---
title: "Launch Checklist"
description: "Creates a comprehensive pre-launch checklist covering engineering, design, marketing, support, legal, and operations readiness. Use before releasing features, products, or major updates to ensure nothing is missed."
generated: true
source: scripts/generate-skill-pages.py
tags:
  - Deliver
  - coordination
---

:::note[Quick facts]
**Phase:** Deliver | **Version:** 2.0.0 | **Category:** coordination | **License:** Apache-2.0
:::

**Try it:** `/launch-checklist "Your context here"`

A launch checklist is a comprehensive verification document that ensures all functions are ready before releasing a feature or product. It coordinates across engineering, QA, design, marketing, support, legal, and operations to prevent launch-day surprises. Good launch checklists surface blockers early and create shared accountability for launch readiness.

## When to Use

- 1-2 weeks before any significant launch
- During launch planning kickoff meetings
- When coordinating cross-functional releases
- Before major version releases or feature rollouts
- After incidents to improve launch processes

## How to Use

Use the `/launch-checklist` slash command:

```
/launch-checklist "Your context here"
```

Or reference the skill file directly: `skills/deliver-launch-checklist/SKILL.md`

## Instructions

When asked to create a launch checklist, follow these steps:

1. **Define Launch Context**
   Document what is launching, when, and who the key stakeholders are. Establish the launch tier (major release, minor feature, experiment) as this affects checklist scope.

2. **Gather Functional Requirements**
   For each function (engineering, QA, marketing, etc.), identify what must be complete, verified, or in place before launch. Distinguish between blockers (must-have) and nice-to-haves.

3. **Assign Owners and Dates**
   Every checklist item needs an owner and a target completion date. Ownership creates accountability; dates enable tracking.

4. **Identify Dependencies and Blockers**
   Flag items that block other work or are blocked by external factors. Surface these early so teams can unblock.

5. **Define Go/No-Go Criteria**
   Establish clear criteria for making the launch decision. What conditions must be met? Who makes the final call?

6. **Document Rollback Plan**
   Every launch should have a rollback strategy. Document how to revert if critical issues emerge post-launch.

7. **Schedule Check-in Cadence**
   Establish when the team will review checklist progress (daily standups, T-2 days review, launch day sync).

## Output Template

# Launch Checklist: [Launch Name]

## Launch Overview

| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| What | [Feature/product being launched] |
| Launch Date | [Target date] |
| Launch Type | [Major Release / Minor Feature / Experiment / Hotfix] |
| Launch Owner | [Name] |
| Go/No-Go Decision Maker | [Name] |

### Key Stakeholders

| Role | Name | Contact |
|------|------|---------|
| Product | [Name] | [Email/Slack] |
| Engineering | [Name] | [Email/Slack] |
| Design | [Name] | [Email/Slack] |
| Marketing | [Name] | [Email/Slack] |
| Support | [Name] | [Email/Slack] |

## Engineering Readiness

| Item | Owner | Due | Status | Notes |
|------|-------|-----|--------|-------|
| [ ] Code complete and merged | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Code review approved | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Feature flags configured | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Database migrations ready | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] API documentation updated | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Performance benchmarks pass | [Name] | [Date] | | |

## QA & Testing

| Item | Owner | Due | Status | Notes |
|------|-------|-----|--------|-------|
| [ ] Test plan executed | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Regression tests pass | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] UAT complete | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Cross-browser testing | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Mobile testing | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Accessibility testing | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Load testing complete | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Security review complete | [Name] | [Date] | | |

## Design & UX

| Item | Owner | Due | Status | Notes |
|------|-------|-----|--------|-------|
| [ ] Final designs approved | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Design QA complete | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Asset handoff complete | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Copy/content finalized | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Error states designed | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Empty states designed | [Name] | [Date] | | |

