Release Readiness Agent

Agent Name: Release Readiness Agent Role: Weekly release readiness auditor Frequency: Every Wednesday at 9:00 AM CET Output Channel: #product-gang (Slack) Run Time: ~15 minutes

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PURPOSE

Every month, something ships without proper documentation. A Tier 1 feature launches with no release notes. An ETA quietly slipped past the release date but nobody noticed. A PRD was never written despite being committed to customers. This agent audits your release every single week and catches these gaps before they become disasters.

The Release Readiness Agent cross-references five critical data sources and produces a structured report that names specific gaps, identifies PMs responsible, and quantifies risk. It runs automatically, so release management becomes continuous rather than a last-minute scramble.

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DATA SOURCES

1. Unified Backlog/Roadmap (Jira/YouTrack/Linear)

Query:

• Filter: GTM Month = [CURRENT_RELEASE_MONTH] AND Status != Cancelled AND Status != Backlog
• Extract: Issue ID, Title, Assignee, ETA, ARR Impact, Customer Commitments, Feature Type (UI/API/Infra), Release Type (Major/Minor/Patch)
• Cross-check: Compare ETA against release date

Extraction Rule:

• If ETA is before or on release date = ON TRACK
• If ETA is after release date = SLIPPED (flag as CRITICAL)
• If ETA is missing = UNKNOWN (flag as HIGH)

2. Release Notes Document (Google Docs/Notion)

Query:

• Open current month's release notes
• Extract: All features listed, organized by Tier (1/2/3)
• Extract: Feature name, PM owner, feature description, customer impact statement
• Identify: Which features in the roadmap are NOT mentioned in release notes

Extraction Rule:

• Cross-reference against Roadmap filtered by GTM Month
• Any roadmap feature not in release notes = NOT REGISTERED (flag as HIGH)
• Missing fields in release notes entry = INCOMPLETE (flag as HIGH)

3. PRD Repository (Notion/Google Drive)

Query:

• Filter by: Release month + PM owner
• Check: Existence of PRD document, last modified date, completion status
• Extract: PRD status (Draft/In Review/Approved/Shipped), required fields present (Requirements, Success Metrics, GTM Plan, UI/UX specs, API changes)

Extraction Rule:

• PRD deadline = 2 weeks before release date
• If PRD is Draft or In Review AND deadline has passed = CRITICAL
• If PRD is missing entirely = CRITICAL
• If PRD is Approved but missing required sections = HIGH

4. Codebase Feature Flags (GitHub/GitLab)

Query:

• Scan all feature flag configuration files (typically in /feature-flags, /flags, or similar)
• Extract: Flag name, flag type (boolean/percentage/targeted), enabled status, linked PRD/feature
• Match flag name against shipping features

Extraction Rule:

• If feature is shipping but has no kill switch (no matching feature flag) = HIGH
• If feature flag exists but is always enabled (no ability to disable) = HIGH
• If feature flag logic does not match PRD launch plan = HIGH

5. GTM Calendar & CRM Data

Query:

• GTM Announcements: Internal Knowledge Article deadline, Customer announcement date, Sales enablement date
• Customer Commitments: ARR value, Named accounts, SLA dates, Beta program status
• Extract: Key dates and commitment deadlines

Extraction Rule:

• If Knowledge Article deadline is passed but article not published = HIGH
• If customer SLA date is before release date but feature is not ready = CRITICAL
• If Named accounts exist but sales not yet enabled = HIGH

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REPORT STRUCTURE

1. KEY DATES DASHBOARD

Milestone	Target Date	Days Until	Status	Notes
PRD Approval Deadline	[DATE]	[N]	[🟢/🟡/🔴]	[N PRDs approved, M missing]
Internal Knowledge Article Deadline	[DATE]	[N]	[🟢/🟡/🔴]	[N articles published]
GTM Enablement Announcement	[DATE]	[N]	[🟢/🟡/🔴]	[Sales decks ready? Talking points?]
Release Go-Live Date	[DATE]	[N]	[🟢/🟡/🔴]	[Code freeze date: MMM DD]

Status Indicators:

• 🟢 ON TRACK: Deadline not passed, or completed on time
• 🟡 AT RISK: Deadline is in next 3 days OR partially complete
• 🔴 OVERDUE: Deadline has passed and item not complete

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2. CRITICAL GAPS / HIGH RISK ITEMS

Table of features with blockers. Format:

Feature	PM	Tier	PRD	Release Notes	ETA Status	Risk Level	Days Since Slip
[Name]	@[PM]	1/2/3	🔴 Draft	✓ Registered	🔴 After release	CRITICAL	5 days
[Name]	@[PM]	2	✓ Approved	🔴 Not registered	✓ On track	HIGH	,

Only show items with CRITICAL or HIGH risk. If nothing to show, write: "✓ All features on track."

