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Incident management for Slack (FREE SAAS)

Introduced in GitLab 15.7 with a flag named incident_declare_slash_command. Disabled by default.

FLAG: On self-managed GitLab, by default this feature is not available. To make it available, ask an administrator to enable the feature flag named incident_declare_slash_command. On GitLab.com, this feature is not available. The feature is not ready for production use.

Many teams receive alerts and collaborate in real time during incidents in Slack. Use the GitLab for Slack app to:

  • Create GitLab incidents from Slack.
  • Receive incident notifications.

Incident management for Slack is only available for GitLab.com. Some of the functionality described might be available for the self-managed Slack app.

To stay up to date, follow epic 1211.

Manage an incident from Slack

Prerequisites:

  1. Install the GitLab for Slack app. This way, you can use slash commands in Slack to create and update GitLab incidents.

  2. Enable Slack notifications. Be sure to enable notifications for Incident events, and to define a Slack channel to receive the relevant notifications.

  3. Authorize GitLab to take actions on behalf of your Slack user. Each user must do this before they can use any of the incident slash commands.

    To start the authorization flow, try executing a non-incident Slack slash command, like /gitlab <project-alias> issue show <id>. The <project-alias> you select must be a project that has the GitLab for Slack app set up. For more context, visit issue 377548.

After the GitLab for Slack app is configured, you can also use any of the existing Slack slash commands.

Declare an incident

To declare a GitLab incident from Slack:

  1. In Slack, in any channel or DM, enter the /gitlab incident declare slash command.

  2. From the modal, select the relevant incident details, including:

    • The incident title and description.
    • The project where the incident should be created.
    • The severity of the incident.

    If there is an existing incident template for your project, that template is automatically applied to the description text box. The template is applied only if the description text box is empty.

    You can also include GitLab quick actions in the description text box. For example, entering /link https://example.slack.com/archives/123456789 Dedicated Slack channel adds a dedicated Slack channel to the incident you create. For a complete list of quick actions for incidents, see Use GitLab quick actions.

  3. Optional. Add a link to an existing Zoom meeting.

  4. Select Create.

If the incident is successfully created, Slack shows a confirmation notification.

Use GitLab quick actions

Use quick actions in the description text box when creating a GitLab incident from Slack. The following quick actions might be most relevant to you:

Command Description
/assign @user1 @user2 Adds an assignee to the GitLab incident.
/label ~label1 ~label2 Adds labels to the GitLab incident.
/link <URL> <text> Adds a link to a dedicated Slack channel, runbook, or any relevant resource to the Related resources section of an incident.
/zoom <URL> Adds a Zoom meeting link to the incident.

Send GitLab incident notifications to Slack

If you have enabled notifications for incidents, you should receive notifications to the selected Slack channel every time an incident is opened, closed, or updated.