Edit

Set up PagerDuty incident indexing in Azure SRE Agent

Connect your PagerDuty account so your agent automatically picks up PagerDuty incidents and investigates them.

Time: ~5 minutes

Prerequisites

  • An Azure SRE Agent in Running state
  • A PagerDuty account with at least one service configured
  • A PagerDuty User API key (not a General API key) — see PagerDuty API Access Keys
  • Contributor role or higher on the SRE Agent resource

PagerDuty API key types

PagerDuty provides two types of API keys:

Key type Description Works with SRE Agent?
General API key Used for development work and general API access No — can't acknowledge incidents on behalf of the agent
User API key Associated with a specific user account and email address Yes — required for SRE Agent integration

Important

You must use a User API key for the SRE Agent integration. General API keys don't allow the agent to acknowledge incidents properly because they lack the user context (email address) required for incident acknowledgment.

Create a User API key in PagerDuty

  1. Sign in to your PagerDuty account.
  2. Go to User Settings > API Access.
  3. Select Create API User Token.
  4. Provide a description for the key (for example, "SRE Agent Integration").
  5. Copy the generated User API key.

Step 1: Open Incident platform

  1. Go to sre.azure.com and select your agent.
  2. In the sidebar, expand Builder.
  3. Select Incident platform.

Checkpoint: You see the "Incident platform" heading with a platform dropdown.

Step 2: Select PagerDuty

  1. Select the Incident platform dropdown.
  2. Select PagerDuty.

If you connect another platform, you need to disconnect it first. Your agent connects to one incident platform at a time.

Checkpoint: The PagerDuty form appears with a green heading and an API key field.

Step 3: Enter your PagerDuty API key

Enter your REST API access key in the field.

The agent validates your key instantly by calling the PagerDuty API.

Tip

To create a User API key, go to User Settings > API Access in PagerDuty and select Create API User Token. For full functionality (acknowledge, resolve, add notes), ensure your user account has write access.

Checkpoint: No validation error appears below the key field. The Save button becomes active.

If you see "The access key is not valid. Please try again," verify your key in PagerDuty under Integrations > API Access Keys. Regenerate the key if it expired.

Step 4: Enable quickstart response plan

The Quickstart response plan checkbox is enabled by default. This option creates a response plan that:

  • Matches P1 priority PagerDuty incidents
  • Runs in fully autonomous mode
  • Covers all impacted services

Leave this option checked to start with automated P1 incident handling. If you uncheck it, no incidents appear until you create a response plan manually.

Step 5: Save and connect

  1. Select Save.
  2. Wait for the connectivity indicator to show "PagerDuty is connected." This step typically takes 30 seconds to 2 minutes.

Warning

If you see "Connection to PagerDuty failed," verify your API key is correct, isn't expired, and has incident read permissions.

Checkpoint: The connectivity indicator shows a green "PagerDuty is connected." status.

Step 6: Verify incidents appear

  1. In the sidebar, select Activities.
  2. Select Incidents.
  3. Wait 1-2 minutes for the scanner to complete its first cycle.

PagerDuty incidents that match your response plan filters appear in the incident overview grid.

Checkpoint: PagerDuty incidents appear with columns for ID, Title, Priority, Status, Agent Status, Created, Impacted Service, and Handler.

Edit or disconnect PagerDuty

Edit connection settings

  1. Go to Builder > Incident platform.
  2. Select Edit.
  3. Modify the API key or other settings.
  4. Select Save.

Disconnect PagerDuty

  1. Go to Builder > Incident platform.
  2. Select Disconnect.
  3. Confirm the disconnection.

After disconnecting, the agent stops scanning for PagerDuty incidents. Your response plans are preserved and reactivate when you reconnect.

Troubleshooting

Issue Solution
"The access key is not valid" Verify the key in PagerDuty > Integrations > API Access Keys
"Connection to PagerDuty failed" Check key permissions. The key needs incident read access at minimum
No incidents appear after setup Wait 1-2 minutes for the first scan cycle
Need to switch from another platform Disconnect the current platform first
Connectivity indicator stays "Connecting" Allow up to 2 minutes. If it times out, re-enter the API key

Related content

  • Last updated on