Plan the switch to a new way of working, with a way back if it fails

A cutover and rollback runbook with triggers, owner and ordered rollback steps, plus a blank rehearsal checklist.

Choose one of three approaches. The steps for that option appear below.

Choose an option above. On a phone, swipe the tabs left or right to see all options →

Claude: drafts the table and runbook, you check both

Claude drafts the cutover step table, then the runbook. You check the table, then the final copy.

  1. You

    You: Get inputs ready

  2. Claude

    Claude: Draft step table

  3. You

    You: Check each row

  4. Claude

    Claude: Draft the runbook

  5. You

    You: Check and decide

  1. Get the inputs ready

    Use: You

    Have ready: the approved transition scope, old and new procedures, rollback criteria, and any approved incident notes. Optional material stays optional.

    Check

    Check permission, audience limits and source completeness before uploading. Keep the originals available for the row check.

  2. Draft the cutover step table

    Use: Claude

    Ask Claude for one row per cutover step with reversibility, source location, supplied command, expected state, dependencies, rollback trigger and approver.

    Details

    What to paste into the tool

    Task: Unreviewed reversible/irreversible step table. Using only the supplied inputs, build one row per supplied cutover step with an explicit reversible, irreversible or not stated classification, approved source location, supplied command and expected state, dependencies, rollback trigger, source-backed preconditions and named irreversible-step approver; keep reversibility explicitly marked still to confirm and copy commands only where supplied. Keep source identifiers, dates, quotes and uncertainties explicit. Missing or ambiguous facts are still to confirm. Draft only; do not send, publish, change records, assign work or run commands.

  3. Check each row against the inputs

    Use: You

    Read each row against the original inputs, correct errors and record unresolved fields; ask for fixes in the same chat.

    Check

    Check supplied commands, expected states, reversibility and irreversible-step authority against the approved procedures; do not invent missing steps.

  4. Draft the runbook and checklist

    Use: Claude

    In the same chat, paste the corrected table and ask for the draft runbook plus a blank rehearsal checklist, inventing no command or step.

    Details

    What to paste into the tool

    Task: Unreviewed working copy: Draft cutover/rollback runbook retaining triggers, decision owner, ordered rollback steps, expected checks, communication placeholders and explicit items still to confirm; blank rehearsal checklist with expected-result and unclear/failed fields. Use only the checked table and supplied source copy to prepare a cutover/rollback runbook retaining triggers, decision owner, ordered rollback steps, expected checks, communication placeholders and explicit items still to confirm, plus a blank rehearsal checklist with expected-result and unclear/failed fields; invent no command or missing step and claim no rehearsal, approval or safe rollback. Preserve source locations and all unresolved fields. Draft only; do not send, publish, change records, assign work or run commands.

  5. Check the runbook and decide

    Use: You

    Check the working copy against the checked table and original inputs; keep unresolved questions and stop at the checked draft.

    Check

    Check reversibility, source-backed preconditions and every irreversible-step approver. No rehearsal or safe rollback is claimed; physical cutovers keep qualified safety review. No real-world action occurs.

Before you paste into any AI tool, remove any confidential information. Put it back at the end.

Tools in this workflow

Deciding between ChatGPT and Claude for this? See the comparison.

Final check

Inspect approved original procedures/deployment outline and incident notes, verify supplied commands and expected states, reversibility and irreversible-step authority; do not invent missing steps.

Qualified transition owner or release engineer verifies reversibility, source-backed preconditions and every irreversible-step approver. On-call engineer may review the blank rehearsal checklist; no rehearsal or safe rollback is claimed from drafting. Applicable physical cutovers retain qualified safety review.

Check organisational permission and source/audience restrictions before uploading operational material. Stop at the reviewed draft; no real-world next action occurs.

Check the result against your original inputs. Approve it before sharing or acting.

What still needs checking
  • Not yet confirmed: actual input size, account feature access, quotas and organisational permission to upload the confidential material. No scenario was executed.
  • Source inconsistency: the preparation step also names "Transition scope, old and new operating procedures and rollback criteria" and "Approved original transition/deployment steps and prior incident/rollback notes with source locations". Optional outline/incident notes remain optional; missing source locations or commands are not supplied in the starting material.

Share this page