time in which you are not able to be on call for.
  2. Rootly will retrieve all of the shifts that you were scheduled to be on call for during that period of time.
  3. You can click the submit Coverage Request button to notify all of your other teammates that you were unable to be on call for those shifts.
Clean Shot2025 08 06at12 42 45@2x Pn

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On Slack

You can submit a Coverage Request by running /rootly override in Slack. Enter the period of time in which you need a coverage request for, and hit Next. Rootly will fetch the shifts that you have scheduled during that period of time: you’ll be able to review these in the next modal. When you’re ready to submit your coverage request, simply click Request Coverage. Clean Shot2025 08 06at12 51 03@2x Pn

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[Coming Soon] On Mobile

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Managing Coverage Requests

You’re able to see all of your existing coverage requests in the Rootly web application. Navigate to On-Call > Shifts, and then the Coverage Request tab to see any of your open coverage requests. Once someone accepts your coverage request, the request will be removed from this view and your shift will be automatically reassigned to that person. Clean Shot2025 08 06at12 23 37@2x Pn

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Accepting Coverage Requests

Anyone on the schedule is able to accept the coverage request on Web, Slack, and (coming soon) Mobile. Only one person can accept the coverage request: once it’s accepted and the shift has been reassigned, Rootly will let anyone else who tries to accept the shift know that it’s already been taken.
If you are on the rotation for more than one schedule, you might already be scheduled to be on-call at the time of the coverage request. Make sure they’re able to be on call for both schedules at the same time.

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On Web

You can accept a Coverage Request through the Shift or Schedule page on Rootly Web. On the Shift page, select the person that you want to review their open coverage requests for and select the coverage requests that you want to take. On the Schedule page, edit the Schedule that you want to review the Coverage Requests for, and navigate to theOverride and Requests tab. From there, you can select a Coverage Request and take it yourself.
Only users with Schedule edit permissions will be able to accept Coverage Requests from the schedules tab

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On Slack

When someone on a schedule requests coverage for their shift, Rootly will send a message on Slack to:
  1. Everyone on the schedule.
  2. The Schedule’s Slack Channel (configured in the Schedule’s settings under Notifications).
Clean Shot2025 08 06at12 14 05@2x Pn You can either accept the request from here, view the shift in the Rootly web app for more details, or simply ignore it.

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[Coming Soon] On Mobile