Free Checklist Templates for Release Management

Release Management

OR

Deployment Checklist

Pre-Release Preparation

Cut the release branch and tag the RC

Verify changelog entries for merged PRs

Run the full e2e suite against the RC build

QA smoke-test the critical user paths

Confirm the rollback plan is viable

Notify support of customer-visible changes

Database Migration Review

Review the migration for table locks

Dry-run the migration against a prod-sized snapshot

Confirm the backward-compatibility strategy

Release Day Pre-Deploy

Confirm no active SEV1 or SEV2 incidents

Confirm release captain and on-call availability

Post the deploy window to #engineering

Deploy

Run the database migration

Deploy the backend canary at 5% traffic

Roll out the backend to 25%, 50%, then 100%

Deploy the frontend bundle

Run the post-deploy synthetic smoke test

Rollback

Declare a rollback and page the on-call

Redeploy the previous container image

Confirm error rate returns to baseline

Post-Deploy Monitoring

Watch error rate and p99 for 30 minutes

Flip planned feature flags

Watch the support inbound for spikes

Wrap-Up

Tag the deployed sha as the release version

Publish release notes and update the changelog

File tickets for issues found during deploy

Capture release outcome and retro decision

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Deployment Plan Checklist

Pre-Deployment Preparation

Cut the release branch and tag the candidate

Run the full e2e suite against staging

Confirm the rollback plan is reversible

Notify support of customer-visible changes

Release Day Pre-Deploy

Confirm no active SEV1 or SEV2 incidents

Post the deploy window to #engineering

Verify on-call coverage is staffed

Deploy

Run the database migration

Deploy the backend canary at 5% traffic

Promote the backend to 100%

Deploy the frontend bundle

Run the post-deploy smoke test

Rollback

Declare a rollback in #engineering

Revert to the previous container image

Confirm error rate has recovered

Post-Deploy Monitoring

Watch error rate and p99 latency

Check Sentry for new error signatures

Flip planned feature flags

Watch support inbound for spikes

Wrap-Up

Tag the deployed sha as the release

Publish release notes and changelog

Schedule a post-deploy retro

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Feature Development Checklist

Requirements & Scoping

Write the PRD with acceptance criteria

Flag privacy and SOC 2 implications

Break the epic into Linear stories

Technical Design

Draft the technical design doc

Spec the database schema migration

Hold design review with the tech lead

Implementation

Wire the feature flag in LaunchDarkly

Implement behind the flag in small PRs

Request CODEOWNERS review on each PR

Testing & QA

Write unit and integration tests

Run the e2e suite against the RC build

Triage blocker bugs found in QA

Fix blockers and re-run regression

Release & Deployment

Deploy the database migration first

Canary the backend at 5% traffic

Roll out to 100% after the canary window

Post-Launch Monitoring

Watch error rate and p99 for 24 hours

Decide whether to roll back or proceed

Execute rollback per the service runbook

Publish the changelog and release notes

Retire the feature flag

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Post-Deployment Testing Checklist

Functional Verification

Run the production smoke-test suite

Validate the release-note user-visible changes

Confirm feature flags are in target state

Spot-check role and permission boundaries

Integration and Data Flow

Verify webhook and API consumer health

Test third-party integrations end-to-end

Confirm database migration completed cleanly

Reconcile backfill row counts

Performance and Observability

Watch the golden-signals dashboard for 30 minutes

Check error rate against the SLO budget

Run the load test against the canary environment

Security and Access Verification

Review the dependency scan for new criticals

Confirm secrets and TLS configuration

Verify audit logs capture the release events

UI and Accessibility

Cross-browser check on Chrome, Safari, and Firefox

Run the axe accessibility scan

Regression and Sign-Off

Run the full automated regression suite

Update test coverage for new and changed code

Decide rollback vs. proceed

Execute the rollback runbook

Run the backfill reconciliation query

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Regression Testing Checklist

