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Retrospective processes let you control which follow-up steps are created for an incident. By creating different processes for different incident scenarios, you can scale your retrospective workflow based on severity, incident type, or team. A retrospective process contains an ordered set of steps that guide responders through post-incident work, such as gathering details, writing the retrospective document, hosting a review meeting, and creating follow-up actions.

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Process Defaults

Every workspace includes a default retrospective process. No setup is required to begin using it. If no custom process matches the incident by severity, incident type, or team, Rootly uses the default process automatically.
The default retrospective process is always available as a fallback and cannot be deleted.
The default process includes predefined steps that work for many teams out of the box. You can review and customize those steps in Configuring Process Steps.
Default retrospective process

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Custom Processes

For more opinionated incident practices, you can create custom retrospective processes and apply them only to incidents that match specific conditions. A custom process can be configured to apply based on:
  • Severity
  • Incident type
  • Team
Rootly matches these conditions using OR logic. If an incident matches the severity, any incident type, or any team attached to the process, that process can be selected. If multiple custom processes match the same incident, Rootly uses the most recently created matching process.
A custom process must have at least one condition. If no severity, incident type, or team is attached, the process is inactive and will not be used.
Custom retrospective process conditions

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Skip and Mandatory Preferences

In addition to choosing which process applies, you can also control whether a retrospective should be skipped or required for certain incidents. Configure skip and mandatory rules under Retrospectives → Preferences or the equivalent area in your workspace. These preferences use the same condition types:
  • Severity
  • Incident type
  • Team
You can configure retrospectives to be:
  • Mandatory — Responders cannot skip the retrospective for matching incidents
  • Auto-skipped — The retrospective is skipped by default for matching incidents
  • Optional — No mandatory or auto-skip rule applies, so responders can choose whether to skip the retrospective on a per-incident basis
If an incident matches both a mandatory rule and an auto-skip rule, auto-skip takes precedence.
By default, responders can skip a retrospective from the bottom of the Retrospective tab. This option is not available when the retrospective is mandatory for that incident.
Auto-skipped retrospectives can still be resumed later by responders if follow-up work is needed.

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How Process Selection Works

When an incident is created or its status changes, Rootly evaluates the incident’s severity, incident types, and attached teams to determine which retrospective process should be used. Rootly then:
  • Selects the matching custom process, if one exists
  • Falls back to the default process when no custom process matches
  • Creates the steps for the selected process on the incident
Depending on your process configuration, steps can also include:
  • Relative due dates
  • Default assignees based on incident roles
  • Required or skippable behavior
  • Reminder notifications
If Custom Statuses are enabled, steps can also be organized by resolved phase, such as a retrospective phase and a follow-up phase.

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Example Configurations

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SEV1 Incident Example

A SEV1 incident might use a more rigorous retrospective process with steps such as:
  • Gather information
  • Hold retrospective meeting
  • Peer review the generated document
  • Publish the retrospective document
These steps can also include:
  • Assigned owners based on incident role
  • Relative due dates
  • Reminder notifications

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SEV3 Incident Example

A SEV3 incident might use a lighter process with optional steps such as:
  • Gather information
  • Hold a self-facilitated team retrospective
  • Capture lightweight follow-up actions only when needed
For lower-impact incidents, you can also configure the retrospective to be auto-skipped by default and resumed only when additional review is necessary.

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Frequently Asked Questions

A retrospective process is a named set of ordered steps used to guide post-incident follow-up work. Each process can include its own steps, due dates, assignees, and reminders.
Rootly checks the conditions attached to each custom process and looks for matches based on severity, incident type, or team. If more than one custom process matches, the most recently created one is used. If none match, the default retrospective process is used.
A custom process without any conditions is inactive. It will not be selected for any incident until at least one severity, incident type, or team condition is added.
Process conditions determine which retrospective process and steps are used for an incident. Skip and mandatory preferences determine whether responders can skip the retrospective for incidents that match those rules.
Yes, by default responders can skip a retrospective on an individual incident. However, if that incident matches a mandatory retrospective rule, the retrospective cannot be skipped.
Yes. Auto-skipped retrospectives can be resumed later if responders decide that follow-up work is still needed.