Runbooks

Create reusable, parameterized templates for common operations

What You’ll Accomplish

Runbooks let you create reusable templates for common operations. Instead of typing the same queries or commands repeatedly, you can:

• Create parameterized templates stored in Git
• Share approved procedures across your team
• Enforce input validation and safe defaults
• Maintain an audit trail of every execution

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How It Works

1. Create Template

   Write a runbook template with placeholders for parameters

2. Store in Git

   Commit the template to your Git repository

3. Configure Hoop

   Point Hoop to your repository

4. Execute

   Users select the runbook, fill in parameters, and run

Example Workflow

1. DBA creates a runbook for looking up customer data
2. Template stored in runbooks/customer-lookup.runbook.sql
3. Support team selects the runbook, enters customer ID
4. Query executes with proper validation and audit logging

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Quick Start

Prerequisites

To get the most out of this guide, you will need to:

• Either create an account in our managed instance or deploy your own hoop.dev instance
• You must be your account administrator to perform the following actions

• A Git repository for storing runbooks
• Git access credentials (SSH key or token)

Step 1: Create a Runbook File

Create a file in your repository with the .runbook.<ext> extension:

runbooks/customer-lookup.runbook.sql

SELECT customer_id, name, email, created_at
FROM customers
WHERE customer_id = {{ .customer_id
    | description "Customer ID to look up"
    | required "Customer ID is required"
    | type "number" }}

Step 2: Configure Git Integration

In the Web App:

1. Go to Manage > Runbooks
2. Click Configure Repository
3. Enter your repository URL and credentials

Or via CLI:

hoop admin create plugin runbooks \
  -c GIT_URL=[e-mail]:your-org/runbooks.git \
  -c GIT_SSH_KEY=file://$HOME/.ssh/deploy_key

Step 3: Run the Runbook

1. Go to Runbooks in the sidebar
2. Select customer-lookup
3. Enter the customer ID
4. Click Execute

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Template Syntax

Runbooks use Go’s text/template syntax. Parameters are defined with {{ .parameter_name }}.

Basic Parameter

SELECT * FROM orders WHERE id = {{ .order_id }}

Parameter with Validation

SELECT * FROM users
WHERE email = {{ .email
    | description "User email address"
    | required "Email is required"
    | pattern "^[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}$" }}

Parameter Functions

Function	Description	Example
description	Help text for the input	description "Customer ID"
required	Error message if empty	required "This field is required"
default	Default value if not provided	default "US"
placeholder	Placeholder text shown inside the input	placeholder "e.g. 12345"
type	Input type for UI	type "number"
pattern	Regex validation	pattern "^[0-9]+$"
options	Dropdown options	options "active" "inactive"
order	Integer that controls field order in the form	order "1"
minlength	Minimum character length	minlength "3"
maxlength	Maximum character length	maxlength "100"
asenv	Pass value as environment variable instead of inline	asenv "API_KEY"
squote	Wrap value in single quotes	squote
dquote	Wrap value in double quotes	dquote
quotechar	Wrap value with a custom character	quotechar "$"
encodeb64	Encode value as base64	encodeb64
decodeb64	Decode a base64 value	decodeb64

Input Types

Type	UI Behavior
text	Standard text input
number	Numeric input
email	Email validation
date	Date picker
time	Time picker
tel	Phone number input
url	URL input
password	Masked text input with show/hide toggle
textarea	Multi-line text input
file	File upload — value sent as base64
select	Dropdown (use with options)

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Example Runbooks

SQL: Customer Lookup

-- runbooks/sql/customer-lookup.runbook.sql
SELECT
    customer_id,
    name,
    email,
    status,
    created_at
FROM customers
WHERE customer_id = {{ .customer_id
    | description "Customer ID"
    | required "Customer ID is required"
    | type "number"
    | squote }}

SQL: Update Order Status

-- runbooks/sql/update-order-status.runbook.sql
UPDATE orders
SET
    status = {{ .new_status
        | description "New order status"
        | type "select"
        | options "pending" "processing" "shipped" "delivered"
        | required "Status is required"
        | squote }},
    updated_at = NOW()
WHERE order_id = {{ .order_id
    | description "Order ID to update"
    | required "Order ID is required"
    | type "number" }}