## Marketing & Communications

| Item | Owner | Due | Status | Notes |
|------|-------|-----|--------|-------|
| [ ] Launch announcement drafted | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Blog post/PR ready | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Social media content | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Email campaigns scheduled | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] App store listing updated | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Website/landing page updated | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Screenshots/videos created | [Name] | [Date] | | |

## Customer Support

| Item | Owner | Due | Status | Notes |
|------|-------|-----|--------|-------|
| [ ] Support documentation updated | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] FAQ created/updated | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Support team trained | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Canned responses prepared | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Escalation path defined | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Support staffing confirmed | [Name] | [Date] | | |

## Legal & Compliance

| Item | Owner | Due | Status | Notes |
|------|-------|-----|--------|-------|
| [ ] Terms of service reviewed | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Privacy policy updated | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] GDPR compliance verified | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Licensing requirements met | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Accessibility compliance | [Name] | [Date] | | |

## Operations & Infrastructure

| Item | Owner | Due | Status | Notes |
|------|-------|-----|--------|-------|
| [ ] Infrastructure scaled | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] CDN configured | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] SSL certificates valid | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Backup systems verified | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Incident response plan ready | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] On-call rotation confirmed | [Name] | [Date] | | |

## Analytics & Monitoring

| Item | Owner | Due | Status | Notes |
|------|-------|-----|--------|-------|
| [ ] Analytics instrumentation | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Dashboards created | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Alerts configured | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Success metrics baselined | [Name] | [Date] | | |
| [ ] Logging in place | [Name] | [Date] | | |

## Go/No-Go Criteria

### Must Have (Blockers)
<!-- Items that MUST be complete to launch -->

- [ ] [Blocker 1]
- [ ] [Blocker 2]
- [ ] [Blocker 3]

### Should Have
<!-- Items we strongly prefer but can launch without -->

- [ ] [Should-have 1]
- [ ] [Should-have 2]

### Nice to Have
<!-- Items we'd like but won't delay launch -->

- [ ] [Nice-to-have 1]
- [ ] [Nice-to-have 2]

## Rollback Plan

### Trigger Conditions
<!-- When would we roll back? -->

- [Condition 1]
- [Condition 2]

### Rollback Steps

1. [Step 1]
2. [Step 2]
3. [Step 3]

### Rollback Owner

[Name] . [Contact]

### Rollback Time Estimate

[Duration]

## Check-in Schedule

| Checkpoint | Date | Attendees |
|------------|------|-----------|
| T-7 days review | [Date] | [Names] |
| T-2 days go/no-go | [Date] | [Names] |
| Launch day sync | [Date/Time] | [Names] |
| T+1 day review | [Date] | [Names] |

## Open Issues

<!-- Unresolved items that could affect launch -->

| Issue | Owner | Status | Impact |
|-------|-------|--------|--------|
| [Issue 1] | [Name] | [Status] | [Blocker/Risk] |
| [Issue 2] | [Name] | [Status] | [Blocker/Risk] |

## Example Output

<details>
<summary>Launch Checklist: TaskFlow Mobile v3.0</summary>

# Launch Checklist: TaskFlow Mobile v3.0

## Launch Overview

| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| What | TaskFlow Mobile v3.0 . New navigation + Recurring Tasks |
| Launch Date | March 10, 2026 |
| Launch Type | Major Release |
| Launch Owner | Sarah Chen (Product) |
| Go/No-Go Decision Maker | Marcus Rodriguez (VP Product) |

### Key Stakeholders

| Role | Name | Contact |
|------|------|---------|
| Product | Sarah Chen | sarah@taskflow.io |
| Engineering | David Park | david@taskflow.io |
| Design | Lisa Wang | lisa@taskflow.io |
| Marketing | James Miller | james@taskflow.io |
| Support | Rachel Kim | rachel@taskflow.io |

