Runbook Assembly Guide

A quick walkthrough of the platform and how to use the main features.
Go to Runbooks Create account

0) Organizations and teams

Runbook Assembly supports multi-tenant organizations. An Organization is a tenant (like its own private Runbook Assembly instance). Teams live inside an organization.
  • If you’re not part of a customer organization, your account is in the Corporate organization.
  • You can only add/share with users inside your organization (except key-based runbook sharing).
  • Org Admin users can manage users + invites inside their organization.
  • Seat limits (if enabled) are enforced at the organization level.
  • Admin / Owner Admin can create organizations from the Organizations page.
  • Admin / Owner Admin can move existing registered users into another organization.
  • When a user is moved to another organization, shares and team links are reset to keep tenant boundaries safe.

1) Create a runbook

  1. Go to Runbooks and click Create Runbook.
  2. Use Owned by me only on the Runbooks page to quickly filter to runbooks you own.
  3. Optionally choose a Template to pre-load columns (and starter rows if the template includes them).
  4. After creation, you’ll land on the runbook table page.
  5. Use Edit details on the runbook page to update the runbook title/description later.

2) Build your runbook table

A runbook is a table. Columns define what information you track per step, and rows represent steps (or sections).
Import from a spreadsheet (copy/paste)
  1. Open a runbook and click Import Spreadsheet.
  2. Paste from Excel / Google Sheets.
  3. Choose whether the first row contains headers.
  4. Use Auto-detect to import TSV (tabs) or CSV (commas).
  5. Tip: prefix a row with ## to create a Topic Row (example: “## DevOps starts here”).
  6. Review the inferred column types (Checkbox/Number/Date/Enum) and adjust as needed.
  7. Optional: click AI Analyze to improve type detection and suggest append mappings.
  8. Click Import to create the columns + rows (or append rows with mapping).
  9. If import results are not what you expected, click Rollback Last Import on the runbook toolbar to restore the pre-import state.
Import from a document (upload or paste)
  1. Open a runbook and click Import Document.
  2. Upload PDF/DOCX/Confluence HTML export (or paste text).
  3. Click Preview to inspect the generated sections, row/column counts, and AI suggestions.
  4. Optional: use Extract Jira keys and Extract GitHub/GitLab links to auto-create and populate dedicated columns.
  5. We’ll generate Topic Rows from headings and create starter step rows (replace mode).
  6. If needed, use Rollback Last Import to return to the previous runbook state.
Columns
  • Short Text: single-line input.
  • Text: multi-line textarea (good for instructions/checklists).
  • Number: numeric input.
  • Date: date picker input.
  • Checkbox: checkbox input.
  • Enum: dropdown; set comma-separated values when creating/editing the column.
  • Tip: you can optionally add colors like Open:blue, Assigned:green, Closed:red.
  • Jira Key: validates keys like ABC-123 and (optionally) links to Jira.
  • Auto Increment: read-only; automatically numbers rows 01, 02, 03…
Rows
  • Add Row: adds a normal step row with cells for each column.
  • Add Topic Row: adds a full-width section header (example: “DevOps starts here”).
  • Drag the ≡ handle to reorder rows/columns.
  • Auto Increment updates when you reorder/delete rows and ignores Topic Rows.

3) Save as a template

Templates let you reuse a runbook structure (columns and optional starter rows/values).
  1. Open a runbook and click Save as Template.
  2. Enable Include rows and values if you want the template to ship with starter steps (including Topic Rows).
  3. Templates appear under Templates and in the Create Runbook form.
  4. On a template page, click Edit details to update template name/description.

4) Share a runbook

Runbooks support sharing by access key and by sharing with registered users.
  • Key (view/edit): create a 6-digit key; share the link + key separately (the key is not placed in the URL).
  • Registered user share: share with another user in your organization by email with view or edit permission.
  • Registered-user shares now send an email notification with the direct runbook link.

5) Share a template

Template owners can share templates with registered users. Shared templates can be viewed and used to create new runbooks.
  1. Open a template and click Sharing.
  2. Add a user by email and choose view or edit.
  3. Recipients will see it under Templates → Shared with you and in Create Runbook → Template.
  4. Template shares send an email notification with the direct template link.