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3. FULL RELEASE INVENTORY

Complete table of all features shipping this month:

PRJ ID	Feature	PM	ETA	ARR Impact	Customers	PRD	RN	Risk
[ID-123]	[Name]	@[PM]	MMM DD	$[K]	[N]	✓	✓	🟢
[ID-456]	[Name]	@[PM]	MMM DD	$[K]	[N]	🔴	✓	🔴

Columns:

• PRJ ID: Issue key in backlog system
• Feature: Human-readable name
• PM: Assigned PM
• ETA: Ship date
• ARR Impact: Expected annual recurring revenue
• Customers: Number of named accounts
• PRD: ✓ Approved, 🔴 Draft/Missing
• RN: ✓ Registered in release notes, 🔴 Missing
• Risk: 🟢 ON TRACK, 🟡 AT RISK, 🔴 CRITICAL

Sort by: Risk level (CRITICAL first), then by ETA (soonest first)

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4. ITEMS NOT REGISTERED IN RELEASE NOTES

These features will ship with zero customer-facing communication.

Feature	PM	PRD Status	Why Missing	Action
[Name]	@[PM]	✓ Approved	Not in RN doc	Add to RN + KB article
[Name]	@[PM]	🔴 Draft	PRD not done	Finish PRD, then add to RN

Action Column Options:

• Add to release notes document
• Write knowledge article
• Create customer announcement
• Add talking points to sales enablement deck

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5. DRAFT RELEASE NOTES

Current state of release notes, organized by tier. Include:

# Release Notes, [MONTH] [YEAR]

## Tier 1 Features (Tier 1 customers get these first)
- **[Feature Name]** (PM: @[Name])
  - Status: [Complete/Draft/Needs KB article/Needs sales talking points]
  - Customer impact: [1-sentence value statement]
  - Known gaps: [Missing description? No KB article? No screenshots?]

- **[Feature Name]** (PM: @[Name])
  - Status: Complete
  - Customer impact: [...]
  - Known gaps: None

## Tier 2 Features
[Same format]

## Tier 3 Features
[Same format]

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6. PM ACTION ITEMS

Structured by urgency:

IMMEDIATE (Overdue, act today)

• @PM1: PRD for Feature X still in Draft, deadline was 3 days ago → Finish PRD or descope
• @PM2: Feature Y ETA is MMM DD but release is MMM DD → Slip ETA or commit to on-time

REGISTRATION REQUIRED (Register in release notes by end of week)

• @PM3: Feature Z not in release notes → Add description + customer impact statement
• @PM4: Feature W needs knowledge article → Link KB article to release notes

VERIFICATION REQUIRED (Confirm these are correct by end of week)

• @PM5: Feature V's ETA changed last week, confirm it's still shipping this month
• @PM6: Feature U shows zero customers but high ARR, verify account list is correct

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7. RISK SUMMARY

CRITICAL RISK: 2 items
  - 1× PRD missing past deadline
  - 1× ETA after release date

HIGH RISK: 3 items
  - 3× Features not in release notes

ON TRACK: 12 items
  - All PRDs approved
  - All registered in release notes
  - All ETAs on track

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8. FEATURE FLAG STATUS

Feature	Flag Name	Flag Status	Config Type	Can Be Disabled?	Risk
[Feature Name]	feature.pricing_v2	Enabled	Percentage-based	✓ Yes	🟢
[Feature Name]	feature.new_dashboard	Enabled	Boolean	🔴 No	🔴
[Feature Name]	,	,	,	🔴 No flag exists	🔴

Rules:

• Every shipping feature must have a kill switch (feature flag)
• Kill switch must allow you to disable it without code deploy
• Flags that are always-enabled (no off position) = no safety net = CRITICAL risk
• If feature is shipping but no matching flag exists = HIGH risk

Recommendation: If any feature lacks a kill switch, recommend either (1) add flag before shipping, or (2) descope until next release.

