> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.cortex.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.cortex.io/solutions/incident-mgmt.md).

# Incident management and response

Incident management is the process of detecting, responding to, and resolving unplanned service disruptions. When done well, Incident Management minimizes downtime, reduces customer impact, and builds organizational trust. 

<figure><img src="/files/3aXtJH04j3s36QzDXKV2" alt="Cortex helps with Incident Management use cases." width="375"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

### How Cortex helps with incident management and response

Use Cortex to help you **reduce incident response time** by:

* [Triggering incidents](/solutions/incident-mgmt/in-action.md#trigger-an-incident) directly from an entity page in Cortex, enabling engineers to quickly declare incidents and link them to third-party incident management tools
* Notifying users when an incident is triggered for PagerDuty via the [On-Call Assistant](/solutions/incident-mgmt/in-action.md#incident-response-with-cortex-on-call-assisstant), providing immediate access to entity health, recent deployments, runbooks, and dependencies to accelerate response and resolution
* Using [Cortex MCP](/solutions/incident-mgmt/in-action.md#incident-response-with-cortex-mcp) to quickly gain visibility into impacted services and understand next steps

Configure Cortex to help you **prepare for incidents** by:

* [Connecting your data in Cortex](/solutions/incident-mgmt/configure.md#step-1-ingest-data-and-solve-ownership): Ensuring accurate owners and runbooks are listed for your entities and integrating with the tools you use to handle incidents, giving you a centralized view of your ecosystem and a fully-prepared workspace before incidents happen
* Tracking incident-related metrics in [Scorecards](/solutions/incident-mgmt/configure.md#step-2-configure-a-scorecard-for-incident-preparedness) to drive alignment and continuous improvement in incident response practices
* Configuring [Workflows](/solutions/incident-mgmt/configure.md#step-4-configure-workflows-for-incident-related-tasks) that streamline common practices during an incident, such as rolling back deployments

## Prepare for and handle incidents in Cortex

Learn how to use Cortex features for incident management: [**Prepare for and prevent incidents**](/solutions/incident-mgmt/configure.md)

Learn how to handle active incidents with Cortex: [**Incident Response in action**](/solutions/incident-mgmt/in-action.md)

{% hint style="success" %}
Looking for additional resources on enforcing Incident Management best practices in Cortex? Check out the [Cortex Academy "Incident Management & Response" course](https://academy.cortex.io/courses/incident-response), available to all Cortex customers and POVs.
{% endhint %}