Feature Degradation Template
Jan 19, 2026 | by openstatus | [template]
Use this template when specific features are degraded or unavailable, but the core service remains operational. Helps users understand what's working and what isn't.
When to Use This Template
- Specific feature experiencing errors
- Elevated latency for particular operations
- Partial functionality unavailable
- Non-critical systems impaired
Template Messages
Investigating
We are experiencing issues with [Feature Name]. The core service remains available, but this specific feature may not work as expected.
Our team is actively investigating and working to restore full functionality.
Identified
We have identified the cause of the [Feature Name] degradation. Our team is implementing a fix.
Monitoring
[Feature Name] has been restored. We are monitoring to ensure stable operation.
Resolved
[Feature Name] is now fully operational. All features are working normally.
Real-World Examples
Notion: "Operations such as duplicate a page or move a block"
Context: Specific operations failing while rest of service worked Duration: ~4 hours Impact: Users could read/edit but not duplicate or move content
What worked:
- Specific about which operations were affected
- Clear that core functionality (reading, editing) still worked
- Precise timestamps in user's timezone (PST)
Sample progression:
12:10pm PST - Investigating
"We are experiencing an incident that affects operations such as
duplicate a page or move a block."
2:30pm PST - Identified
"We've identified the issue and are implementing a fix. Most
operations continue to work normally."
4:09pm PST - Resolved
"All operations have been restored. The issue has been fully resolved."
Notion: "Exporting pages remains in a loading state"
Context: Export feature stuck, but rest of service worked Approach: Clear about single feature impact
Why it worked:
- Users knew exactly what was broken
- Clear that it wasn't a full outage
- No operational downtime reported for core features
GitHub: "Some models missing in Copilot"
Context: Specific AI models unavailable Duration: ~2.5 hours Impact: Claude Opus 4.5 and GPT-5.2 inaccessible; other models worked
Communication breakdown:
Investigating:
"Some users unable to access premium AI models in GitHub Copilot"
Identified:
"Misconfiguration marking Claude Opus 4.5 and GPT-5.2 as inaccessible.
Other models functioning normally. Deploying configuration fix."
Resolved:
"All models now accessible. Configuration has been corrected and
validated across all regions."
Why it worked:
- Specific model names (users could check if they were affected)
- Clear that other models still worked
- Technical but not overly complex
Clear Scope Communication
✅ Good Examples
Specific and clear:
The file upload feature is currently unavailable. All other features,
including viewing, editing, and sharing, are working normally.
With workaround:
Export functionality is temporarily degraded. Exports may take 2-3x
longer than usual. Viewing and editing are unaffected.
Workaround: For faster exports, try exporting smaller sections
individually.
With context:
Search is experiencing elevated latency (5-10 seconds vs normal <1s).
We're working on a fix. All other features operating normally.
❌ Vague Examples
"Some features might not work"
"Experiencing issues"
"Partial service degradation"
"Some users affected"
Feature Impact Matrix
Help users quickly understand what works and what doesn't:
Example 1: Export Feature Down
Current Status:
Working:
✓ View documents
✓ Edit documents
✓ Share with team
✓ Comments and collaboration
✓ Search
Not Working:
✗ PDF export
✗ CSV download
✗ Bulk export
We're working to restore export functionality.
Example 2: Upload Feature Degraded
Current Status:
Working Normally:
✓ View files
✓ Download files
✓ Share links
✓ Delete files
Degraded:
⚠️ File uploads (50% success rate, retrying usually works)
⚠️ Drag-and-drop (use upload button instead)
We're investigating the upload issues.
Communication by Feature Type
Core Features Degraded
When important features fail, be very clear about impact:
🔴 Payment Processing Degraded
Impact: High - payments may fail or experience delays
Status: We're experiencing elevated error rates (10%) on payment
processing. Most transactions are succeeding, but some may fail.
Action: If your payment fails, please wait 5 minutes and retry.
We're working on a fix.
Other features: Account management, viewing history, and settings
all working normally.
Secondary Features Down
When nice-to-have features fail:
🟡 Analytics Dashboard Unavailable
Impact: Low - core product features unaffected
Status: The analytics dashboard is temporarily unavailable due to
a database issue. All product features continue working normally.
Your data is safe and being collected. Analytics will be updated
once the dashboard is restored.
