Launch Checklist

The cross-functional readiness gate. /release-checklist covers code and store metadata; this skill goes wider — marketing, legal, privacy, support, community, infrastructure — so nothing important slips.

Phase 1: Resolve Platform Scope

Default to both. If the project targets only iOS or only Android, consult .claude/docs/technical-preferences.md for Target Platforms.

Ask the user the launch date and any soft-launch geography.

Phase 2: Read Project Context

Read in parallel:

• CLAUDE.md, .claude/docs/technical-preferences.md.
• Current milestone in production/milestones/.
• Latest QA sign-off from production/qa/qa-signoff-*.md.
• Latest perf profile from production/perf/perf-profile-*.md.
• Latest security audit from production/security/security-audit-*.md.
• Latest asset audit from production/assets/asset-audit-*.md.
• Latest balance check from production/balance/balance-check-*.md.
• Latest localization report from production/localization/loc-report-*.md.
• Tech debt register from docs/tech-debt.md.

Surface the freshness of each artifact ("QA sign-off is 11 days old — re-run?").

Phase 3: Build the Master Checklist

Render a structured checklist. Each line is a checkbox the user can work through. The skill is a generator; signing off is the user's job.

Code and Build

• Latest QA sign-off is APPROVED (or APPROVED WITH CONDITIONS that have been resolved).
• Smoke check PASS on each Tier A device.
• Soak test PASS for the chosen scenario set.
• Performance budgets all PASS (cold start, frame, memory, battery, app size).
• Security audit RELEASE OK or RELEASE WITH PLAN (every P0 has a tracked fix).
• Regression suite green.
• No open S1 / S2 bugs.
• Tech debt register reviewed; no externally-deadlined item is unscheduled.
• Release branch tagged and signed.
• Crash reporting (Crashlytics / Sentry) live and verified receiving from the candidate build.
• Analytics live and verified (events fire on candidate build).
• Remote config / feature flags reviewed for safe defaults.

Content

• Final copy proofread on every screen (UX-design sign-off).
• No placeholder strings or developer copy ("Lorem ipsum", "TEST", "XXX").
• All hardcoded strings extracted (/localize --scan empty for high-confidence).
• Localization coverage at 100% for every targeted locale.
• String freeze active.
• Audio assets finalized; voiceover localized for targeted locales.
• Push notification copy reviewed and localized.

Assets

• App icon complete on both platforms (every required slot).
• Adaptive icon foreground/background/monochrome (Android 13+).
• Splash / launch screen using current API.
• No orphaned assets bloating the bundle.

Store Listings

App Store

• Screenshots for every required device size.
• App Preview videos optional but uploaded if planned.
• App icon 1024 PNG sRGB.
• Promotional text, description, keywords proofread, localized.
• Age rating questionnaire complete.
• Privacy policy URL valid.
• Privacy nutrition labels accurate (data collected vs declared).
• App Tracking Transparency prompt timing reviewed; matches Apple guidelines.
• In-app purchases declared and approved.
• Sign-In with Apple offered if any third-party social sign-in exists.
• Categories, content rights, contact info correct.

Play Console

• Phone screenshots (2-8); tablet screenshots if tablet supported.
• Feature graphic 1024x500.
• App icon 512.
• Short description, full description, what's new — localized.
• Content rating questionnaire complete (IARC).
• Privacy policy URL valid.
• Data Safety form accurate (matches actual SDK collection).
• Target API level meets current Play requirement.
• In-app products configured.
• Permissions declared with usage descriptions.

Marketing and Community

• Landing page live and SEO-checked.
• Press kit assembled (logos, screenshots, fact sheet).
• Launch announcement scheduled (blog post, social, email).
• Influencer / press list contacted.
• Community channels live (Discord / forum / subreddit).
• Pre-registration / TestFlight / Play closed-test users notified.
• Launch-day on-call schedule for community management.

Infrastructure

• Backend autoscaled and load-tested at projected launch volume.
• CDN cache primed for static assets.
• Database migrations completed and reversible.
• Secrets rotated from staging values.
• Monitoring alerts wired (error rate, latency, conversion).
• On-call rotation defined for first 72 hours.
• Rollback procedure documented and rehearsed.

Legal and Privacy

• Terms of Service link present and reviewed by counsel.
• Privacy Policy link present and reviewed by counsel.
• EULA / age gate as required.
• GDPR compliance: cookie / tracking consent, data subject rights, data export and deletion paths.
• CCPA "Do Not Sell" if applicable.
• Children's privacy (COPPA) if app might appeal to children.
• Third-party SDK licenses attributed.
• Trademark and copyright clearance for logos and music.

Accessibility

• VoiceOver / TalkBack passes navigation on every primary screen.
• Dynamic Type / font scaling does not break layouts up to the project's target size.
• Color contrast meets WCAG 2.1 AA on key flows.
• All actionable elements have accessibility labels.
• Captions / transcripts for any video content.
• Haptics use respects "Reduce Motion" setting.

Support

• In-app support / contact path verified.
• Help center / FAQ live, covers known issues.
• Support team trained on day-one issues and known workarounds.
• Bug reporting path from in-app to backlog established.

Day-One Patch Plan

• Day-one patch scope agreed (run /day-one-patch).
• Patch QA complete or scheduled.
• Rollback plan signed off.

Sign-Offs

• Producer
• Engineering Lead
• Design Lead
• QA Lead
• Marketing Lead
• Legal / Privacy Counsel
• Release Manager
• Executive Sponsor

Phase 4: Review Each Section with the User

Walk section-by-section. Use AskUserQuestion per section:

question: "[Section] — overall status?"
options:
  - "All checked — sign off"
  - "Mostly done — list outstanding"
  - "Major gaps — block until resolved"
  - "Skip this section (with reason)"

For each "list outstanding", capture the items — these become the Open Items list at the bottom of the document.

Phase 5: Compose the Document

# Launch Checklist — [version] — [platform]

Generated: [date]
Launch target: [date]
Prepared by: [user]

[Full checklist content from Phase 3]

## Open Items (Blockers and TODOs)
| Item | Owner | Due | Status |

## Sign-Off Status
| Role | Name | Status | Date |

## Verdict
[GO | NO-GO | CONDITIONAL with conditions list]

Ask before writing to production/releases/launch-checklist-[version].md.

Phase 6: Update State

Append to production/session-state/active.md:

## Launch Checklist — [date]
- Version: [version]
- Platform: [list]
- Open items: [count]
- Verdict: [GO / NO-GO / CONDITIONAL]
- Path: [path]
- Next: [/gate-check | resolve open items | /team-release]

Quality Gates / PASS-FAIL

• GO — every required section signed off, zero blocker items, all upstream verdicts (QA, perf, security) green.
• CONDITIONAL — open items remain but each has an owner and a deadline before the launch target.
• NO-GO — at least one section has unresolved blockers or an upstream verdict is red.

Examples

Example 1 — public launch v1.0 on both stores: Walks every section. Surface 4 open items: 2 marketing assets, 1 ATT prompt timing question, 1 Data Safety form mismatch. Verdict: CONDITIONAL with deadlines.

Example 2 — Android-only beta launch: Subset of checklist (skip App Store sections). 6 sign-offs collected in one walk. Verdict: GO.

Next Steps

• GO -> /team-release to execute deployment.
• CONDITIONAL -> resolve open items, re-run.
• NO-GO -> address blockers, re-run.