Engineering Template Generator
Generate pull request and GitHub issue templates, tech specs, runbooks and incident postmortems in Markdown.
About this tool
Engineering Template Generator
Generate pull request and GitHub issue templates, tech specs, runbooks and incident postmortems in Markdown.
Pick the template, fill in the fields and copy clean Markdown for your repo or wiki. This page brings together 5 separate engineering template generator pages (GitHub issue, Postmortem, Pull request, Runbook, Tech spec) so you can compare them without hunting for the right one.
How to use Engineering Template Generator
- 1
Open Engineering Template Generator on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
- 2
Choose your template at the top: GitHub issue, Postmortem, Pull request, Runbook and 1 more. On a phone it is a drop-down list.
- 3
Fill in the engineering template generator for that template; each of the 5 options keeps its own rules, data and defaults.
- 4
Read the result, then switch template to compare. The page link keeps your template (?v=github-issue), so you can bookmark or share it.
Why use Engineering Template Generator
All 5 in one place
GitHub issue, Postmortem, Pull request and the rest sit behind one picker, so switching template takes a tap instead of a new search.
Built for each option
Every template keeps its own rules, numbers and defaults rather than one generic template.
Shareable view
The link remembers the template you picked, so a bookmark or a shared link opens straight on it.
Common use cases
- An open-source maintainer replacing a Markdown bug template with a form that makes reproduction steps and version mandatory
- An incident commander creating the postmortem doc minutes after resolution, while the timeline is still fresh in everyone's memory
- A team lead standardising PR descriptions across a repository so reviewers always see testing notes and linked issues
- Writing the linked runbook a Prometheus or Datadog alert rule points at, before the alert is allowed to page anyone
Frequently asked questions
Which template options does this tool cover?
5: GitHub issue, Postmortem, Pull request, Runbook, Tech spec. Pick one at the top of the tool; the page link updates (for example ?v=github-issue) so you can bookmark or share that exact view.
What is the difference between GitHub issue templates and issue forms?
Issue templates are plain Markdown files that pre-fill the issue body and can be edited or deleted by the reporter; issue forms are YAML files that render as a web form with typed fields and required-field validation. Forms use the .yml extension in .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/ and currently work on public repositories, while Markdown templates work everywhere.
What should a postmortem include?
A complete postmortem includes incident metadata (date, severity, duration, commander), a short summary, customer impact, a timestamped timeline, root cause with contributing factors, how the incident was detected and resolved, lessons learned, and action items each with a single owner and a due date. This generator scaffolds all of those sections.
Where do I put a pull request template in a GitHub repo?
Save it as pull_request_template.md in the repository root, the docs/ folder, or the .github/ folder of your default branch — .github/ is the common choice. The filename is case-insensitive, and the template must be merged into the default branch before GitHub starts using it.
What should a runbook contain?
At minimum: the alert it responds to, the symptoms that confirm it, ordered diagnostic checks, remediation steps, a rollback path, and escalation contacts. The Google SRE Workbook adds that a runbook should be specific enough for someone who has never touched the service to act on it at 3am.
What sections should a tech spec have?
A strong design doc has an objective, explicit goals, non-goals, the proposed design, and alternatives considered — the structure popularised by Google's internal design docs. High-stakes changes add security and privacy, risks with mitigations, a rollout plan and success metrics, all of which this template can include.