Batch/Background Features
When background processes are affected:
⚠️ Report Generation Delayed
Impact: Reports scheduled in the last hour will be delayed.
Status: The background job processor is experiencing issues. Reports
will still generate, but may take 2-4 hours instead of the usual
15 minutes.
If you need a report urgently, please contact support@company.com
and we can prioritize it.
User Action Guidance
No Action Needed
The issue is on our end. No action is required from you. We'll
update this status when resolved.
Retry Recommended
If you encounter an error, please wait 30 seconds and try again.
Most operations succeed on the second attempt.
Workaround Available
While we work on a fix, you can use this workaround:
1. Go to Settings > Export
2. Select "Legacy Export Mode"
3. Your export should complete successfully
We'll notify you when the standard export is restored.
Avoid Feature Temporarily
We recommend avoiding [feature] until this is resolved to prevent
data sync issues. We'll send an all-clear when it's safe to use again.
Timing and SLA Context
When degradation exceeds SLA:
Update: This degradation has exceeded our 99.9% uptime SLA for the
month. Affected customers will receive automatic service credits as
per our SLA terms. No action needed from you.
When approaching SLA:
We're aware this degradation is approaching our SLA threshold. We're
treating this as high priority and have additional engineers engaged.
Progressive Updates
Initial (Minute 0)
We're investigating reports of [feature] not working correctly.
Some users may experience errors. Core functionality unaffected.
Update 1 (Minute 15)
We've confirmed [feature] is experiencing issues. Approximately
20% of requests are failing. We're investigating the cause.
Update 2 (Minute 30)
Root cause identified: database connection timeout on [specific service].
Implementing a fix now. Estimated resolution: 15 minutes.
Update 3 (Minute 45)
Fix deployed. [Feature] error rate has dropped from 20% to 2%.
Monitoring for full recovery.
Final (Minute 60)
[Feature] is fully restored. Error rates back to normal (< 0.1%).
No user action required. Thank you for your patience.
Partial vs. Complete Degradation
Partial (50% working)
[Feature] is partially degraded. About half of requests are succeeding.
If you receive an error, try again in a few seconds - you'll likely
succeed on the second or third attempt.
Severe (90% failing)
[Feature] is severely degraded with most requests failing. We recommend
waiting until this is resolved rather than retrying repeatedly.
ETA for fix: 30 minutes
Complete (100% down)
[Feature] is currently unavailable. We've identified the issue and
are working on a fix.
Estimated restoration: 15 minutes
We'll notify you as soon as it's back.
Post-Resolution Analysis
After resolving, explain what happened:
[Feature] has been fully restored.
What happened: A configuration change caused connection timeouts
to the [service] backend.
Resolution: We rolled back the configuration change and implemented
additional connection monitoring.
Prevention: We're adding pre-deployment validation for configuration
changes to catch issues like this before they reach production.
Thank you for your patience while we resolved this issue.
Related Templates
- Use API Service Disruption if the degraded feature is API-related
- Use Database Performance if degradation is caused by database issues
- Use Network Connectivity if some regions can't access the feature
- Use Deployment Rollback if a recent deployment caused the degradation
Related
This template is one of several in the incident communication guide, which covers update cadence by severity, what to avoid saying, and the other scenario templates.
Frequently asked questions
When is something 'degraded' vs a full outage?
Use degraded when the feature still works partially (e.g., 50% success rate, slower than normal, or intermittent failures). Use outage when the feature is completely unavailable (100% failure rate). Clear distinction helps users set expectations.
Should I list all working features or just the broken ones?
For major features, list both. Users need to know what still works so they can continue their workflow. For minor features, focus on what's broken and state 'all other features operating normally.' The feature impact matrix format works well for complex degradations.
How do I communicate partial degradation percentages to users?
Be specific: '50% success rate - retry usually works' or '10% error rate - most requests succeeding.' Avoid vague terms like 'some' or 'many.' Percentages help users assess their likelihood of being affected and whether retrying makes sense.
What if I don't know which feature is causing issues?
Start with the symptom you can confirm, not a hedge: 'We're investigating elevated error rates on checkout. Next update in 30 minutes.' State what you have actually observed and when you will report again, then narrow it as you learn more: 'We've confirmed the issue is with [specific feature].' Avoid 'some users may be affected' — it commits to nothing and reads as evasion.