Common tips

  • Use a Topic Row to separate responsibilities (QA → DevOps) or phases (Pre-checks → Deploy → Verify → Rollback).
  • Prefer Enum for status fields (“Not started, In progress, Blocked, Done”).
  • Use Text columns for step instructions and verification notes.
  • Use Export CSV to round-trip a runbook to a spreadsheet.

Sales Admin workspace

Sales Admin users have a dedicated dashboard for customer demos and follow-up management.
  • Manage prospects/clients, schedule presentations, and capture presentation outcomes.
  • Each presentation auto-creates a follow-up runbook checklist so next actions are tracked in-platform.
  • Use the Notes side drawer (floating button) to save page-specific talking points.
  • Attach snapshot images + notes to each presentation for post-demo analysis.
  • Use Reset demo workspace to return to a preloaded starter state before the next presentation.

Security: Two-factor authentication (2FA)

You can enable 2FA to protect your account with an authenticator app (Google Authenticator, Authy, 1Password). Admins are required to enable 2FA before accessing admin pages.
  1. Open Account (click your name in the top nav).
  2. In Two-factor authentication, click Enable 2FA.
  3. Scan the QR code in your authenticator app (or enter the manual key).
  4. Enter the 6-digit code to confirm.
  5. Save your recovery codes (copy/download/print). You won’t be able to view them again.
Login flow: after entering email + password, you’ll be prompted for your 6-digit authenticator code (or you can use a recovery code).
Tip: If you lose access to your authenticator app, you can log in using a recovery code once. You can also regenerate recovery codes from the Account page (it invalidates older codes).

Security: Single Sign-On (Okta)

Some organizations enable Okta SSO. When enabled, users can sign in using their company identity provider (OIDC).
  1. Go to Login and click SSO.
  2. Enter your organization slug and continue.
  3. After Okta authentication, you’ll be redirected back to Runbook Assembly and logged in.
Note: Okta SSO is configured by your Org Admin (if it’s enabled for your organization plan).

AI Assist (readiness check)

AI Assist is a deterministic “AI-lite” helper that can review a runbook and suggest common best-practice improvements (like adding verification/rollback sections).
  1. Open a runbook you can edit.
  2. Click AI Check.
  3. Review findings and select suggested fixes to apply.
AI Assist suggestions create normal columns/rows (no hidden changes) and obey finalization rules.

Jira keys (v1)

If your workspace uses Jira, add a Jira Key column to track tickets per step. Jira keys are validated as PROJECT-123.
Optional: set a Jira base URL to make Jira keys clickable: Org Admin → Settings (org-wide). If you’re not in an organization (or you’re in the Corporate org), you can set it on your Account page.

Execution approvals (V2)

You can execute a runbook and gate sensitive steps with approvals. When a step is marked Need approval, it becomes blocked until an allowed approver approves it.
  1. Open a runbook and start an execution in Run History (V2).
  2. Each step has a Type selector (manual, approval, automated, verification, wait).
  3. Each step can have an Owner assigned (who is responsible for executing that step).
  4. Use My steps only to focus the table on steps assigned to your account.
  5. Use step-level filters for Status, Type, and Owner to focus on the right work quickly.
  6. Save your favorite filter combinations as Saved views in the execution panel for one-click reuse.
  7. Use timeline filters for Event type and quick text search to isolate key execution events.
  8. Run history now loads in pages; use Load more history to fetch older executions.
  9. Each step can define a dependency (which prior step must complete first).
  10. Each step can define an on-fail action: stop, continue, or jump to a later step.
  11. Use Save Flow on a step to persist dependency/failure-path settings.
  12. Use Add Note on any step to capture timeline annotations (who/what/why) during execution.
  13. On a step, choose an approval policy (Any editor, Runbook owner, Org admin, Owner admin, or Specific user).
  14. Click Need approval.
  15. Approvers can approve from the runbook execution panel or from Runbooks → Pending Approvals.
  16. The top navigation shows a red badge on Runbooks when approvals are waiting.
Approval requests send email notifications to the targeted approver set for that policy.
You can also open Notifications from the top nav to review unread approval requests, step assignments, and execution events, then mark all as read.
The Runbooks page also includes a My Assigned Steps panel so you can quickly jump into active execution steps assigned to you.
If an assigned step is an approvable blocked approval step, you can approve it directly from the My Assigned Steps panel.