RE

release-readiness-harness

Standardizes the definition of 'ready-to-ship' via automated smoke tests and release documentation.

Install

mkdir -p .claude/skills/release-readiness-harness && curl -L -o skill.zip "https://agentskills.codes/api/skills/download/14359" && unzip -o skill.zip -d .claude/skills/release-readiness-harness && rm skill.zip

Installs to .claude/skills/release-readiness-harness

Activation

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Define and validate what ready-to-ship means beyond tests passing. Use when a repo needs release checklists, smoke tests, rollback plans, changelog/versioning guidance, deployment verification, or scripts/smoke-test.
216 chars✓ has a “when” trigger
Intermediate

Key capabilities

  • Define release readiness criteria
  • Add release assets like checklists and rollback plans
  • Create smoke test scripts for quick verification
  • Coordinate with CI/CD workflows for deployment gates
  • Confirm rollback steps are concrete
  • Validate release docs cite validation commands

How it works

This skill defines and validates release readiness by creating checklists, smoke tests, and rollback plans to ensure deployment safety beyond just passing tests.

Inputs & outputs

You give it
repository with code changes ready for release
You get back
release readiness documentation, smoke tests, and rollback plans

When to use release-readiness-harness

  • Create a release checklist
  • Add a smoke test script
  • Draft a rollback plan

About this skill

Release Readiness Harness

Purpose

Prevent agents from treating a passing test suite as the whole release decision.

Inspect First

  • release docs, CI/CD workflows, deployment config, smoke tests, migrations, changelog, version files, rollback docs, and observability diagnostics

Procedure

  1. Define readiness.

    • Full validation evidence from ./scripts/validate or documented equivalent.
    • Fast smoke tests that prove the release/runtime can start and answer a minimal health or user-flow check.
    • Migration status.
    • Rollback plan.
    • Monitoring or diagnostics.
    • Known risks.
  2. Add release assets.

    • docs/release/checklist.md
    • docs/release/rollback.md
    • scripts/smoke-test where feasible; keep it fast and runtime/deployment-focused, not a default alias for full ./scripts/validate.
    • Select a stack-aware smoke pattern when useful:
      • web app: request the base URL or one minimal browser smoke path.
      • API service: request /health or the configured health endpoint.
      • database-backed app: check database readiness plus migration status.
      • library/package: run a fast import/build sanity check.
    • CHANGELOG.md when the project uses changelogs or the user asks.
  3. Wire checks.

    • Coordinate with ci-cd-harness for deployment gates.
    • Coordinate with migration-and-schema-harness for migration risk.
    • Coordinate with termination-gatekeeper so release readiness is not claimed before task completion evidence exists.

Validation

  • Run ./scripts/smoke-test when present.
  • Run or cite full ./scripts/validate separately from smoke evidence.
  • Confirm rollback steps are concrete.
  • Confirm release docs cite validation commands.

Completion Criteria

  • A release has explicit readiness, smoke, rollback, and verification criteria.

When not to use it

  • When a passing test suite is considered sufficient for release
  • When the project does not require formal release processes
  • When the task is solely about running existing tests

Limitations

  • The skill does not execute full validation evidence by default.
  • The skill does not replace full `./scripts/validate` with smoke tests.
  • The skill does not automatically generate changelogs unless requested.

How it compares

This skill enforces a structured release harness with explicit verification steps, unlike a simple test-passing approach that might overlook critical deployment risks.

Compared to similar skills

release-readiness-harness side by side with the closest alternatives in the catalog.

SkillInstallsUpdatedSafetyDifficulty
release-readiness-harness (this skill)02moNo flagsIntermediate
agent-production-validator36moReviewAdvanced
validate-delivery15moReviewBeginner
release-testing11moReviewAdvanced

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