managing-blameless

name	managing-blameless
description	Use when working with Blameless — blameless incident management, SLO tracking, retrospectives, and reliability insights. Covers incident lifecycle, blameless retrospective facilitation, follow-up tracking, reliability scorecards, and incident type categorization. Use when managing active incidents, conducting retrospectives, tracking SLO compliance, or analyzing reliability trends in Blameless.
connection_type	blameless
preload	false

Blameless Management Skill

Manage and analyze incidents, retrospectives, SLOs, and reliability insights in Blameless.

API Conventions

Authentication

All API calls use the Authorization: Bearer $BLAMELESS_API_KEY header. Never hardcode tokens.

Base URL

https://api.blameless.com/api/v1

Core Helper Function

#!/bin/bash

bl_api() {
    local method="$1"
    local endpoint="$2"
    local data="${3:-}"

    if [ -n "$data" ]; then
        curl -s -X "$method" \
            -H "Authorization: Bearer $BLAMELESS_API_KEY" \
            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
            "https://api.blameless.com/api/v1${endpoint}" \
            -d "$data"
    else
        curl -s -X "$method" \
            -H "Authorization: Bearer $BLAMELESS_API_KEY" \
            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
            "https://api.blameless.com/api/v1${endpoint}"
    fi
}

Output Rules

• TOKEN EFFICIENCY: Extract only needed fields with jq
• Target <=50 lines per script output
• Never dump full API responses

Discovery Phase

List Active Incidents

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Active Incidents ==="
bl_api GET "/incidents?status=active&limit=25" \
    | jq -r '.incidents[] | "\(.created_at[0:16])\t\(.severity)\t\(.status)\t\(.title[0:60])"' \
    | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== Incident Types ==="
bl_api GET "/incident-types" \
    | jq -r '.incident_types[] | "\(.name)\t\(.description[0:50])"' | column -t

List SLOs

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== SLO Overview ==="
bl_api GET "/slos?limit=25" \
    | jq -r '.slos[] | "\(.name)\t\(.target)%\t\(.current_value)%\t\(.status)"' \
    | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== SLOs At Risk ==="
bl_api GET "/slos?limit=50" \
    | jq -r '.slos[] | select(.current_value < .target) | "\(.name)\ttarget:\(.target)%\tcurrent:\(.current_value)%"' | column -t

Analysis Phase

Retrospective Summary

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Recent Retrospectives ==="
bl_api GET "/retrospectives?limit=15&sort=-created_at" \
    | jq -r '.retrospectives[] | "\(.created_at[0:16])\t\(.incident.title[0:40])\t\(.status)"' \
    | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== Pending Follow-ups ==="
bl_api GET "/follow-ups?status=open&limit=15" \
    | jq -r '.follow_ups[] | "\(.priority // "none")\t\(.title[0:60])\t\(.assignee.name // "unassigned")"' \
    | column -t

Incident Detail

#!/bin/bash
INCIDENT_ID="${1:?Incident ID required}"

echo "=== Incident Details ==="
bl_api GET "/incidents/${INCIDENT_ID}" \
    | jq '.incident | {id, title, status, severity, type: .incident_type.name, created_at, resolved_at, summary: .summary[0:200]}'

echo ""
echo "=== Timeline ==="
bl_api GET "/incidents/${INCIDENT_ID}/events?limit=15" \
    | jq -r '.events[] | "\(.created_at[0:16])\t\(.event_type)\t\(.description[0:60])"' | column -t

Output Format

• Use tab-separated columns with column -t
• Limit lists to 15-25 items
• Show summaries before details

Anti-Hallucination Rules

1. NEVER assume resource names — always discover via CLI/API in Phase 1 before referencing in Phase 2.
2. NEVER fabricate metric names or dimensions — verify against the service documentation or --help output.
3. NEVER mix CLI commands between service versions — confirm which version/API you are targeting.
4. ALWAYS use the discovery → verify → analyze chain — every resource referenced must have been discovered first.
5. ALWAYS handle empty results gracefully — an empty response is valid data, not an error to retry.

Counter-Rationalizations

Shortcut	Counter	Why
"I'll skip discovery and check known resources"	Always run Phase 1 discovery first	Resource names change, new resources appear — assumed names cause errors
"The user only asked for a quick check"	Follow the full discovery → analysis flow	Quick checks miss critical issues; structured analysis catches silent failures
"Default configuration is probably fine"	Audit configuration explicitly	Defaults often leave logging, security, and optimization features disabled
"Metrics aren't needed for this"	Always check relevant metrics when available	API/CLI responses show current state; metrics reveal trends and intermittent issues
"I don't have access to that"	Try the command and report the actual error	Assumed permission failures prevent useful investigation; actual errors are informative

Common Pitfalls

• Retrospective workflow: Retrospectives go through stages (draft, in-review, published)
• SLO windows: SLOs use rolling or calendar windows -- check window type before comparing
• Follow-ups vs tasks: Follow-ups are post-incident commitments tracked separately from incident tasks
• Rate limits: Respect API rate limiting headers
• Pagination: Use limit and offset parameters