In Datadog On-Call, schedules define the specific times when team members are available to respond to Pages. Schedules organize and manage the availability of team members across different timezones and shifts.

Concepts

On-Call schedules are structured in layers, where each layer covers different parts of the week or specific responsibilities.

Consider the following example schedule:

There are four layers:

• JP Business Hours: A person named DM covers Japanese business hours, which begin (from a UTC perspective) each day. Repeats every day from Monday to Friday.
• EU Business Hours: Next, DB handles European business hours. Repeats every day from Monday to Friday.
• US Business Hours: Lastly, BS is on-call for US business hours, at the end (from a UTC perspective) of each day. Repeats every day from Monday to Friday.
• Overrides: Overrides accomodate schedule changes, such as temporary shift adjustments and holidays. See Overrides.

The Final Schedule is composed of all layers. Lower layers take precedence over higher layers.

Create a schedule

1. Go to On-Call > Schedules.
2. Select + New Schedule.
3. Provide a Name for your schedule, select a Schedule Time Zone to use, and select the Teams that own this schedule.
4. Add layers:
   • Starts: The date and time when the schedule becomes effective. Shifts do not appear before this date and time.
   • Shift length: The length of each shift; effectively, when the schedule repeats. Options include:
     • One Day (24 hours)
     • One Week (168 hours)
     • Custom
   • Handoff Time: The date and time when shifts are swapped to the next person.
   • End time: The date and time after which no more shifts are scheduled for this layer.
   • Conditions: Time conditions applied to each shift. This enables you to restrict the timeframe of on-call shifts. For example, Monday to Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
   • Members: The list of individuals who perform on-call duties. These individuals take shifts in the order in which you add them to the list.
5. Select Create.

Reference a schedule within an escalation policy

To send a Page to the on-call person for a given schedule, reference the schedule within an escalation policy. When you create or edit an escalation policy, use the escalation step’s Notify drop-down menu to search for and select your desired schedule. The escalation policy sends a Page to the person who is on-call when the Page is triggered.

Overrides

Overrides are modifications made to the scheduled on-call shifts. They can accommodate changes such as temporary shift adjustments and holidays.

To completely or partially override a shift, select the shift and click Override.

Request overrides in Slack or Microsoft Teams

If you are part of an On-Call rotation, and you know that you will be out of office during your shift, you can request an override in Slack or Microsoft Teams. Type /dd override, select the timeframe to be overridden, and add a description. This sends a request to the channel:

Other channel members can select Take it to schedule themselves to override your shift.

Export schedules

The Export Shifts feature allows you to integrate your on-call schedule into your preferred calendar app (for example, Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or Outlook) using a .webcal link. Whether you are part of multiple rotations, planning personal time around shifts, or aiming to increase team visibility, this feature ensures your on-call responsibilities are accessible and always up-to-date.

Export and sync schedules

1. To generate a .webcal link, go to the On-Call > Schedules section in your account.
2. Select Export My Shifts. A link is auto-generated for you.
3. Hit Copy Link.
4. After copying the link, use it in your calendar app. For example:
   • Google Calendar: Follow these instructions from Google (under ‘Use a link to add a public calendar’).
   • Outlook: Microsoft’s guide to subscribing to internet calendars.
   • Apple Calendar: Learn how to subscribe to calendars on Mac or iPhone.

If your on-call schedule changes, updates are automatically reflected in the linked calendar, ensuring you always have the most accurate view of your responsibilities. If needed, revoke access to a previously shared link by generating a new one, which invalidates the old URL.

Most calendar apps support notifications—enabled reminders to get alerts before your shifts start, but you can also configure shift reminders through SMS, push notification, and email in your Datadog On-Call profile settings.

Troubleshooting schedule exports

If you encounter issues when exporting your On-Call schedule feeds to Google Calendar (such as “could not fetch URL) or Outlook (“Couldn’t import calendar. Try again”), try the following fixes when initially subscribing to the calendar through URL:

• Change webcal:// to http:// or https:// at the beginning of the URL. For example, change webcal://<your_personal_link> to http://<your_personal_link>.

Further Reading

Additional helpful documentation, links, and articles:

Datadog On-CallDOCUMENTATION