Release Management

Ship features with confidence.

What This Skill Does

Plans and executes product releases including pre-release checks, deployment coordination, release communications, and post-release monitoring. Ensures launches are smooth and successful.

When to Use

Activate this skill when:

• User needs to plan or execute a release
• Phrases like "plan the release", "launch checklist", "go live"
• Preparing to deploy to production
• Coordinating release communications
• User says "are we ready to launch" or "release plan"

How It Works

The release process ensures successful deployments:

1. Define release - Specify scope, timeline, success criteria
2. Pre-release checks - Verify quality and readiness
3. Plan deployment - Coordinate technical rollout
4. Prepare communications - Create announcements and docs
5. Execute release - Deploy and monitor
6. Post-release - Verify success and handle issues

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
release_name	string	Yes	Name or version of the release
scope	string	No	What's being released (features, fixes, etc.)
type	string	No	major, minor, patch, hotfix

Output Structure

The skill generates release outputs:

1. Release plan - Detailed plan with timeline and owners
2. Release checklist - Pre-flight verification items
3. Communications - Announcements and documentation
4. Runbook - Step-by-step execution guide

Release Plan Format

# Release Plan: [Release Name]

## Overview
- **Version**: [Version number]
- **Type**: Major / Minor / Patch / Hotfix
- **Target Date**: [Date and time]
- **Release Owner**: [Name]
- **Status**: Planning / Ready / In Progress / Complete

## Scope
### Features
| Feature | Description | Tickets | Status |
|:--------|:-------------|:--------|:--------|
| Feature A | [Description] | [Links] | ✅ Ready |
| Feature B | [Description] | [Links] | 🔄 In Progress |

### Fixes
| Fix | Description | Tickets | Status |
|:----|:-------------|:--------|:--------|
| Fix A | [Description] | [Links] | ✅ Ready |

### Known Issues
| Issue | Impact | Workaround | Fix Version |
|:------|:-------|:-----------|:------------|
| [Issue] | [Impact] | [Workaround] | [Version] |

## Timeline

Pre-release: ███████████ (T-7 days) Code freeze: █ (T-3 days) QA sign-off: █ (T-1 day) Deploy: █ (T-day) Monitor: ████████ (T+7 days)

| Date | Milestone | Owner | Status |
|:-----|:---------|:-------|:--------|
| T-7 days | Release planning complete | PM | ✅ |
| T-5 days | Feature complete | Engineering | 🔄 |
| T-3 days | Code freeze | Tech Lead | ⏳ |
| T-1 day | QA sign-off | QA | ⏳ |
| T-day | Deploy to production | DevOps | ⏳ |
| T+1 day | Verify release | PM | ⏳ |
| T+7 days | Post-release review | PM | ⏳ |

## Pre-Release Checklist

### Engineering
- [ ] All code reviewed and merged
- [ ] Tests passing (unit, integration, e2e)
- [ ] No critical bugs outstanding
- [ ] Performance tested
- [ ] Security review complete
- [ ] Database migrations prepared
- [ ] Rollback plan documented

### Quality
- [ ] QA testing complete
- [ ] Acceptance criteria met
- [ ] Edge cases tested
- [ ] Browser/device compatibility verified
- [ ] Accessibility tested

### Product
- [ ] PRD requirements verified
- [ ] Success metrics defined
- [ ] Analytics events implemented
- [ ] Feature flags configured

### Documentation
- [ ] User documentation updated
- [ ] API documentation current
- [ ] Release notes drafted
- [ ] Internal runbook prepared

### Communications
- [ ] Announcement email drafted
- [ ] In-app notification prepared
- [ ] Support team briefed
- [ ] Sales/CS informed
- [ ] Stakeholders notified

### Legal/Compliance
- [ ] Privacy review complete
- [ ] Terms updated if needed
- [ ] Compliance verified

## Deployment Plan

### Rollout Strategy
- **Approach**: Big bang / Gradual rollout / Feature flag
- **Phases**: [If gradual, describe phases]
- **Target users**: [Initial audience if gradual]

### Deployment Steps
| Step | Action | Owner | ETA | Status |
|:-----|:------|:-------|:----|:--------|
| 1 | Deploy to staging | DevOps | 15 min | ⏳ |
| 2 | Smoke test staging | QA | 10 min | ⏳ |
| 3 | Enable feature flag | Engineering | 5 min | ⏳ |
| 4 | Deploy to production | DevOps | 30 min | ⏳ |
| 5 | Smoke test production | QA | 10 min | ⏳ |
| 6 | Ramp up to 100% | Engineering | 1 hour | ⏳ |
| 7 | Monitor metrics | PM | 2 hours | ⏳ |

### Rollback Plan
| Condition | Action | Owner |
|:----------|:-------|:-------|
| Critical bug detected | Rollback to previous version | DevOps |
| Error rate > 5% | Rollback, investigate | DevOps |
| Performance degraded | Rollback, scale | DevOps |

## Communications

### Release Notes
```markdown
## What's New

### Feature Highlight
[Main feature description]

### Improvements
- [Improvement 1]
- [Improvement 2]

### Bug Fixes
- [Fix 1]
- [Fix 2]

### Known Issues
- [Known issue 1]

Announcement Template

Subject: [Feature Name] is now available!

Body: [Benefits and how to use]

Post-Release

Monitoring (First 24 hours)

Metric	Target	Alert Threshold	Owner
Error rate	< 0.5%	> 1%	Engineering
Latency (p95)	< 500ms	> 1s	Engineering
Conversion	Maintained	-10% baseline	PM
Support tickets	Normal	> 2x baseline	Support

Success Criteria

• No critical bugs in production
• Performance within acceptable range
• Success metrics tracking correctly
• User feedback positive
• Support can handle inquiries

Risk Assessment

Risk	Probability	Impact	Mitigation
[Risk]	Low/Med/High	Low/Med/High	[Mitigation]

## Release Types

| Type | Description | Preparation Time | Risk Level |
|:---|:---|:---|:---|
| **Hotfix** | Urgent production fix | Hours | High |
| **Patch** | Bug fixes only | Days | Low |
| **Minor** | New features, backward compatible | 1-2 weeks | Medium |
| **Major** | Breaking changes, significant features | 1-2 months | High |

## Quality Standards

Before releasing, ensure:
- All checklist items are verified
- Rollback plan is documented and tested
- Communications are prepared and approved
- Stakeholders are informed of timeline
- Monitoring and alerting are configured
- Success criteria are defined and measurable

## Collaboration Modes

| Mode | How It Works |
|:---|:---|
| `autopilot` | Generates complete release plan from project status |
| `copilot` | Drafts plan, validates key decisions with you |
| `manual` | Provides templates, you customize |

## Context Integration

**Reads:**
- `context/project-plan.md` - Project status and scope
- `context/metrics.json` - Baseline metrics for comparison

**Writes:**
- `context/release-plan.md` - Release plan and checklist
- `context/release-notes/[version].md` - Release notes

**Read By:**
- `impact-analysis` - Uses release data for post-release analysis

## Example Usage

User: "Create a release plan for v2.5" → Generates comprehensive release plan with checklist

User: "Are we ready to launch?" → Runs through pre-release checklist and reports status

User: "Draft release notes for the onboarding feature" → Creates user-facing release notes

User: "Plan the hotfix for the login bug" → Creates expedited release plan for hotfix

## Best Practices

1. **Plan early** - Start release planning well before target date
2. **Test rollback** - Know you can undo the release
3. **Communicate proactively** - Keep stakeholders informed
4. **Monitor closely** - Watch production like a hawk post-release
5. **Learn from each release** - Document lessons learned