## Engineering Readiness

| Item | Owner | Due | Status | Notes |
|------|-------|-----|--------|-------|
| [x] Code complete and merged | David Park | Feb 21 | Done | All PRs merged to release branch |
| [x] Code review approved | Tech Lead | Feb 21 | Done | |
| [x] Feature flags configured | David Park | Feb 22 | Done | `recurring_tasks_enabled`, `new_nav_enabled` |
| [x] Database migrations ready | Backend Team | Feb 20 | Done | Tested on staging |
| [ ] API documentation updated | David Park | Feb 28 | In Progress | 80% complete |
| [x] Performance benchmarks pass | Platform Team | Feb 25 | Done | App launch <2s, nav transitions <100ms |

## QA & Testing

| Item | Owner | Due | Status | Notes |
|------|-------|-----|--------|-------|
| [x] Test plan executed | QA Team | Feb 28 | Done | 847 test cases, 99.2% pass |
| [x] Regression tests pass | QA Team | Feb 27 | Done | 12 flaky tests fixed |
| [ ] UAT complete | Sarah Chen | Mar 3 | In Progress | 8/12 stakeholders signed off |
| [x] Cross-browser testing | QA Team | Feb 26 | Done | N/A for mobile |
| [x] Mobile testing | QA Team | Feb 28 | Done | iOS 15-17, Android 11-14 |
| [x] Accessibility testing | QA Team | Feb 27 | Done | VoiceOver, TalkBack verified |
| [x] Load testing complete | Platform Team | Feb 25 | Done | Handles 10x normal load |
| [ ] Security review complete | Security Team | Mar 5 | Pending | Scheduled for Mar 3-5 |

## Design & UX

| Item | Owner | Due | Status | Notes |
|------|-------|-----|--------|-------|
| [x] Final designs approved | Lisa Wang | Feb 15 | Done | |
| [x] Design QA complete | Lisa Wang | Feb 26 | Done | 3 minor spacing issues fixed |
| [x] Asset handoff complete | Lisa Wang | Feb 18 | Done | |
| [x] Copy/content finalized | Content Team | Feb 20 | Done | |
| [x] Error states designed | Lisa Wang | Feb 18 | Done | |
| [x] Empty states designed | Lisa Wang | Feb 18 | Done | |

## Marketing & Communications

| Item | Owner | Due | Status | Notes |
|------|-------|-----|--------|-------|
| [x] Launch announcement drafted | James Miller | Feb 28 | Done | CEO review pending |
| [ ] Blog post/PR ready | James Miller | Mar 5 | In Progress | First draft in review |
| [ ] Social media content | Marketing Team | Mar 7 | Not Started | Waiting for final screenshots |
| [ ] Email campaigns scheduled | Marketing Team | Mar 8 | Not Started | Segments defined |
| [ ] App store listing updated | James Miller | Mar 8 | Not Started | New screenshots needed |
| [ ] Website/landing page updated | Web Team | Mar 8 | In Progress | 60% complete |
| [ ] Screenshots/videos created | Design Team | Mar 5 | In Progress | Video in editing |

## Customer Support

| Item | Owner | Due | Status | Notes |
|------|-------|-----|--------|-------|
| [x] Support documentation updated | Rachel Kim | Feb 28 | Done | 15 new articles |
| [x] FAQ created/updated | Rachel Kim | Feb 27 | Done | Recurring tasks FAQ added |
| [ ] Support team trained | Rachel Kim | Mar 7 | Scheduled | Training session Mar 5 |
| [x] Canned responses prepared | Rachel Kim | Feb 28 | Done | 8 new macros |
| [x] Escalation path defined | Rachel Kim | Feb 25 | Done | Eng on-call for Tier 3 |
| [x] Support staffing confirmed | Rachel Kim | Feb 20 | Done | +2 agents launch week |

## Legal & Compliance

| Item | Owner | Due | Status | Notes |
|------|-------|-----|--------|-------|
| [x] Terms of service reviewed | Legal Team | Feb 15 | Done | No changes needed |
| [x] Privacy policy updated | Legal Team | Feb 15 | Done | Recurring task data handling added |
| [x] GDPR compliance verified | Legal Team | Feb 20 | Done | DPA updated |
| [x] Licensing requirements met | Legal Team | Feb 10 | Done | |
| [x] Accessibility compliance | QA Team | Feb 27 | Done | WCAG 2.1 AA |

