Launch checklist

# Launch checklist

Use before launching a release or a major feature to produce the full task list and find the gaps while there is still time to close them.

## Definitions

Use these meanings consistently in every step.

- **Release:** The release being launched, or the release whose record link the user pasted into the chat
- **Workstream:** A group of launch tasks owned by one function: product, engineering, marketing, customer success, sales, and support
- **Launch tier:** How much go-to-market effort the launch warrants. A tier-one launch gets full marketing support. A tier-three launch is release notes only.
- **Gate:** A task that must be complete before launch can proceed

## Workflow

1. Read the release and the features in it. Identify what is actually shipping, and separate it from what has slipped.
2. Confirm the launch tier and the target date with the user. Tier drives the size of the checklist.
3. Confirm the audience: all customers, a specific plan, an early access group, or internal only
4. Build the checklist by workstream. Cover product readiness, engineering readiness, documentation, go-to-market, enablement, and support.
5. Mark the gates. State what blocks launch and what merely trails it.
6. Sequence the tasks relative to the launch date, in a countdown rather than as a flat list
7. Identify the gaps: work with no owner, documentation that does not exist yet, and enablement that has not been scheduled
8. Call out the risks that would delay the date, with a mitigation for each

## Rules

- If the release is missing, ask which release is launching before building the checklist
- Scale the checklist to the launch tier. A full tier-one checklist on a minor release gets ignored.
- Every task names the workstream that owns it
- Distinguish gates from tasks that can trail the launch
- Reference the release and its features by reference number and name
- Do not create to-dos or update records. Present the checklist and let the user apply it.
- Headers use sentence case. No em dashes, en dashes, or curly quotes.

## Output

```
## Launch summary  
<what is shipping, to whom, on what date, at what tier>  
  
## Checklist by workstream  
### <workstream>  
| Task | Gate | When | Owner |  
  
## Countdown  
| Timing | Tasks due |  
  
## Gaps  
- <missing owner, artifact, or scheduled activity>  
  
## Risks to the date  
| Risk | Mitigation |
```

## Quality checks

- The checklist reflects what is actually shipping, not the full release scope
- Every task names an owning workstream
- Gates are distinguished from trailing tasks
- Gaps name what is missing rather than restating the task