Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

Root Cause Analysis (RCA) reports help you document what happened during an incident, why it happened, and how you'll prevent it from happening again. ATStatus provides structured RCA creation that communicates transparently with your users.

What is Root Cause Analysis?

Root Cause Analysis is a systematic process for identifying the underlying causes of an incident. A well-written RCA:

• Documents the full incident timeline
• Identifies what went wrong and why
• Shows the impact to users
• Details remediation actions taken
• Outlines steps to prevent recurrence
• Builds user trust through transparency

When to Write an RCA

Consider creating an RCA for:

Creating an RCA

Step 1: Access the RCA Editor

1. Navigate to Admin → Incidents
2. Find the resolved incident
3. Click the incident to open details
4. Click Add Root Cause Analysis or Edit RCA

Step 2: Fill in RCA Sections

The RCA editor provides a structured format with the following sections:

Step 3: Review and Publish

1. Preview the RCA as users will see it
2. Have a colleague review for clarity and accuracy
3. Click Save RCA
4. The RCA will appear on the public incident page

RCA Visibility Options

Control who can see your RCA:

Example RCA

Here's an example of a well-written RCA:

Best Practices

API Access

RCAs can be accessed programmatically via the API:

# Get incident with RCA
GET /api/incidents/{id}

# Response includes RCA if present
{
  "id": "inc_abc123",
  "title": "API Outage",
  "status": "resolved",
  "rca": {
    "summary": "Database connection pool exhaustion...",
    "timeline": "...",
    "rootCause": "...",
    "impact": "...",
    "resolution": "...",
    "prevention": "..."
  }
}