## Operations & Infrastructure

| Item | Owner | Due | Status | Notes |
|------|-------|-----|--------|-------|
| [x] Infrastructure scaled | Platform Team | Feb 25 | Done | +50% capacity provisioned |
| [x] CDN configured | Platform Team | Feb 22 | Done | |
| [x] SSL certificates valid | Platform Team | Feb 20 | Done | Expires Dec 2026 |
| [x] Backup systems verified | Platform Team | Feb 24 | Done | Recovery test passed |
| [x] Incident response plan ready | Platform Team | Feb 26 | Done | Runbook updated |
| [ ] On-call rotation confirmed | David Park | Mar 7 | Pending | Scheduling in progress |

## Analytics & Monitoring

| Item | Owner | Due | Status | Notes |
|------|-------|-----|--------|-------|
| [x] Analytics instrumentation | Analytics Team | Feb 25 | Done | 24 new events tracked |
| [x] Dashboards created | Analytics Team | Feb 28 | Done | v3.0 Launch Dashboard |
| [x] Alerts configured | Platform Team | Feb 26 | Done | Error rate, latency, crash rate |
| [x] Success metrics baselined | Sarah Chen | Feb 28 | Done | See PRD for targets |
| [x] Logging in place | Backend Team | Feb 22 | Done | |

## Go/No-Go Criteria

### Must Have (Blockers)

- [x] All P0 bugs resolved
- [x] Security review complete (BLOCKED - scheduled Mar 3-5)
- [x] Performance benchmarks met
- [x] UAT sign-off from 10+ stakeholders (8/12 complete)
- [ ] On-call rotation confirmed for launch week
- [x] Rollback plan tested

### Should Have

- [x] Marketing materials ready
- [ ] App store listing updated with new screenshots
- [x] Support team training complete

### Nice to Have

- [ ] Launch blog post published same day
- [ ] Social media campaign live at launch

## Rollback Plan

### Trigger Conditions

- Crash rate >2% (baseline: 0.3%)
- Error rate >5% on any critical API
- Major functionality broken (login, task creation, sync)
- Security vulnerability discovered

### Rollback Steps

1. Disable feature flags (`recurring_tasks_enabled`, `new_nav_enabled`)
2. If flag disable insufficient: Push App Store emergency update reverting to v2.9
3. Communicate to users via in-app banner and email
4. Post incident channel update (#launch-v3-war-room)

### Rollback Owner

David Park . david@taskflow.io . +1-555-0123

### Rollback Time Estimate

- Feature flag disable: <5 minutes
- App store rollback: 24-48 hours (Apple review)

## Check-in Schedule

| Checkpoint | Date | Attendees |
|------------|------|-----------|
| T-7 days review | Mar 3, 10am PT | All stakeholders |
| T-2 days go/no-go | Mar 8, 2pm PT | Sarah, David, Marcus, Rachel |
| Launch day sync | Mar 10, 8am PT | Core team |
| T+1 day review | Mar 11, 10am PT | All stakeholders |

## Open Issues

| Issue | Owner | Status | Impact |
|-------|-------|--------|--------|
| Security review not yet started | Security Team | Scheduled Mar 3 | BLOCKER - must complete before launch |
| 4 UAT stakeholders haven't responded | Sarah Chen | Following up | Risk - need sign-offs by Mar 5 |
| Android 14 notification permission edge case | David Park | Investigating | Low - affects <1% users |
| Marketing screenshots delayed | Design Team | In Progress | Risk - app store update may slip |

</details>

## Real-World Examples

See this skill applied to three different product contexts:

<details>
<summary>Storevine (B2B): Storevine B2B ecommerce platform . Campaigns v1 GA launch checklist</summary>