Bash: Service Restart

# runbooks/ops/restart-service.runbook.sh
#!/bin/bash
SERVICE_NAME={{ .service
    | description "Service to restart"
    | type "select"
    | options "nginx" "postgres" "redis" "myapp"
    | required "Service name is required" }}

echo "Restarting $SERVICE_NAME..."
sudo systemctl restart $SERVICE_NAME
sudo systemctl status $SERVICE_NAME

Python: Data Export

# runbooks/data/export-report.runbook.py
# {{ .start_date | description "Start date (YYYY-MM-DD)" | required "Start date required" | asenv "START_DATE" }}
# {{ .end_date | description "End date (YYYY-MM-DD)" | required "End date required" | asenv "END_DATE" }}
# {{ .format | description "Export format" | type "select" | options "csv" "json" | default "csv" | asenv "FORMAT" }}

import os
import pandas as pd

start = os.environ['START_DATE']
end = os.environ['END_DATE']
fmt = os.environ['FORMAT']

# Your export logic here
print(f"Exporting data from {start} to {end} as {fmt}")

Kubernetes: Scale Deployment

# runbooks/k8s/scale-deployment.runbook.sh
# {{ .namespace | description "Kubernetes namespace" | default "default" | asenv "NAMESPACE" }}
# {{ .deployment | description "Deployment name" | required "Deployment required" | asenv "DEPLOYMENT" }}
# {{ .replicas | description "Number of replicas" | type "number" | required "Replicas required" | asenv "REPLICAS" }}

kubectl scale deployment/$DEPLOYMENT \
    --replicas=$REPLICAS \
    --namespace=$NAMESPACE

kubectl rollout status deployment/$DEPLOYMENT --namespace=$NAMESPACE

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Security Features

Input Validation

Use pattern to prevent injection attacks:

-- Safe: Only allows numeric IDs
WHERE id = {{ .id | pattern "^[0-9]+$" }}

-- Unsafe: Allows any input (SQL injection risk)
WHERE id = {{ .id }}

Environment Variables

Use asenv to pass values as environment variables instead of inline:

# {{ .password | asenv "DB_PASSWORD" }}
psql -h localhost -U admin -c "SELECT 1"
# Password passed via PGPASSWORD, not visible in command

Quoting

Use squote or dquote to properly quote string values:

WHERE name = {{ .name | squote }}
-- Produces: WHERE name = 'John'

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File Organization

Recommended repository structure:

runbooks/
├── sql/
│   ├── customer-lookup.runbook.sql
│   ├── order-update.runbook.sql
│   └── report-generation.runbook.sql
├── ops/
│   ├── restart-service.runbook.sh
│   ├── check-logs.runbook.sh
│   └── deploy.runbook.sh
├── k8s/
│   ├── scale-deployment.runbook.sh
│   └── rollback.runbook.sh
└── data/
    ├── export-report.runbook.py
    └── cleanup-old-data.runbook.sql

Naming Convention

Files must end with .runbook.<extension>:

• .runbook.sql - SQL queries
• .runbook.sh - Bash scripts
• .runbook.py - Python scripts
• .runbook.rb - Ruby scripts

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Integration with Other Features

Feature	How It Works with Runbooks
Access Requests	Runbook execution can require approval
Guardrails	Rules apply to runbook-generated queries
Live Data Masking	Results are masked automatically
Session Recording	All executions are recorded
Parallel Mode	Run runbooks across multiple connections

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Troubleshooting

Runbook Not Appearing

Check:

1. File ends with .runbook.<ext>
2. Git repository is configured correctly
3. Hoop can access the repository (check credentials)
4. Run hoop admin get runbooks to verify sync

Template Parsing Error

Check:

1. All {{ }} brackets are balanced
2. Function names are spelled correctly
3. Pipes | are used correctly

Test locally:

hoop runbooks lint path/to/your.runbook.sql

Parameter Validation Failing

If a parameter fails validation:

1. Check the pattern regex is correct
2. Test the regex at regex101.com
3. Ensure required values are provided

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Best Practices

Validate Inputs

Always use pattern for user inputs to prevent injection

Add Descriptions

Every parameter should have a clear description

Set Defaults

Provide sensible defaults where appropriate

Version Control

Store runbooks in Git for history and review

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Next Steps

Configuration Guide

Detailed Git setup and template syntax

Parallel Mode

Run runbooks across multiple connections

Access Requests

Require approval for runbook execution

Session Recording

Audit runbook executions