Test Environment Setup

Stand up the staging environment

Verify service dependencies match production

Confirm the release candidate is deployed

Test Data Preparation

Refresh test data from a sanitized snapshot

Validate the database restore path

Seed edge-case fixtures for the suite

Test Plan and Cases Review

Review the test plan against release scope

Triage existing test cases for relevance

Flag obsolete or missing test cases

Automated Test Suite Maintenance

Run the full automated suite in CI

Update scripts broken by recent changes

Quarantine flaky tests with owner tags

Performance and Load Testing

Run the k6 load profile against staging

Compare p95 and p99 to the last baseline

Open a performance investigation ticket

Defect Verification

Pull resolved defects from the prior cycle

Retest each fix against the candidate

Record retest outcomes in the tracker

Test Coverage Analysis

Audit coverage of critical user paths

Author new test cases for shipped features

Risk-rank uncovered areas for this cycle

Regression Test Execution

Execute the full regression suite

Capture logs and screenshots for failures

File new defects with reproduction steps

Convene a defect triage meeting

Results Review and Sign-Off

Analyze failure patterns across runs

Prepare the regression test report

Hold the go/no-go release review

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Release Checklist

Pre-Release Preparation

Cut the release branch from main

Confirm changelog entries for merged PRs

Run the full e2e suite in staging

Verify the rollback plan

Determine whether a DB migration ships

Release Day Pre-Deploy

Confirm no active SEV1 or SEV2 incidents

Confirm release captain and on-call coverage

Post the release announcement to engineering

Lock main to release-blocking PRs only

Deploy

Deploy the database migration first

Deploy the backend canary at 5% traffic

Evaluate the canary smoke result

Roll back to the previous container image

Roll out backend to 25%, 50%, 100%

Deploy the frontend after backend stabilizes

Run the production smoke test

Post-Deploy Monitoring

Watch the error-rate dashboard for 30 minutes

Watch p99 latency for 30 minutes

Monitor support inbound for spikes

Flip planned feature flags

Update the customer-facing status page

Wrap-Up

Tag the deployed sha as the release version

Publish release notes and changelog

Send the release summary to engineering

File hotfix tickets for issues found

Schedule retro if anything went sideways

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Release Management Checklist