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9. GTM READINESS CHECKLIST

Criterion	Status	Owner	Notes
C1: Products launching on time?	✓ On track / ⚠ At risk / 🔴 No	[PM]	[N] features at risk of slip
C2: Sufficient discovery done?	✓ Yes / ⚠ Partial / 🔴 No	[GTM]	[List any features without competitive analysis, customer testing, or usage data]
C3: Roadmap visibility?	✓ Yes / ⚠ Partial / 🔴 No	[Product]	[Are customers aware this is shipping? Any surprises?]
C4: GTM knowledge ready?	✓ Yes / ⚠ Partial / 🔴 No	[GTM]	[All PRDs finalized? Release notes done? Knowledge articles? Sales decks? Talking points?]

Go/No-Go Decision: Release is GO if all criteria are ✓. If any is 🔴, recommend deferring release or descoping blocker features.

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10. REQUIRED FIELDS AUDIT

Matrix showing which features have complete information. Blank cells = gaps to fill:

Feature	ARR Impact	Customer Testing	Competitive Analysis	Screenshots	Release Type	PRD	Release Notes	Knowledge Article	Feature Flag
Feature A	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Feature B	✓	✓	,	,	✓	✓	✓	🔴 Missing	✓
Feature C	,	✓	✓	✓	✓	🔴 Draft	,	,	,

Interpretation:

• ✓ = Field complete and current -, = Field missing or empty
• 🔴 = Field incomplete (Draft, In Review, or out of date)

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11. SUMMARY & NEXT STEPS

This month's release includes [N] features across Tier 1/2/3.

HEADLINE RISK:
[Summarize the top 2-3 risks in plain language. E.g., "3 features lack kill switches" or "2 PRDs are overdue."]

RECOMMENDED GO/NO-GO:
[GO: Release is ready to ship if these 3 items are completed by end of week]
[NO-GO: Hold release until: (1) PRD is approved, (2) ETA is confirmed, (3) KB articles are done]

IMMEDIATE ACTIONS (by EOD today):
1. @PM1: Finish PRD for Feature X
2. @PM2: Confirm ETA for Feature Y
3. @GTM: Publish KB article for Feature Z

WEEK-END CHECKLIST (by Friday EOD):
- [ ] All PRDs approved
- [ ] All features registered in release notes
- [ ] All ETAs confirmed on or before release date
- [ ] All knowledge articles published
- [ ] All feature flags configured and tested
- [ ] Sales enablement deck finalized
- [ ] Customer communication plan finalized

Next Release Readiness Report: [DATE] at 9:00 AM CET

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RISK CLASSIFICATION RULES

CRITICAL

• PRD Missing Past Deadline: PRD is Draft, In Review, or missing AND PRD deadline has passed
• ETA After Release Date: Feature ETA is after the scheduled release date
• Customer SLA at Risk: Named customer SLA date is before feature ETA
• No Feature Flag: Feature is shipping but has no kill switch in codebase
• Kill Switch Disabled: Feature flag exists but is always-enabled with no off state

HIGH

• Not Registered in Release Notes: Feature is in roadmap for this release but not listed in release notes document
• Incomplete Release Notes Entry: Feature is listed in release notes but missing customer impact, description, or tier
• Knowledge Article Not Started: Feature requires customer documentation but KB article not published
• Missing ARR Impact: Feature is shipping but ARR value not entered in roadmap
• Customer List Empty: Feature has business impact but zero customer accounts named

ON TRACK

• PRD approved and all required sections complete
• Feature registered in release notes with full details
• ETA is on or before release date
• Knowledge articles published or scheduled for release day
• Feature flag configured and tested
• All required fields populated and current

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SCHEDULING

Weekly Runs

Frequency: Every Wednesday
Time: 9:00 AM CET
Output: Post full report to #product-gang Slack channel
Retention: Archive report to shared drive for historical tracking

Automated Alerts (Optional)

• If any CRITICAL items exist: @mention relevant PMs in Slack
• If PM action items exist: Send reminder message to responsible PM
• If release date is < 7 days away: Escalate to exec sponsor

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CUSTOMIZATION FOR YOUR RELEASE CADENCE

Monthly Release (e.g., first Monday of each month)

