---
title: "Communicate status updates in Grafana IRM | Grafana Cloud documentation"
description: "Learn how to create and share incident status updates in Grafana IRM"
---

> For a curated documentation index, see [llms.txt](/llms.txt). For the complete documentation index, see [llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt).

# Communicate status updates in Grafana IRM

**Status updates** in Grafana IRM help communicate important milestones, decisions, and changes during an incident. Unlike general timeline notes, status updates are designed to keep responders and stakeholders informed on progress, impact, or resolution in a consistent format.

## When to use status updates

Status updates signal a key event in the incident, especially when communicating with stakeholders outside the response team.

Use status updates to capture key changes in the state of an incident, such as:

- A new investigation path or hypothesis
- Confirmation of impact or affected systems
- Escalation or handoff to another team
- Mitigation steps or rollback actions
- Final resolution and next steps

You can create status updates manually in the Grafana UI or by using Slack commands, if your [Grafana IRM integration for Slack](/docs/grafana-cloud/alerting-and-irm/irm/integrations/chat-and-collaboration/slack) is enabled.

## Add a status update in the UI

When declaring a new incident, you are prompted to provide an initial status to inform responders and stakeholders of the current impact and any actions taken so far.

> Tip
> 
> Use clear, action-oriented language so stakeholders immediately understand the situation. For example, “Mitigation applied, monitoring impact.”

To add a status update to an active incident:

1. In the Grafana Cloud main menu, select **Alerts & IRM** > **Incidents**.
2. Navigate to the **Incidents** tab and open an incident.
3. In the **Overview** section, locate the **Status update**.
4. If no status updates exist, an empty state appears.
5. Click **+ Add**.
6. Enter the following information:
   
   - **Content** – A detailed message about current status, next steps or impact.
   - *(Optional)* **Status** and **Severity** – Adjust the incident status if needed to clarify the current state.
7. Click **Save**.

The new update appears in the incident’s **Activity** section.

> Note
> 
> You cannot add new status updates to incidents that have been resolved.

## Add a status update in Slack

If you’ve connected Grafana IRM to your Slack workspace, you can create and view status updates directly from the incident Slack channel.

Ways to add a status update from Slack:

- Slash command:

![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```none
/grafana incident update add <content>
```

This command creates a new status update and posts it to Slack and the incident timeline in IRM.

- 📢 (`:loudspeaker:`) Slack reaction:

React to any message in the incident Slack channel with the **📢 (`:loudspeaker:`) emoji** to automatically add the message as a status update to the incident.

To learn more about how to interact with your incidents without leaving Slack, refer to the [IRM integration for Slack documentation](/docs/grafana-cloud/alerting-and-irm/irm/integrations/chat-and-collaboration/slack/#available-commands-for-slack).

## View status updates

Incident status updates are listed in the incident’s **Activity** section. Only users with permission to manage the incident can create or edit status updates for active (unresolved) incidents.

To view the latest status update from Slack:

![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```none
/grafana incident update
```

This command returns the most recent status update for the incident.

## Status updates in incident announcements

When you have [incident announcements](/docs/grafana-cloud/alerting-and-irm/irm/manage-incidents/customize-incident-response/incident-announcements) configured for Slack, status updates are automatically posted as threaded replies to the announcement message in the designated Slack channel. This keeps all incident updates organized in one place and makes it easier for stakeholders to follow the incident’s progress without needing to check the incident page directly.

Stakeholders can subscribe to the announcement thread using Slack’s **Get notified of new replies** setting to receive notifications about new status updates. This allows team members to stay informed about incidents relevant to their work and receive notifications only for incidents they’re following.

For more information about configuring incident announcements, refer to [Configure incident announcements](/docs/grafana-cloud/alerting-and-irm/irm/manage-incidents/customize-incident-response/incident-announcements).

> Note
> 
> To enable status updates in announcement threads, ensure you have the latest version of the Grafana IRM integration for Slack installed. If status updates aren’t appearing in threads, you may need to reinstall the integration. For more information, refer to [Reinstall the Grafana IRM integration for Slack](/docs/grafana-cloud/alerting-and-irm/irm/integrations/chat-and-collaboration/slack/#reinstall-the-grafana-irm-integration-for-slack).

## Learn more

To learn more about managing incidents and communicating with your teams:

- [Manage incidents in Grafana IRM](/docs/grafana-cloud/alerting-and-irm/irm/manage-incidents)
- [Configure Slack integration for IRM](/docs/grafana-cloud/alerting-and-irm/irm/integrations/chat-and-collaboration/slack)
- [Configure incident announcements](/docs/grafana-cloud/alerting-and-irm/irm/manage-incidents/customize-incident-response/incident-announcements)