QA Release Gate

QA Release Gate

Run QA as a hard gate after dependency completion, then publish go/no-go decision.

Input

• QA ticket and dependency ticket list.
• Test matrix and regression checklist.
• Staging target and release candidate revision.
• Constraint: Final sign-off cannot start while dependency tickets are open.

Output

• QA execution report with pass/fail evidence.
• Blocker list (if any) with severity.
• Go/no-go release recommendation.

Process

Phase 1: Dependency Gate Check

1. Verify required implementation tickets are closed.
2. If any dependency is open, mark QA as blocked with reason.
3. Prepare test report scaffold while waiting.

Phase 1.5: Independent Coverage Validation

1. Read the PRODUCT_VISION.md and independently generate a list of 5-10 critical functional scenarios that a user would encounter.
2. Compare these scenarios against the existing test suite.
3. If any scenario is NOT covered by an existing test, report it as a coverage gap.
4. Coverage gaps in critical user flows are blockers; gaps in secondary flows are warnings.

Phase 2: Execute Validation Matrix

1. Run mandatory scenario matrix.
2. Run regression checks for unaffected core flows.
3. Log failures with reproducible steps.

Phase 3: Sign-off

1. Publish QA report with evidence links.
2. Declare GO or NO-GO with rationale.
3. Close QA ticket only after sign-off is published.

Completeness Checklist

• □ Dependency gate is explicitly verified.
• □ Mandatory matrix and regression checks are executed.
• □ Final sign-off decision is documented in GitHub.

Rules

1. ALWAYS enforce dependency closure before final QA execution.
2. ALWAYS include reproducible evidence for failed checks.
3. NEVER issue a release sign-off with open P0 blockers.
4. NEVER skip regression validation without documented approval.