Operations Manual Writer

This skill guides agents producing operations manual content for the GSD OpenStack Cloud Platform. Every procedure must follow NASA document standards adapted for cloud operations per SP-6105 SS 5.5 (Product Transition) and NPR 7123.1 Process 9 (Product Transition). The operations manual is the primary handoff artifact between the deployment crew and the operations crew.

The goal is consistency and verifiability: every procedure an operator follows must be structured so that another agent (doc-verifier) can confirm the procedure matches the running system, and another operator can execute it without ambiguity.

Procedure Format Template

Every operational procedure follows the standard format derived from NASA-STD-3001 (adapted for cloud operations) as specified in the project reference document (Section 3.4 of gsd-openstack-nasa-reference.md):

PROCEDURE ID: OPS-{SERVICE}-{NUMBER}
TITLE: {What this procedure accomplishes}
SE PHASE: Phase E (Operations & Sustainment)
NPR REFERENCE: NPR 7123.1 SS 3.2 Process 9 (Product Transition)
LAST VERIFIED: {YYYY-MM-DD} against {OpenStack release version}
VERIFIED BY: {doc-verifier agent / manual verification}

PURPOSE
  {One to three sentences explaining why an operator would perform this
  procedure and when it should be executed.}

PRECONDITIONS
  1. {System state required before starting}
  2. {Services that must be running}
  3. {Access credentials or permissions needed}
  4. {Backup state confirmed if procedure is destructive}

SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS
  - {What could go wrong during this procedure}
  - {Data loss risks and mitigation}
  - {Service disruption scope and duration}
  - {Dependencies that may be affected}

PROCEDURE
  Step 1: {Exact command or action}
    Expected result: {What the operator should see}
    If unexpected: {What to do -- specific recovery action or escalation}

  Step 2: {Exact command or action}
    Expected result: {What the operator should see}
    If unexpected: {What to do}

  Step N: ...

VERIFICATION
  1. {How to confirm the procedure succeeded}
  2. {Specific command and expected output}
  3. {Service health check to run after completion}

ROLLBACK
  1. {How to undo the procedure if needed}
  2. {Steps in reverse order with commands}
  3. {How to confirm rollback succeeded}

REFERENCES
  - {Related OPS procedures by ID}
  - {Related runbooks by RB-{SERVICE}-{NNN} ID}
  - {OpenStack documentation URL}
  - {SP-6105 or NPR 7123.1 section reference}

Procedure ID Format

• Pattern:

  OPS-{SERVICE}-{NUMBER}

• SERVICE: Uppercase service name (KEYSTONE, NOVA, NEUTRON, CINDER, GLANCE, SWIFT, HEAT, HORIZON, KOLLA, GENERAL)
• NUMBER: 3-digit sequential number per service, starting at 001
• Cross-service procedures use GENERAL prefix
• Example:

  OPS-KEYSTONE-001

  ,

  OPS-NOVA-003

  ,

  OPS-GENERAL-002

Writing Standards

These rules are mandatory for all procedure authoring. Violations cause verification failures.

Language Rules

1. Imperative mood for all procedure steps. Write "Run", "Verify", "Check" -- never "You should run" or "The operator runs".
2. Exact commands only. Every step must include the precise command or action. Never write "configure as needed" or "adjust accordingly".
3. Expected results for every step. State what the operator should see after executing the step. Include example output where practical.
4. If-unexpected branches for failure-prone steps. Any step that could fail must include a recovery path: retry, escalate, or redirect to a troubleshooting runbook.
5. No assumptions about operator knowledge. Spell out paths, service names, and configuration file locations. Do not assume the operator knows where files are stored.

Safety Rules

6. Safety considerations before any destructive operation. If a procedure can cause data loss, service disruption, or configuration damage, the safety section must be populated.
7. Backup confirmation before destructive steps. Any procedure that modifies data or configuration must confirm backup state in preconditions.
8. Rollback section is mandatory. Every procedure must have a rollback path. If a procedure is truly irreversible, the rollback section must state this explicitly with justification.

Reference Rules

9. All external references must include NASA document identifiers. Cross-references to NASA methodology use SP-6105 SS {section} or NPR 7123.1 SS {section} format.
10. OpenStack documentation links must be specific. Link to the exact page, not the top-level docs site. Include the OpenStack release name when relevant.
11. Related procedures linked by ID. Use OPS-{SERVICE}-{NUMBER} for operations manual cross-references and RB-{SERVICE}-{NNN} for runbook cross-references.

Per-Service Procedure Categories

Each OpenStack service in the operations manual requires procedures in these standard categories. This ensures consistent coverage across all services.

Required Categories

Service-Specific Additions

Some services require additional procedure categories beyond the standard set:

• Keystone: Token rotation, federation configuration, catalog management
• Nova: Live migration, flavor management, hypervisor maintenance
• Neutron: Network topology changes, floating IP management, security group audit
• Cinder: Volume migration, backend failover, snapshot management
• Glance: Image format conversion, metadata management, backend rotation
• Swift: Ring rebalancing, replication monitoring, container quota management
• Heat: Stack template validation, resource dependency analysis, orphan cleanup
• Horizon: Session management, custom panel deployment, theme configuration

Verification Requirements

Procedures are not complete until they are verified. This section defines how verification works within the documentation lifecycle.

Verification Process

1. Every procedure must have a verification section that proves the procedure succeeded. The verification section contains specific commands with expected output.
2. Procedures must be testable against a running system. A procedure that cannot be verified against the actual infrastructure is incomplete.
3. The doc-verifier skill handles automated verification. When a procedure is marked for automated verification, doc-verifier extracts the verification commands and runs them against the system.
4. Last-verified date and system version must be recorded. The LAST VERIFIED field in the procedure header tracks when the procedure was last confirmed accurate.
5. Unverified procedures must carry a visible warning. If a procedure has not been verified against the current system version, add a warning block at the top.

Unverified Warning Format

WARNING: This procedure has not been verified against the current system.
Last verified: {date} against {version}.
Current system: {version}.
Use with caution and verify each step manually.

Output Location

All operations manual procedures are written to

docs/operations-manual/

docs/operations-manual/keystone-procedures.md

docs/operations-manual/nova-procedures.md

docs/operations-manual/neutron-procedures.md

docs/operations-manual/cinder-procedures.md

docs/operations-manual/glance-procedures.md

docs/operations-manual/swift-procedures.md

docs/operations-manual/heat-procedures.md

docs/operations-manual/horizon-procedures.md

Each file contains all procedures for that service, ordered by procedure number.

Cross-References

skills/methodology/nasa-se/SKILL.md

skills/methodology/doc-verifier/SKILL.md

skills/methodology/runbook-generator/SKILL.md

docs/filesystem-contracts.md

docs/operations-manual/