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Engineering Stage

ES-110 — Release Readiness

Determine whether the verified system baseline is ready for release, limited pilot, deferral, or rejection based on evidence, risk, defects, governance concerns, and operational expectations.

Verification and Release Preparation Release Evidence Next: ES-111

ES-110 Activities

Purpose

This page guides release readiness work for ES-110.

Complete these activities for each release candidate, pilot candidate, or operational trial candidate. Iterate when the release decision exposes evidence gaps, unresolved risks, or operational concerns.

Activity 1 — Create release candidate summary

Create:

docs/release/release_candidate_summary.md

Use:

template-library/release/release_candidate_summary.md

Describe the baseline, intended release type, included capabilities, excluded capabilities, and release question.

Evidence Produced

Release candidate identification evidence.

Activity 2 — Create release evidence index

Create:

docs/release/release_evidence_index.md

Use:

template-library/release/release_evidence_index.md

Index the evidence that supports the release decision.

Evidence Produced

Evidence navigation and review support.

Activity 3 — Assess defects and risks

Create:

docs/release/defect_and_risk_assessment.md

Use:

template-library/release/defect_and_risk_assessment.md

Classify open defects, unresolved verification gaps, release risks, risk owners, and proposed release impact.

Evidence Produced

Defect and risk release evidence.

Activity 4 — Review guardrails for release

Create:

docs/release/guardrail_release_review.md

Use:

template-library/release/guardrail_release_review.md

Evaluate whether guardrails are verified, failing, partially verified, deferred, or not applicable for the proposed release scope.

Evidence Produced

Guardrail release evidence.

Activity 5 — Review AI release status

Create:

docs/release/ai_release_review.md

Use:

template-library/release/ai_release_review.md

If AI functionality is active, evaluate AI controls. If AI is deferred, confirm no active or hidden AI release path exists.

Evidence Produced

AI release evidence.

Activity 6 — Define release scope

Create:

docs/release/release_scope.md

Use:

template-library/release/release_scope.md

Define what is included, excluded, disabled, limited, conditional, monitored, or deferred.

Evidence Produced

Release boundary evidence.

Activity 7 — Record release decision

Create:

docs/release/release_decision_record.md

Use:

template-library/release/release_decision_record.md

Record the release decision, rationale, decision authority, accepted risks, required follow-up, and decision date.

Evidence Produced

Release decision evidence.

Activity 8 — Define release conditions

Create:

docs/release/release_conditions.md

Use:

template-library/release/release_conditions.md

State restrictions, monitoring, user limits, feature limits, known defects, rollback criteria, post-release review expectations, and escalation triggers.

Evidence Produced

Conditional release evidence.

Activity 9 — Conduct release readiness review

Create:

docs/release/release_readiness_review.md

Use:

template-library/release/release_readiness_review.md

Record reviewer findings and final readiness assessment.

Evidence Produced

Release readiness review evidence.

Activity 10 — Complete release readiness summary

Create:

docs/release/release_readiness_summary.md

Use:

template-library/release/release_readiness_summary.md

Summarize readiness for ES-111 and identify operational readiness assumptions.

Evidence Produced

Transition evidence from release readiness to operational readiness.

release_candidate_summary.md
  ↓
release_evidence_index.md
  ↓
defect_and_risk_assessment.md
  ↓
guardrail_release_review.md
  ↓
ai_release_review.md
  ↓
release_scope.md
  ↓
release_decision_record.md
  ↓
release_conditions.md
  ↓
release_readiness_review.md
  ↓
release_readiness_summary.md
AI Assistance

AI may help summarize testing artifacts, identify release risks, compare open defects against guardrails, and critique readiness claims. Engineers decide release readiness.

Common Pitfall

Do not use release conditions to hide unresolved defects. Conditions should reduce risk, not obscure it.

Engineering Insight

The release decision should be a reasoned engineering judgment that a future reviewer can understand.

Continue to Evidence

Review the evidence expectations for release readiness.

Continue to Evidence →