Close the Incident and Hand Off Follow-Through

Before you start

• Confirm customer and internal impact are actually under control.
• Make sure the timeline includes the key actions and decisions from the response.

Do this

1. In Status Flow, move the incident to mitigated when immediate impact is contained.
2. Move it to resolved only when the team is ready to stop active response.
3. Add a final timeline entry that records the fix, current state, and anything still being monitored.
4. Post a closing status update if responders or customers still need a final communication.
5. Review the runbook executions and bridge links so the incident record is complete.
6. Open or continue the retrospective work for the incident if follow-up actions are required.

Check it worked

• The incident status reflects the true end state of the event.
• The incident record shows the final update and the key response actions.
• The retrospective can start from a complete timeline instead of chat reconstruction.

If it does not work

• If you are unsure whether to resolve, leave the incident in mitigated until monitoring is complete.
• If closing notes are missing, add them before you hand the incident to retrospectives.
• If customers still need updates, keep publishing from the same incident instead of starting a new thread elsewhere.

Next

• Run a retrospective
• Track changes around future incidents