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Runbook Requirement Before Handoff

No system is handoff-ready without an accessible production runbook.

Minimum Runbook Structure​

Every runbook must include:

  • service overview and business purpose
  • production endpoints and environments in scope
  • key dependencies
  • health verification steps
  • common failure modes
  • restart and recovery steps
  • backup and restore references for stateful systems
  • escalation instructions
  • dashboard, monitor, and alert references

Quality Expectations​

The runbook must be:

  • written for someone other than the original developer
  • specific to the production system being handed off
  • current enough to support incident response
  • accessible to Anchor before acceptance

Required Outcomes​

An Anchor operator should be able to answer these questions from the runbook:

  • What does the system do?
  • How do I tell whether it is healthy?
  • What fails most often?
  • What can I safely restart or recover?
  • Where do I look for logs, metrics, and alerts?
  • Who do I call when the issue requires engineering support?

Missing Runbooks​

If the system has no usable runbook:

  • handoff is blocked
  • Anchor should not accept production ownership
  • the development company remains operationally responsible until the gap is closed