The Scribe's role in PagerDuty incident response: documenting events and action items, not scripting the Incident Commander

If you’ve ever watched an incident room in action, you’ve noticed a quiet backbone somewhere between the ping of alerts and the flurry of decisions. That anchor is often the Scribe—the person who keeps a clean, continuous record of what happens. For anyone studying the PagerDuty Incident Responder exam material, it helps to know exactly what the Scribe should and shouldn’t do. Here’s the gist, explained in plain terms.

The practical duty roster: what the Scribe actually handles

Let me explain how this role fits into a real incident, not just a checklist card.

• Recording the incident call

This is the heartbeat of the Scribe’s job. The goal isn’t to judge what’s being said, but to capture the flow: who spoke, when, and what was decided. The transcript isn’t a verbatim novel; it’s a precise, usable log that helps everyone review later. If you’ve ever tried to reconstruct a chaotic moment, you know how instantly helpful a clear recording reference is.

• Capturing a timeline of events and actions

Time stamps matter. The Scribe tracks when an alert fired, when responders joined, when mitigations were attempted, and when the situation shifted. A reliable timeline lets you see cause and effect—who reacted to what, and in what order. It’s the backbone of any post-incident retrospective.

• Creating a “To-Do” list of action items

As things unfold, new tasks appear. The Scribe documents these items, who owns them, and their deadlines. This isn’t a running monologue of tasks for someone to guess—it's visible accountability. When a fix depends on multiple teams, that clarity saves minutes and avoids confusion later.

• Documenting decisions and outcomes

Every time the Incident Commander or other leads decide on a path, the Scribe notes it. The aim isn’t editorializing; it’s preserving the rationale and the expected results. That record becomes the guide for what to do next and for explaining the incident in a post-incident review.

• Keeping artifacts, links, and references organized

Runbooks, dashboards, logs, and relevant screenshots—these pieces live in the same folder of the incident logs. The Scribe helps ensure everything needed for later analysis is easy to find.

What’s not in the Scribe’s wheelhouse: why scripting the Incident Commander’s responses isn’t included

Now for the part that often causes confusion. The correct answer to the common exam-style question is that scripting the responses of the Incident Commander is not a Scribe responsibility.

Think of the Incident Commander as the director in the moment. Their job is situational awareness, prioritization, and decision-making under pressure. A script would pretend to pre-plan a dynamic conversation, which simply doesn’t fit the reality of a fast-moving incident. Things change as new data rolls in, and the Commander needs the freedom to steer based on the current facts. The Scribe’s job is to document what actually happens, not to script what should be said or decided. In short: the Scribe records, the Incident Commander decides and speaks—the record then reflects that actual exchange.

If you’ve ever tried to “fix the script” in a live situation, you know how risky it can be. Preserving natural, responsive communication keeps the team agile and reduces the chance of miscommunication. That’s why scripting the Commander’s responses belongs to another lane, not the Scribe’s.

From chaos to clarity: how the timeline helps after the fact

A clean timeline is more than a pretty line on a chart. It’s the bridge to a solid post-incident review.

• It reveals the sequence of events

You can see what started the incident, how quickly things escalated, and when containment happened. This helps whiteboard the root cause without guessing. The clearer the timeline, the easier it is to tell the story to future teams.

• It shows accountability

Who owned each action? What was completed? When? A well-kept to-do list linked to owners and due dates turns a chaotic incident into a manageable project with clear owners.

• It feeds the RCA without drama

Root cause analysis isn’t about finger-pointing. It’s about understanding where gaps appeared—whether in alerting, runbooks, or handoffs. The Scribe’s records provide the factual backbone for that analysis.

• It informs better runbooks and alerts

With a complete record, teams can update runbooks, adjust alert thresholds, or tweak escalation policies so the same incident doesn’t recur. It’s the practical payoff of diligent note-taking.

Tips for becoming an effective Scribe (without turning it into a chore)

If you’re aiming to sharpen this role, here are some simple, repeatable practices that actually help.

• Use a consistent template

Have a lightweight template for the incident log: start time, participants, major decisions, action items, owners, due dates, and links to artifacts. Consistency makes it easy to skim a log later.

• Time-stamp everything

Record when items were added, changed, or completed. Even if you’re unsure of the exact minute, a rough time helps track progress and generate an accurate timeline.

• Capture decisions, not opinions

Note the decision and the rationale, not personal opinions about the best approach. This keeps the record objective and useful for post-incident review.

• Link to artifacts

Whenever you mention a metric, dashboard, or runbook, attach the link. A single click should take a reader to the source of truth.

• Keep it accessible, but secure

Store the log in or alongside your incident workspace in PagerDuty or your chosen collaboration platform. Ensure it’s accessible to stakeholders who need it, but protected from unauthorized access.

• Respect the flow of conversation

Don’t interrupt debates with heavy-handed edits. The goal is an accurate, faithful record of what happened. You can summarize later in the post-incident report.

• Practice listening as a skill

The Scribe isn’t a bystander; they’re listening for decisions and actions. Good listening translates into precise notes, not mere transcription.

Real-world tools that quietly do the heavy lifting

In a world of dashboards, chat apps, and incident rooms, a few tools keep everything aligned.

• PagerDuty’s incident timeline and War Room

These features help you organize the who, what, when, and why of an incident. The Scribe benefits from a dedicated space to collect notes, decisions, and tasks.

• Runbooks and knowledge bases

Tying actions to documented playbooks means you can reuse proven steps in future incidents. The Scribe’s notes feed into stronger, more actionable documentation.

• Collaboration platforms (Slack, Teams)

Quick chats, links, and screenshots can be threaded together with the incident log. The goal is a coherent narrative that teammates can follow even after the adrenaline fades.

• Post-incident review templates

A structured review format makes the lessons stick. The Scribe’s timeline and To-Do records become the core evidence for improvement.

A quick mental model you can carry into the next incident

Picture the incident room as a relay race. The Incident Commander has the baton and runs the critical decisions forward. The Scribe runs alongside, jotting the pace, noting each handoff, and keeping track of what needs to be done next. The rest of the team focuses on fixes and communications. The result? A clean ledger of what happened, why it happened, and how to do it better next time.

Bottom line: stay precise, stay calm, stay useful

To answer the core question plainly: scripting the Incident Commander’s responses isn’t a Scribe’s job. The Scribe’s strengths lie in documentation, the timeline, and the to-do list that keeps everyone moving in the same direction. This clarity is what makes the incident story legible later—to learn from it, to share it, and to prevent the same missteps.

If you’re exploring the PagerDuty Incident Responder exam material, keep this distinction in mind. It’s a small difference, but it changes how you approach your role in the incident room. Focus on the record—on accuracy, on timing, on action items—and you’ll create a solid backbone for your team’s response and for the ongoing improvement of your incident management process. And that, more than anything, is what makes incident response resilient, repeatable, and human.