Guide · Agent skill
How to use the Postmortem Writing agent skill
Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data
The Postmortem Writing skill is a set of instructions that an AI agent (such as Claude) follows when you ask it to write a post-incident review. It guides the agent to write a blameless postmortem that focuses on the system conditions that allowed a failure, not on who caused it. After reading this guide you will know how to install the skill, how to ask for it in plain language, and what to check before you share the result.
Postmortem Writingwshobson/agents · MIT Download the skill Quick start
- 1Download the ZIP. Download the postmortem-writing skill ZIP from this page.
- 2Unzip into the skills folder. Unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder.
- 3Or upload in the Claude apps. In the Claude apps, go to Settings, then Capabilities, then Skills, and upload the skill.
- 4Gather incident facts. Collect what happened, the timeline, severity and impact before you ask for a draft.
- 5Ask in plain language. Request a postmortem, a 5 Whys analysis or a meeting outline in your own words.
- 6Verify the draft. Check times, numbers and owners against your logs and tickets, and replace any sample data.
What the skill makes the agent do
Once installed, the agent follows a structured guide for writing post-incident reviews after outages or failures. It helps draft postmortem documents, builds timelines, runs 5 Whys root cause analysis, lists follow-up action items, and can outline how to facilitate a 60-minute review meeting.
The skill is built around blameless culture. The guide contrasts questions like "Who caused this?" with "What conditions allowed this?" and asks the agent to frame mistakes as things the system allowed.
- Drafts a postmortem document
- Builds a chronological timeline
- Runs 5 Whys root cause analysis
- Lists follow-up action items with owners
- Outlines a 60-minute postmortem meeting (opening, timeline review, analysis, action items, closing)
- Uses templates for major and minor incidents from a reference file
How to install the skill
You can install the skill in one of two ways. Download the ZIP file from this page and unzip it into your personal skills folder, ~/.claude/skills/, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder if you want it available only in that project.
Alternatively, in the Claude apps, open Settings, go to Capabilities, and upload the skill under Skills.
- Option A (personal): unzip into ~/.claude/skills/
- Option B (single project): unzip into the project's .claude/skills/ folder
- Option C (Claude apps): Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload
Check the files and requirements
After unzipping, the skill folder should contain SKILL.md and a references/details.md file. SKILL.md holds the main guide; details.md holds the full template library and worked examples that the agent reads when it needs concrete templates.
The skill lists no required tools or packages. It does not run scripts and does not use the network.
- Files: SKILL.md, references/details.md
- Requires: nothing listed
- Runs scripts: no
- Uses network: no
How to trigger the skill with natural requests
You do not need a special command. Describe what you need in plain language. The skill's description covers requests about conducting incident reviews, writing postmortem documents, and improving incident response processes, so requests like these should bring it in.
Give the agent the facts it needs: what broke, how long it lasted, the timeline if you have one, and the severity. The more specific the input, the more useful the draft.
- "Write a postmortem for yesterday's checkout outage. Here is the timeline: ..."
- "Run a 5 Whys analysis on this database connection exhaustion incident."
- "Draft a quick postmortem for a 12-minute API latency spike."
- "Outline a 60-minute postmortem meeting for our team this Thursday."
Review the output before you share it
The templates in the skill are generic examples. The reference file includes sample values such as dates, customer counts and ticket numbers that illustrate the format; they are not facts about your incident. Replace every detail with your own verified data.
If you need a legally reviewed or regulatory-compliant incident report, do not rely on this skill alone. A human must verify the output against your own requirements.
- Replace all sample numbers, names and dates with real data
- Check the timeline against logs and alerts
- Confirm each action item has an owner and a tracked ticket
What people use it for
- Drafting a standard postmortem after a production outage that affected customers
- Running a 5 Whys analysis to move from a symptom to systemic causes
- Writing a quick postmortem for a minor, short incident
- Outlining a 60-minute blameless review meeting for a team that is new to incident reviews
- Turning a rough timeline into a clean table with follow-up action items
Frequently asked questions
Is the Postmortem Writing skill free?
The source lists the skill under the MIT licence. The page does not list prices, so check the licence file in the repository for the exact terms.
What do I need to use this skill?
The skill lists no required tools, does not run scripts and does not use the network. You need an agent that supports skills, such as the Claude apps or Claude Code with a skills folder.
Where do I put the skill folder?
Unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder. In the Claude apps, you can upload it under Settings, Capabilities, Skills.
Will the agent trigger the skill automatically?
The skill is matched to requests about incident reviews, writing postmortem documents and improving incident response. Describe your task in plain language and mention the postmortem or incident review.
Can I use this skill during a live outage?
No. The skill is for after-the-fact reviews, not live incident response while an outage is still happening.
Is this skill a substitute for a compliance-approved incident report?
No. The templates are generic examples, so a human must verify the output. Organisations that need a legally reviewed or regulatory-compliant report should not rely on it alone.
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Our verdict
Choose this skill if you are an engineer, SRE or engineering manager who needs a consistent, blameless postmortem format and a 5 Whys process, especially if your team is starting incident reviews. Pick something else if you need a live incident tool, or a legally reviewed or regulatory-compliant report, because this skill only drafts generic documents that a human must check.
Download the skill