Managing Instatus

Instatus Management Skill

Manage and analyze status pages, incidents, components, and subscribers in Instatus.

API Conventions

Authentication

All API calls use the Authorization: Bearer $INSTATUS_API_KEY header. Never hardcode tokens.

Base URL

https://api.instatus.com/v2

Core Helper Function

#!/bin/bash

instatus_api() {
    local method="$1"
    local endpoint="$2"
    local data="${3:-}"

    if [ -n "$data" ]; then
        curl -s -X "$method" \
            -H "Authorization: Bearer $INSTATUS_API_KEY" \
            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
            "https://api.instatus.com/v2${endpoint}" \
            -d "$data"
    else
        curl -s -X "$method" \
            -H "Authorization: Bearer $INSTATUS_API_KEY" \
            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
            "https://api.instatus.com/v2${endpoint}"
    fi
}

Output Rules

• TOKEN EFFICIENCY: Extract only needed fields with jq
• Target <=50 lines per script output
• Never dump full API responses

Discovery Phase

List Status Pages and Components

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Status Pages ==="
instatus_api GET "/pages" \
    | jq -r '.[] | "\(.id)\t\(.name)\t\(.status)"' | column -t

echo ""
PAGE_ID="${1:?Page ID required}"
echo "=== Components ==="
instatus_api GET "/${PAGE_ID}/components" \
    | jq -r '.[] | "\(.status)\t\(.name)\t\(.group.name // "ungrouped")"' | column -t | head -20

Active Incidents

#!/bin/bash
PAGE_ID="${1:?Page ID required}"

echo "=== Active Incidents ==="
instatus_api GET "/${PAGE_ID}/incidents?limit=20" \
    | jq -r '.[] | select(.resolved == false) | "\(.started[0:16])\t\(.impact)\t\(.name[0:60])"' \
    | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== Scheduled Maintenance ==="
instatus_api GET "/${PAGE_ID}/maintenances" \
    | jq -r '.[] | select(.status == "scheduled") | "\(.start[0:16])\t\(.end[0:16])\t\(.name[0:50])"' | column -t

Analysis Phase

Component Health

#!/bin/bash
PAGE_ID="${1:?Page ID required}"

echo "=== Component Status Summary ==="
instatus_api GET "/${PAGE_ID}/components" \
    | jq -r '.[] | .status' | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn

echo ""
echo "=== Components Not Operational ==="
instatus_api GET "/${PAGE_ID}/components" \
    | jq -r '.[] | select(.status != "OPERATIONAL") | "\(.status)\t\(.name)\t\(.updated_at[0:16])"' | column -t

Incident Detail

#!/bin/bash
PAGE_ID="${1:?Page ID required}"
INCIDENT_ID="${2:?Incident ID required}"

echo "=== Incident Details ==="
instatus_api GET "/${PAGE_ID}/incidents/${INCIDENT_ID}" \
    | jq '{id, name, impact, status, started, resolved, resolved_at, affected: [.components[].name]}'

echo ""
echo "=== Incident Updates ==="
instatus_api GET "/${PAGE_ID}/incidents/${INCIDENT_ID}/updates" \
    | jq -r '.[] | "\(.created_at[0:16])\t\(.status)\t\(.body[0:80])"' | column -t

Output Format

• Use tab-separated columns with column -t
• Limit lists to 15-25 items
• Show summaries before details

Anti-Hallucination Rules

1. NEVER assume resource names — always discover via CLI/API in Phase 1 before referencing in Phase 2.
2. NEVER fabricate metric names or dimensions — verify against the service documentation or --help output.
3. NEVER mix CLI commands between service versions — confirm which version/API you are targeting.
4. ALWAYS use the discovery → verify → analyze chain — every resource referenced must have been discovered first.
5. ALWAYS handle empty results gracefully — an empty response is valid data, not an error to retry.

Counter-Rationalizations

Common Pitfalls

• Page-scoped: Most endpoints require the page ID in the path
• Impact levels: OPERATIONAL, UNDERMAINTENANCE, DEGRADEDPERFORMANCE, PARTIALOUTAGE, MAJOROUTAGE
• Component groups: Components can be nested in groups -- check group relationships
• Subscriber types: Email, webhook, Slack, and SMS subscribers
• Pagination: Use limit and offset parameters