Timeline
The public record of how an event progressed.
The timeline is the public record of status updates for incidents and maintenance events. Each entry captures a workflow phase, message, author, and timestamp, and appears on published status dashboards newest first.
Adding a timeline entry
The timeline is the public-facing record of how an event progressed. It applies to incidents and maintenance only — informational events have no timeline.
Each timeline entry records:
- The current status — a phase from your incident or maintenance workflow
- A message explaining the current situation
- The author and timestamp
Entries are visible on published status dashboards, sorted newest first.
When you post a new timeline entry, you select a workflow phase and write a message. The event's current status updates to match that phase.
The timestamp defaults to right now. You can set a custom timestamp if you are recording an update that happened in the past — for example, if your team resolved the issue 15 minutes ago but you are only now posting the update. Custom timestamps must be in the past; future timestamps are not allowed.
Re-opening an incident
When an incident reaches a final workflow phase (for example, Resolved), the platform sets its end time and marks it resolved.
If the issue comes back after you resolved it, use Re-open Incident on the General tab — do not post a new status from the Timeline tab.
How to re-open
- Open the resolved incident in the event editor.
- Go to the General tab.
- Choose Re-open Incident.
- Select a non-final workflow phase (for example, Investigating).
- Write a message explaining why the incident is being re-opened.
The platform then:
- Clears the resolved state and end time
- Sets the current status to the phase you selected
- Appends a new timeline entry with your message
- Returns the incident to your organization's open incident count
Resolved incidents show guidance on the Timeline tab instead of Add Update, so re-open always goes through the dedicated flow on General.
Notifications
If Notifications is enabled on the event, re-opening may enqueue subscriber notifications asynchronously — the same as other timeline updates. See Notifications — What triggers a notification (Reopen incident).
Editing a timeline entry
You can edit both the message text and timestamp of any timeline entry after it is posted. Edited entries are marked as "Edited" in the public timeline.
For incidents, editing a timestamp cascades to the event itself:
| Entry edited | What else updates automatically |
|---|---|
| First entry (the initial status) | Incident startTime is updated to match |
| Last entry, when that entry is a final-phase status | Incident endTime is updated to match |
This keeps incident interval times in sync with the timeline. If you correct a timestamp on the first or final entry, the corresponding event time updates automatically.
Editing a final entry’s timestamp does not change when the incident was marked complete for Event History ordering. That moment is recorded separately when the event first enters a final phase.
Deleting a timeline entry
You can delete any timeline entry that was posted in error. The event's current status, start time, and end time are not affected — those values are stored independently of the timeline. Deleting an entry only removes it from the visible history.
The status label of a posted entry cannot be changed directly. If you used the wrong label, delete the entry and post a new one with the correct label.
Initial timeline entry
When creating an incident, you provide an initial timeline message. Its timestamp is set to the incident's start time — the two are always in sync at creation.
When creating a maintenance event, you provide an initial timeline message timestamped to the current time.
Overriding incident times directly
The General tab of an incident's edit form lets you set startTime and endTime directly. Use this as an escape hatch when you need to correct a time that the automatic sync did not get right — for example, after manually correcting a resolved entry.