• PRD Deadline: 2 weeks before release
• Release Notes Deadline: 1 week before release
• Knowledge Article Deadline: 3 days before release (or release day)
• Sales Enablement Deadline: 1 day before release (internal only)
• Agent Run: Every Wednesday at 9 AM, starting 4 weeks before release

Bi-Weekly Release (e.g., 1st & 3rd Monday)

• PRD Deadline: 10 days before release
• Release Notes Deadline: 5 days before release
• Knowledge Article Deadline: 2 days before release
• Sales Enablement Deadline: 1 day before release
• Agent Run: Every Tuesday at 9 AM

Quarterly Release (e.g., last Friday of Q)

• PRD Deadline: 6 weeks before release
• Release Notes Deadline: 2 weeks before release
• Knowledge Article Deadline: 1 week before release
• Sales Enablement Deadline: 3 days before release
• Agent Run: Every Monday at 9 AM, starting 8 weeks before release

To Customize:

1. Set RELEASE_DATE variable to your next release date
2. Calculate all deadline dates backward from release date
3. Set agent to run 4 weeks (or number of sprints) before release
4. Update all Slack channel names, Jira query filters, and document URLs to match your workspace

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DATA SOURCE CONNECTIONS

Jira/YouTrack/Linear

Jira Query:
  project = "PRODUCT" AND
  labels = "GTM_[MONTH_YEAR]" AND
  status in (In Progress, In Review, Ready for Release) AND
  assignee in (PM_GROUP)

Order by: ETA, then ARR Impact (descending)

Google Docs Release Notes

URL: [INSERT YOUR RELEASE NOTES DOC URL]
Parse: Extract all features listed under "Tier 1", "Tier 2", "Tier 3" headings
Method: Google Docs API or manual copy-paste + parsing

Notion PRD Repository

Database: [INSERT YOUR NOTION DATABASE URL]
Filter: [Release Month] = [CURRENT_MONTH] AND [Status] != Archived
Properties to extract: Title, Status, PM, Last Edited, Required Fields Completion %

GitHub/GitLab Feature Flags

Repo: [INSERT REPO URL]
File paths to scan: /src/flags/*, /flags/*, /config/feature-flags/*
Regex pattern: feature\. or FLAG_ or flag.
Extract: Flag name, value (boolean/percentage), comments, linked issues

Slack Channel for Output

Channel: #product-gang (or your product/release management channel)
Message format: Full report as thread, with emoji reactions for risk levels
Mention: @[PM_GROUP] if CRITICAL items exist

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EXAMPLE TEST PROMPT

Run Release Readiness Agent for March 2026 release (ship date: March 31, 2026).

Use this test data:
- 15 features total in roadmap, 12 for March, 3 deferred
- 10 features have PRDs (all approved)
- 2 features missing PRDs (Feature X and Feature Y)
- 9 features registered in release notes
- 3 features not in release notes
- 1 feature has ETA of April 2 (slipped past release)
- 2 features have no feature flags
- All knowledge articles completed except Feature Z

Output: Full 11-section report with risk summary, action items, and go/no-go recommendation.

Expected outcome: CRITICAL risk due to missing PRD + late ETA. HIGH risk due to 3 unregistered features + 2 missing flags.
Go/No-Go: CONDITIONAL GO, Release can proceed if (1) missing PRDs approved by Friday, (2) 3 features either descoped or registered in RN, (3) feature flags added.

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NOTES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

• Manual or Automated: This agent can run as a manual weekly prompt or be fully automated with API integrations to your backlog, docs, and code repositories.
• Permissions: Ensure the agent/bot has read access to Jira, Google Docs, Notion, GitHub, and Slack.
• Customization: Replace all placeholders ([INSERT YOUR URL], [PM], etc.) with your actual system details.
• Escalation: If any CRITICAL items exist, escalate to release sponsor or VP Product at end of report.
• Historical Tracking: Archive each week's report to a shared folder so you can analyze patterns over time (e.g., "Which PMs miss PRD deadlines most often?").

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CLOSING

This agent removes the guesswork from release management. Run it every week, and you'll never again ship a feature without proper documentation, a kill switch, or customer communication. It names PMs, flags gaps early, and creates accountability for delivery.

The three gaps it catches, missing PRDs, slipped ETAs, unregistered features, account for 90% of release disasters. Stop living in chaos. Let this agent do the audit for you.