> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://seal-d2ca5bea.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Disaster recovery plan

## Overview

This document outlines the Seal platform Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) and incident response procedure. We maintain a structured, tested approach to handle service disruptions, ensuring rapid technical resolution and clear communication with our customers. For RPO/RTO targets, see [Data backup and disaster recovery](/it-and-security-policies/data-backup-and-disaster-recovery).

## 1. Initial response

### 1.1 Incident detection

When an incident is detected, the on-call engineering team establishes a dedicated incident response channel and assembles the necessary technical staff. The customer deployments team is looped in immediately.

### 1.2 Communication

Affected customers are notified immediately with regular status updates throughout the resolution process.

## 2. Technical response

### 2.1 Deployment rollback protocol

If the incident is associated with a recent deployment, the team executes a structured rollback:

1. **Assess** — verify whether database schema changes were involved and identify the most recent stable version
2. **Rollback** — if no database changes, rapid rollback to the stable version; if database changes are present, a controlled recovery process preserving data consistency
3. **Verify** — confirm the rollback resolved the issue before declaring service restored

### 2.2 System monitoring

Throughout the response, the team continuously monitors: application error rates, database performance, API response times, background task processing, and infrastructure health. This enables early detection of secondary issues and confirms system stability post-restoration.

## 3. Post incident

After services are fully restored, the focus shifts to communication and continuous improvement.

1. **Customer communication** — detailed incident summary sent to all affected customers
2. **Root cause analysis** — the technical team documents what happened, why, and what changes are needed
3. **Process improvement** — incident response procedures, monitoring, and alerting are updated based on findings

## 4. Practice DRP exercises

Seal conducts DRP exercises every quarter to validate our recovery procedures and ensure technical teams are prepared. Exercises come in various forms:

* Tabletop exercises reviewing scenarios in a discussion-based format
* Walkthroughs reviewing documentation step-by-step
* Simulation exercises mimicking real-world events without affecting operations
* Interruption tests shutting down non-production systems to test recovery

Following each exercise, the team conducts a thorough review to capture actionable steps for improvement, ensuring our response capabilities remain effective.