**Prompt:**

```
/launch-checklist

Feature: Campaigns v1.0 . native email marketing for Storevine merchants
Launch date: April 28, 2026
Launch type: Major Release
Launch owner: Growth PM

Key compliance and infrastructure requirements:
- Legal sign-off on CAN-SPAM + GDPR required before any production send
- DMARC/SPF/DKIM sender authentication required for Gmail/Yahoo inbox
  delivery (enforced by Google and Yahoo since 2024)
- SendGrid dedicated IP warm-up plan needed before full-volume sends
- Feature flag rollout: start at 10% of merchants [fictional], scale
  to 100% over 2 weeks based on send failure rates

Stakeholders:
- Engineering Lead (Platform Squad)
- Merchant Success (launch comms + support)
- Legal (CAN-SPAM/GDPR review)
- Storevine Marketing (announcement + dog-food)

Key risks from stakeholder summary:
- Legal review not started; hard gate on compliance sign-off
- Klaviyo partner team needs 48-hour advance notice before GA announcement
- Power-user merchant beta cohort expectations may exceed v1 scope

Need: full pre-launch checklist with go/no-go criteria, rollback plan,
and check-in schedule.
```

---

**Output:**

# Launch Checklist: Campaigns v1.0 GA

</details>

<details>
<summary>Brainshelf (Consumer): Brainshelf consumer PKM app . Resurface feature launch checklist for Sprint 8 ship</summary>

**Prompt:**

```
/launch-checklist

resurface launch checklist. shipping at end of sprint 8 (feb 14-16).
this is our first email feature so dns, deliverability, and compliance
are all new for us. need the full checklist.

key stakeholders: priya (pm/launch owner), alex (eng), jess (eng),
dan (design), sam (frontend), chloe (data), jordan (growth),
marco (ceo, go/no-go).

go/no-go meeting: feb 12. launch window: feb 14-16 behind feature flag.
opt-in enrollment starts mar 2. a/b test starts mar 9.
```

---

**Output:**

# Launch Checklist: Resurface . Morning Email Digest

</details>

<details>
<summary>Workbench (Enterprise): Workbench enterprise collaboration platform - Blueprints v1 GA launch readiness checklist</summary>

**Prompt:**

```
/launch-checklist

I need a comprehensive launch checklist for Blueprints v1 GA. Here's the context:

**Launch details:**
- Launch name: Blueprints GA
- Target date: April 28, 2026
- Rollout: From 80 closed-beta accounts to all ~500 enterprise customers [fictional]
- Ship decision confirmed by Sandra C. on April 14, 2026

**Key stakeholders:**
- Rachel V. (PM), Karen L. (Eng Lead), Tomás G. (Design Lead), Derek H. (Head of Marketing), Mei-Lin T. (Enterprise Sales Lead), James W. (VP Eng)

**Critical items I'm tracking:**
- SAML SSO certification -- must be complete before GA (enterprise blocker)
- IT admin provisioning guide -- enterprise security teams need this before they'll onboard
- Confluence migration communication plan -- many prospects are switching from Confluence
- A/B test code cleanup -- remove experiment flags, ship required-sections as default
- WebSocket provider scaling -- validated at 80 accounts, need to load test for 500

**Rollback concern:** If a critical bug surfaces in the first 48 hours, we need a clean rollback to the pre-Blueprints state without data loss for accounts that already created Blueprints during GA.

Please generate the full launch checklist with go/no-go criteria and a rollback plan.
```

**Output:**

# Launch Checklist: Blueprints v1 GA

</details>

## Quality Checklist

Before finalizing, verify:

- [ ] All functional areas are represented
- [ ] Every item has an owner and target date
- [ ] Blockers are clearly distinguished from nice-to-haves
- [ ] Go/No-Go criteria are specific and measurable
- [ ] Rollback plan is documented and tested
- [ ] Check-in cadence is scheduled

## Output Format

Use the template in `references/TEMPLATE.md` to structure the output.
