This free AI prompt helps Software Developers with Debugging tasks. Copy and paste it directly into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini — then replace the [brackets] with your specific details to get professional results in seconds.
This prompt has been copied 0 times by Software Developers professionals. It works best when you are as specific as possible in the [brackets] — vague input gives generic output, specific input gives professional results.
The Prompt
Create an incident postmortem document for [incident description]. Incident details: - Date: [date] - Duration: [start to resolution] - Severity: [P1/P2/P3] - Impact: [users affected/revenue impact/SLA breach] - Systems affected: [list] - On-call responders: [roles] INCIDENT POSTMORTEM INCIDENT SUMMARY - What happened: [1-2 sentence summary] - Impact: [quantified — X users affected for Y hours] - Root cause: [one sentence] - Contributing factors: [list] - Status: [resolved] TIMELINE | Time | Event | | [HH:MM] | [First signs of issue] | | [HH:MM] | [Alert fired / User reported] | | [HH:MM] | [On-call paged] | | [HH:MM] | [Initial investigation begins] | | [HH:MM] | [Root cause identified] | | [HH:MM] | [Fix deployed] | | [HH:MM] | [Issue confirmed resolved] | | [HH:MM] | [All-clear communicated] | ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS 5 WHYS Why 1: [immediate cause] Why 2: [cause of why 1] Why 3: [cause of why 2] Why 4: [cause of why 3] Why 5: [root cause] CONTRIBUTING FACTORS - [Factor 1]: [how it contributed] - [Factor 2]: [how it contributed] WHAT WENT WELL - [Detection was fast because...] - [Communication was effective because...] - [Rollback worked because...] WHAT WENT POORLY - [Monitoring did not catch X because...] - [Runbook was outdated] - [Took X minutes too long to identify because...] ACTION ITEMS | Action | Owner | Priority | Due Date | Status | | Add alert for [metric] | [team] | P1 | [date] | Open | | Update runbook for [scenario] | [team] | P2 | [date] | Open | | Add test for [edge case] | [team] | P2 | [date] | Open | | Review [process] | [team] | P3 | [date] | Open | METRICS - Time to detect: [minutes] - Time to acknowledge: [minutes] - Time to resolve: [minutes] - Total downtime: [minutes] - Users impacted: [number] NO BLAME POLICY This document focuses on systems and processes — not individuals. All team members acted in good faith with the information available.
How to Use This Prompt
- Click Copy Prompt above
- Open ChatGPT or Claude
- Paste the prompt and replace anything in [brackets] with your own details
- Press Enter and get your result instantly
When to Use This Prompt
Use the Dev Incident Postmortem Template prompt when you need to quickly create professional debugging as a Software Developer. This prompt saves significant time compared to writing from scratch and ensures you cover all the key elements that matter most in a professional context.
- You need a professional first draft quickly
- You want to ensure you haven't missed any important elements
- You need consistent quality across multiple similar documents
- You want to adapt an output for different situations by changing the brackets
Pro Tip
The more specific you are when replacing the [brackets], the better your result. For example instead of writing [Job Title] write "Senior Software Engineer with 5 years experience" — specificity is what separates a good AI response from a great one.
This prompt works best with ChatGPT . If you are not happy with the first result, try adding "make it more concise" or "give me 3 alternative versions" as a follow-up message.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this Dev Incident Postmortem Template prompt free to use?
Yes — completely free. Copy it as many times as you want for personal or professional use. No account required.
Which AI tool works best with this prompt?
This prompt works well with ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. We recommend ChatGPT GPT-4o for best results with this type of content. Try both ChatGPT and Claude if you want to compare outputs.
How do I get the best results from this prompt?
Replace every [bracket] with specific, detailed information. The more specific your input, the more professional and useful the output. For example instead of writing [client name] write the actual client name and their specific situation — this transforms generic output into something genuinely useful.
Can I modify this prompt?
Absolutely — these prompts are designed to be customized. Add sections, remove sections, change the tone, adjust the length. The prompt is a starting framework — adapt it to your specific needs.
Are there more prompts for Software Developers?
Yes — we have a full collection of prompts specifically for Software Developers. Browse all Software Developers prompts →