Change Planning and RFC

Document the change scope and business driver

Map impacted systems and downstream dependencies

Attach the rollback runbook

Classify the change type

Schedule the maintenance window

Pre-Deployment Validation

Deploy the build to the test ring

Run the smoke test suite on staging

Verify the most recent backup is restorable

Dry-run the rollback procedure on staging

Log defects and known issues for the change record

CAB Review and Communication

Submit the RFC to the CAB queue

Present the change at CAB

Send maintenance notice to affected users

Confirm on-call coverage for the window

Deployment Execution

Snapshot production hosts before cutover

Execute the deployment runbook

Run post-deploy smoke tests against production

Execute the rollback procedure

Post-Release Closure

Monitor systems through the stabilization period

Hold the post-implementation review

Update the CMDB and runbook documentation

Close the change record with outcome and artifacts

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Release Notes Checklist

Release Summary

Capture version number and release type

Draft the release summary paragraph

List the top customer-visible changes

Features and Improvements

List new features merged since last release

Describe enhancements to existing features

Link each entry to its PR and ticket

Bug Fixes

Enumerate customer-reported bugs fixed

Reference Jira or Linear ticket numbers

Note known issues still outstanding

Compatibility and Requirements

Document changes to system requirements

Flag breaking API changes

List deprecated features and sunset dates

Upgrade Instructions

Document the database migration scope

Write the step-by-step upgrade guide

Document the rollback plan

Write the data backfill runbook

Write the breaking-change migration guide

Acknowledgments

Credit internal contributors and reviewers

List new third-party dependencies and licenses

Support and Contact Information

Add support channel and SLA references

Link the issue tracker for bug reports

Review and Publish

Route the draft to PM and engineering lead

Publish to the changelog and status page

Announce in #engineering and customer Slack

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Release Planning Checklist

Backlog Review & Refinement

Confirm tickets have acceptance criteria

Flag cross-team dependencies and blockers

Tag candidate tickets with the release version

Release Scope Definition

Lock release scope with product and tech lead

Inventory feature flags for gradual rollout

Capture whether the release ships a DB migration

Risk & Security Review

Review SCA findings for new dependencies

Threat-model new external endpoints

Document the rollback decision criteria

Database Migration Planning

Confirm the migration is reversible

Plan the backfill in batches

Rehearse migration on a production-sized clone

Capacity & Resource Planning

Confirm release captain and on-call coverage

Reserve the deploy window on the team calendar

Verify staging matches production configuration

QA & Test Strategy

Run the full e2e suite against the release candidate

Identify regression-risk areas for manual smoke testing

Capture QA sign-off on the release candidate

Halt release and schedule a fix cycle

Communication & Release Notes

Draft customer-facing release notes

Brief support on customer-visible changes

Post the release window in #engineering

Deployment & Rollback Planning

Verify the previous container image is in the registry

Walk through the rollback runbook end-to-end

Tag the release candidate sha

Monitoring & Support Readiness

Confirm dashboards cover the new services

Set SLO alert thresholds for new endpoints

Brief on-call on the hotfix process

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Software Update Checklist

Planning and Preparation

Review release notes and breaking changes

Confirm rollback plan and prior image retention

Verify infrastructure and dependency requirements

Snapshot the production database

Testing and Quality Assurance

Run the full unit and integration suite

Execute end-to-end tests against staging

QA smoke-test critical user paths

Run a security and dependency scan

Pre-Deploy Coordination

Confirm no active SEV1 or SEV2 incidents

Notify stakeholders of the deploy window

Confirm release captain and on-call coverage

Production Deploy

Apply the database migration

Deploy backend canary at 5 percent

Roll out backend to 100 percent

Deploy the frontend bundle

Roll back the deploy

Verification and Monitoring

Run the production smoke test

Watch the golden-signals dashboard for 30 minutes

Check Sentry for new error signatures

Confirm customer support volume is steady

Wrap-Up

Tag the release and publish notes

Update runbooks and architecture docs

Capture the change record for audit

Schedule a post-incident review

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User Acceptance Testing Checklist

Scope and Environment Setup

Confirm UAT scope against acceptance criteria

Stand up the UAT environment

Seed UAT with anonymized production data

Verify feature flag and SSO configuration

Test Plan and Data Preparation

Draft test cases mapped to acceptance criteria

Plan regression coverage for impacted areas

Define test data and PII handling rules

Plan the data migration dry run

Test Execution

Execute happy-path test cases

Execute edge case and negative tests

Run regression suite against the UAT build

Execute the data migration dry run

Log defects in Jira with severity and repro steps

Defect Triage and Verification

Triage defects with product and engineering

Re-test fixed defects against the new build

Reconcile migration record counts to source

Investigate migration count discrepancies

Sign-Off and Release Readiness

Capture business stakeholder sign-off

Capture end-user representative sign-off

File the UAT summary and release-readiness memo

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User Acceptance Testing (UAT) Checklist

Preparation

Define UAT scope and acceptance criteria

Recruit business users for testing

Confirm UAT environment parity with production

Publish UAT plan and timeline

Test Case Development

Write test cases mapped to acceptance criteria

Review test cases with PM and tech lead

Seed test data in the UAT environment

Verify the release-candidate build is deployed

Execution

Run the UAT kick-off meeting

Execute test cases and record results

Log defects in Jira with severity and repro steps

Hold daily UAT triage with engineering

Evaluation and Sign-Off

Compare results against acceptance criteria

Triage open defects for go/no-go

Run a defect remediation cycle

Capture business stakeholder sign-off

Closeout

Archive test artifacts to the release record

Notify release captain and post in #engineering

Schedule the UAT retrospective

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