> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://knowledge-base-starter.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# On-call expectations

> How the on-call rotation works, what's expected of you, and how to escalate.

On-call responsibility rotates weekly among engineers on each team. Being on-call means you're the first responder for production alerts during your shift.

## Rotation schedule

Check your team's on-call schedule in NightWatch. Schedules are set four weeks in advance. If you need to swap a shift, arrange it directly with a teammate and update the schedule — don't just not show up.

New engineers join the rotation after 60 days. Your first few on-call weeks are shadowed — you respond, but a senior engineer is on secondary in case you need backup.

## Before your shift

* Confirm your phone number is correct in the alerting tool.
* Check `#deploys` for any recent changes that might be fragile.
* Review any open SEV-3 issues that could escalate.

## During your shift

**Availability:** Respond to pages within 5 minutes during business hours, within 15 minutes outside business hours. If you can't respond within that window, escalate to secondary immediately.

**For each alert:**

1. Acknowledge the alert to stop re-paging.
2. Triage: is this a real issue or noise? If noise, resolve and file a ticket to fix the alert.
3. If real, follow the [incident response process](/engineering/incident-response).

**Keeping notes:** Keep a running Slack thread in `#incidents` even for small issues. It creates a record and helps the next on-call engineer understand what happened.

## Escalation path

If you've been investigating for 15 minutes and are stuck:

1. Page the secondary on-call engineer.
2. If still stuck after another 15 minutes, escalate to your engineering manager.

Don't wait until you're really stuck. Asking for help quickly is the right call.

## After your shift

Hand off any open issues to the next on-call engineer in `#incidents`. Include: what happened, current status, and what to watch for.

## On-call compensation

On-call shifts outside of business hours are compensated. See HR or your manager for current rates.