Release Day Checklist
Purpose
Provide a one-page, operator-grade checklist for safe, audit-ready production releases.When to use this
- Scheduled release windows
- Hotfix releases requiring controlled validation
- Any deployment requiring certification evidence
Inputs
- Release SHA
- Target environment
- Target period label/date range
- Test accounts (agent/admin/ceo)
Checklist
Pre-flight
- Confirm release SHA, scope, and owner-on-call
- Confirm environment, org headers, and required secrets
- Confirm rollback owner and communication channel
Deploy
- Execute approved deployment procedure
- Verify target revision is active and serving traffic
- Capture deployment timestamp and revision identifiers
Validate
- Run dashboard smoke tests across critical role flows
- Validate readiness and key metrics for target period
- Verify no contract regressions in core endpoints
Certify
- Complete Stage 1 and Stage 2 certification checks
- Validate Stage 3 kickoff gates where required
- Record pass/fail with accountable approver
Go / No-Go
- Go: all gating checks green and no critical regressions
- No-Go: any stop criterion triggered or evidence incomplete
Evidence pack
- Deployment proof (SHA/revision/environment)
- Smoke test outputs and screenshots
- Certification artifacts and links
- Final go/no-go decision with timestamp and owner
Rollback triggers
- Smoke test failure on critical path (auth, dashboard load, core metrics)
- Readiness/certification gate fails and cannot be remediated in window
- Data contract regression affecting customer-visible outcomes
- Elevated error rate or severe latency after deployment