Playbook
A reusable strategy and set of actions for handling a broader situation.
Plain English
A prepared approach for a type of problem.
In context
A playbook often covers roles communication and decision patterns while a runbook may provide exact technical steps.
Example
“Use the security incident playbook for coordination.”
When you'll hear this
- incident response
- operations
- training
Common misunderstanding
Playbook and runbook may overlap; teams should define their local convention.
Commonly used by
Related terms
Updated: 2026-08-25
