Documentation Grafana Cloud Alerts and IRM IRM Manage On-call schedules Shift swaps and overrides Add overrides

Add overrides

Overrides temporarily replace a scheduled user with a different user for specific time periods. They’re useful when you’ve already coordinated with a specific teammate to cover your on-call shift.

Before you begin

To work with overrides, you need:

• Access to Grafana IRM
• SCHEDULES_WRITE permission if RBAC is enabled
• A schedule where you want to add the override

How overrides work

When you create an override:

• The override takes precedence over the regular schedule
• The replacement user receives all notifications during the override period
• The original schedule remains unchanged for future rotations
• Any alerts during the override period are routed to the replacement user

Add an override

To add an override:

1. Navigate to IRM > Schedules
2. Select the schedule where you want to add an override
3. Click Add > Override
4. Set the Override Period Start date and time
5. Set the Override Period End date and time
6. (Optional) Select a Priority Level from the dropdown (L0-L9)
   • If no priority is set, the override uses default priority (highest)
   • The system displays warnings if your override conflicts with existing ones
7. From the dropdown menu, select the user who will take over the shift
8. Click Create

The override appears immediately in the schedule view with priority indicators if a specific level was set.

To learn more about how to use priority levels, refer to the Manage overlapping overrides section of this document.

View existing overrides

To view all overrides for a schedule:

1. Navigate to IRM > Schedules
2. Select the schedule you want to view
3. Look for events marked as overrides in the schedule timeline
   • Overrides with priority levels show badges (L0-L9) on the schedule
   • Hover over an override to see detailed priority information
4. Alternatively, scroll to the Overrides and Swaps section to see a list of all overrides

Override calendar view

For a calendar view of all overrides:

1. From the schedule details page, click the Calendar tab
2. Use the calendar view to visualize overrides alongside regular rotations
3. Filter the view by selecting different layers or team members

Edit an override

To modify an existing override:

1. Navigate to IRM > Schedules
2. Select the schedule containing the override
3. In the Overrides and Swaps section, find the override you want to edit
4. Click the Edit (pencil) icon next to the override
5. Make your changes to the dates, times, priority level, or replacement user
   • Priority conflicts are shown as warnings if your changes overlap with other overrides
6. Click Save

Delete an override

Only future overrides can be deleted. If an override is no longer needed:

1. Navigate to IRM > Schedules
2. Select the schedule containing the override
3. In the Overrides and Swaps section, find the override you want to remove
4. Click the Delete (trash) icon next to the override
5. Confirm the deletion when prompted

Manage overlapping overrides

When multiple overrides overlap in time, you can control which one takes priority by setting priority levels.

Override priority levels

Priority levels determine which override takes precedence when multiple overrides occur during the same time period.

When overrides overlap in time:

• The override with the highest priority level takes precedence
• Lower priority overrides are suppressed and do not receive notifications during the overlap period
• If no priority levels are set, all overlapping users receive notifications

Priority levels range from L0 (lowest priority) to L9 (highest priority):

Set priority levels

You can set priority levels using either the Grafana IRM web interface or iCal calendar applications.

To set priority levels in Grafana IRM (recommended):

1. When creating or editing an override, select a priority level from the Priority Level dropdown menu
2. Choose from L0 (lowest) to L9 (highest), or leave the field blank to use the default priority
3. Review any system warnings about conflicts with existing overrides

iCal override calendar

If your team uses a calendar application to manage schedules, you can create an override calendar to handle overrides in your existing systems.

To set priority levels in external calendar applications, add level markers to event titles using the format [L0] to [L9].

Example:

• [L1] BobGrafana ← Primary responder (receives notifications)
• [L0] AliceGrafana ← Secondary responder (notifications suppressed)

Refer to Configure an override calendar for more detail.

Related topics

• Shift swaps and overrides overview
• Import schedules and override calendars