product-launch-checklist

Product Launch Checklist Skill

Never launch without checking everything. Generate a complete, role-assigned checklist covering pre-launch readiness, launch day execution, and post-launch monitoring.

Proposes Actions

Once the checklist is approved, it can be executed: hand the items to [action-runner](../action-runner/SKILL.md), which previews them (dry-run, risk-rated), runs only what you approve via the connected action MCP (GitHub/Linear/Slack), and records what was done back to the brain. Typical: open an issue per checklist item in the named repo/project (🟡), and post the launch summary to Slack (🔴 — approved individually). This skill proposes; action-runner gates and runs — never silently.

Required Inputs

Ask the user for these if not provided:

• Launch name and planned launch date
• Launch tier (1 = major product launch, 2 = significant feature release, 3 = incremental update)
• Team members and their roles (engineering lead, PM, marketing, support, etc.)
• Feature description (what is being launched)
• Rollback capability (can this be feature-flagged or reverted quickly?)

How to Use This Skill

Provide:

• Launch name and date
• Launch tier (1 = major, 2 = feature, 3 = incremental)
• Team members and their roles

The skill generates a tiered checklist. Tier 3 launches use only the Essentials section. Tier 2 adds Marketing & Comms. Tier 1 uses all sections.

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Output Format

Launch Checklist — [Feature/Product Name] — Target Date: [Date]

Launch Tier: [1 / 2 / 3]

Launch Owner: [PM Name]

Engineering Lead: [Name]

Go/No-Go Decision By: [Date and time — typically 24 hours before launch]

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🔧 PRE-LAUNCH — Engineering & Product (T-2 weeks)

• [ ] Feature flag created and tested in staging
• [ ] All acceptance criteria signed off by PM
• [ ] Code reviewed and merged to main
• [ ] QA sign-off completed (regression + new feature)
• [ ] Performance testing completed (load, latency)
• [ ] Security review completed (if data or auth changes)
• [ ] Rollback procedure documented and tested
• [ ] Monitoring and alerting configured
• [ ] Error logging in place with correct severity levels
• [ ] Database migrations tested on staging with production data volume

📢 PRE-LAUNCH — Marketing & Comms (T-1 week)

• [ ] Blog post written, reviewed, and scheduled
• [ ] In-app announcement or tooltip configured
• [ ] Email campaign drafted and QA'd
• [ ] Social media posts drafted and scheduled
• [ ] Landing page or feature page live in staging
• [ ] Press outreach sent (Tier 1 only)
• [ ] Product Hunt / community posts prepared (Tier 1 only)

🎓 PRE-LAUNCH — Sales & Support (T-1 week)

• [ ] Sales enablement one-pager completed
• [ ] FAQ document shared with sales and support teams
• [ ] Help centre articles written and published
• [ ] Support team demo / training completed
• [ ] Customer success team briefed on top accounts
• [ ] Pricing updated (if applicable)
• [ ] Contracts / ToS updated (if applicable)

📊 PRE-LAUNCH — Analytics (T-1 week)

• [ ] Analytics events firing correctly in staging
• [ ] Dashboard configured for launch metrics
• [ ] Baseline metrics documented
• [ ] Success criteria documented and shared with team
• [ ] A/B test configured (if applicable)

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✅ GO / NO-GO DECISION — T-24 hours

| Criteria | Status | Owner |

|---|---|---|

| All critical bugs resolved | 🟢 / 🔴 | Eng Lead |

| QA sign-off complete | 🟢 / 🔴 | QA |

| Rollback tested | 🟢 / 🔴 | Eng Lead |

| Help centre articles live | 🟢 / 🔴 | Support |

| Monitoring active | 🟢 / 🔴 | Eng Lead |

| PM sign-off | 🟢 / 🔴 | PM |

Go / No-Go Decision: [GO / NO-GO]

Decision Owner: [PM + Eng Lead jointly]

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🚀 LAUNCH DAY

• [ ] Feature flag enabled for [X%] of users (start low — 5–10%)
• [ ] Launch confirmed in team Slack/channel
• [ ] Metrics dashboard open and being monitored
• [ ] Error rate checked at T+15 min, T+1 hr, T+4 hr
• [ ] Blog post published / email sent
• [ ] Social posts live
• [ ] Support team on standby for first 4 hours
• [ ] PM available and reachable all day
• [ ] Feature flag expanded to 50% if T+2hr checks pass
• [ ] Feature flag expanded to 100% if T+4hr checks pass

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📈 POST-LAUNCH (D+7, D+30)

• [ ] D+7 metrics review: adoption, errors, support tickets
• [ ] D+7 customer feedback synthesised
• [ ] Retrospective scheduled
• [ ] Learnings documented
• [ ] D+30 success metrics reviewed against targets
• [ ] Feature flag removed from codebase (clean up)
• [ ] Follow-up features added to backlog based on feedback

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Scoring Rubric (0–40)

Score any output of this skill before handing it over; 32+ is ship-quality.

| Dimension | 0 | 5 | 10 |

|---|---|---|---|

| Tier calibration | No tier stated, or checklist depth obviously mismatched (full Tier 1 ceremony for a copy tweak, or a bare list for a new revenue line) | Tier stated but not justified; some sections included or dropped inconsistently with the tier | Tier stated with the reasoning (pricing, legal, blast radius — not engineering effort), sections match the tier, and any tier disagreement is resolved on record |

| Ownership & timing | Items and gates owned by "the team" or nobody; no dates | Most items have owners but key gates (Go/No-Go, expansions, retro) lack a named individual or a specific time | Every checklist item, gate, and decision has one named individual and a date/time, including the Go/No-Go decision time set ~24h before launch |

| Rollback & staged rollout | No rollback plan, or flag flips to 100% on day one | Rollback documented but untested; staging exists but expansion steps have no pass criteria | Rollback tested with a known revert time ("X minutes, tested on [date]"), flag staged 5–10% → 50% → 100%, and each expansion gated on specific named checks |

| Go/No-Go integrity | No gate, or a gate that is theatre — everything green by default, blocked work checked off | Gate exists with criteria, but blocked items are softened, statuses aspirational, or a NO-GO has no revised plan | Honest statuses (reds shown with blocker and owner), the decision follows the table even when that means slipping, and a NO-GO produces a dated re-gate — plus the retro booked at launch time |

Quality Checks

• [ ] Launch tier confirmed before generating checklist (scope determines depth)
• [ ] Go/No-Go decision has a named owner and a specific decision time
• [ ] Rollback procedure is documented and tested (not just planned)
• [ ] Feature flag expansion is staged (5% → 50% → 100%), not all-at-once
• [ ] Post-launch retrospective is scheduled at launch time

Anti-Patterns

• [ ] Do not apply a Tier 1 checklist to an incremental update — tier the launch appropriately before generating the checklist
• [ ] Do not launch on a Friday without confirmed weekend engineering coverage
• [ ] Do not leave the Go/No-Go decision owner as "the team" — it must be a named individual
• [ ] Do not skip the rollback plan for Tier 1 and 2 launches — know the revert time before going live
• [ ] Do not close the launch without scheduling the post-launch retrospective — it must be booked at launch time, not after

Guidelines

• The Go/No-Go decision must have a named owner — "the team" is not an owner
• Never launch on a Friday unless you have weekend engineering coverage
• Recommend starting all launches at <10% traffic — even for simple features
• Document rollback time: "We can revert this in X minutes" should be known before launch