Launch checklist

Every item on this list is here because someone I've worked with (sometimes me) forgot it and paid for it later. The list is short on purpose. Add your own items only after they burn you.

Before the launch review

• Feature flag exists and is off in production.
• Rollback plan documented — one paragraph, one owner, one command.
• Metrics dashboard live. If you can't see the metric, you can't ship the feature.
• Support team briefed. They will hear about problems before you do.
• Legal / compliance sign-off filed, if applicable. Even if you think it's not applicable, ask.

Day of launch

• On-call knows.
• Rollback runbook is pinned in the incident channel.
• Flip the flag for internal users first. Wait one business day.
• Ramp to 1% → 10% → 50% → 100%, with a checkpoint between each.
• The person who wrote the feature is available for the ramp. Not on vacation. Not in another meeting.

After the launch

• Metric readout scheduled for +1 day, +1 week, +1 month.
• Retro scheduled, even for launches that went well.
• The launch is announced only after the +1 week readout — not before.

What I no longer include

• Line items for individual browsers, screen sizes, or devices. Those live in the test plan, not the launch checklist.
• Anything that says "make sure X is good." If it's not measurable, it's not a checklist item.
• Sign-offs from more than three people. If you need four, the checklist has become theater.