Skill: launch-checklist

Skill: launch-checklist

Purpose

Generate a comprehensive pre-launch checklist covering technical, communications, operations, and business readiness.

When to Use

• 2–4 weeks before a planned release
• As part of release readiness assessment
• For go/no-go decision meetings

Framework: Launch Readiness Checklist

Step 1 — Gather Context

Ask for:

• Type of release (feature, hotfix, major version, platform migration)
• Audience (internal, external, B2B, B2C)
• Deployment environment (cloud, on-prem, mobile app store)
• Rollout strategy (big bang, phased, canary)

Step 2 — Generate Checklist by Domain

🛠 Technical Readiness

• All Must Have items completed and merged
• Code freeze enforced
• Regression test suite passed (>95% pass rate)
• Performance testing completed (load, stress)
• Security scan completed and vulnerabilities resolved
• Feature flags configured correctly
• Rollback plan documented and tested
• Database migrations tested in staging
• Monitoring and alerting configured
• On-call rotation confirmed for launch week

📢 Communications Readiness

• Release notes written and reviewed
• Stakeholder announcement drafted
• Customer-facing changelog updated
• Support team briefed on new features
• Known issues documented

⚙️ Operations Readiness

• Runbook updated
• Deployment pipeline validated in staging
• Deployment schedule confirmed
• Maintenance window communicated (if needed)
• SLA impact assessed

👥 Business Readiness

• UAT sign-off received
• Legal/compliance approval obtained (if required)
• Training materials prepared
• Go/No-Go meeting scheduled

Step 3 — Go / No-Go Assessment

For each domain, rate readiness:

• ✅ Ready
• ⚠️ At Risk (condition to meet before launch)
• ❌ Not Ready (blocker — must resolve before launch)

Step 4 — Checklist Owner Assignment

Map each section to a responsible owner and deadline.

Output Format

1. Full checklist by domain with checkboxes
2. Go/No-Go summary table
3. Blocker list (❌ items) with owners and deadlines
4. Suggested next command: /assess-readiness or /plan-release