Team Release

Argument check: If no version number is provided:

1. Read production/session-state/active.md and the most recent file in production/milestones/ (if they exist) to infer the target version.
2. If a version is found: report "No version argument provided — inferred [version] from milestone data. Proceeding." Then confirm with AskUserQuestion: "Releasing [version]. Is this correct?"
3. If no version is discoverable: use AskUserQuestion to ask "What version number should be released? (e.g., v1.0.0)" and wait for user input before proceeding. Do NOT default to a hardcoded version string.

When this skill is invoked, orchestrate the release team through a structured pipeline.

Decision Points: At each phase transition, use AskUserQuestion to present the user with the subagent's proposals as selectable options. Write the agent's full analysis in conversation, then capture the decision with concise labels. The user must approve before moving to the next phase.

Phase 0: Resolve Review Mode

1. If --review [mode] was passed as an argument, use that mode.
2. Else read production/review-mode.txt — use whatever is written there.
3. Else default to lean.

Modes:

• full — spawn all director and lead gates as described
• lean — skip director gates unless they are PHASE-GATE type (CD-PHASE-GATE, TD-PHASE-GATE, PR-PHASE-GATE, AD-PHASE-GATE)
• solo — skip all director gate spawning entirely; run the skill without any agent gates

Store the resolved mode for use in all subsequent phases.

Team Composition

• release-manager — Release branch, versioning, changelog, deployment
• qa-lead — Test sign-off, regression suite, release quality gate
• devops-engineer — Build pipeline, artifacts, deployment automation
• security-engineer — Pre-release security audit (invoke if game has online/multiplayer features or player data)
• analytics-engineer — Verify telemetry events fire correctly and dashboards are live
• community-manager — Patch notes, launch announcement, player-facing messaging
• producer — Go/no-go decision, stakeholder communication, scheduling

How to Delegate

Use the Task tool to spawn each team member as a subagent:

• subagent_type: release-manager — Release branch, versioning, changelog, deployment
• subagent_type: qa-lead — Test sign-off, regression suite, release quality gate
• subagent_type: devops-engineer — Build pipeline, artifacts, deployment automation
• subagent_type: security-engineer — Security audit for online/multiplayer/data features
• subagent_type: analytics-engineer — Telemetry event verification and dashboard readiness
• subagent_type: community-manager — Patch notes and launch communication
• subagent_type: producer — Go/no-go decision, stakeholder communication
• subagent_type: network-programmer — Netcode stability sign-off (invoke if game has multiplayer)

Always provide full context in each agent's prompt (version number, milestone status, known issues). Launch independent agents in parallel where the pipeline allows it (e.g., Phase 3 agents can run simultaneously).

Pipeline

Phase 1: Release Planning

Delegate to producer:

• Confirm all milestone acceptance criteria are met
• Identify any scope items deferred from this release
• Set the target release date and communicate to team
• Output: release authorization with scope confirmation

Phase 2: Release Candidate

Delegate to release-manager:

• Cut release branch from the agreed commit
• Bump version numbers in all relevant files
• Generate the release checklist using /release-checklist
• Freeze the branch — no feature changes, bug fixes only
• Output: release branch name and checklist

Phase 3: Quality Gate (parallel)

Delegate in parallel:

• qa-lead: Execute full regression test suite. Test all critical paths. Verify no S1/S2 bugs. Sign off on quality.
• devops-engineer: Build release artifacts for all target platforms. Verify builds are clean and reproducible. Run automated tests in CI.
• security-engineer (if game has online features, multiplayer, or player data): Conduct pre-release security audit. Review authentication, anti-cheat, data privacy compliance. Sign off on security posture.
• network-programmer (if game has multiplayer): Sign off on netcode stability. Verify lag compensation, reconnect handling, and bandwidth usage under load.

Phase 4: Localization, Performance, and Analytics

Delegate (can run in parallel with Phase 3 if resources available):

• Verify all strings are translated (delegate to localization-lead if available)
• Run performance benchmarks against targets (delegate to performance-analyst if available)
• analytics-engineer: Verify all telemetry events fire correctly on release build. Confirm dashboards are receiving data. Check that critical funnels (onboarding, progression, monetization if applicable) are instrumented.
• Output: localization, performance, and analytics sign-off

Phase 5: Go/No-Go

Delegate to producer:

• Collect sign-off from: qa-lead, release-manager, devops-engineer, security-engineer (if spawned in Phase 3), network-programmer (if spawned in Phase 3), and technical-director
• Evaluate any open issues — are they blocking or can they ship?
• Make the go/no-go call
• Output: release decision with rationale

If producer declares NO-GO:

• Surface the decision immediately: "PRODUCER: NO-GO — [rationale, e.g., S1 bug found in Phase 3]."
• Use AskUserQuestion with options:
  • Fix the blocker and re-run the affected phase
  • Defer the release to a later date
  • Override NO-GO with documented rationale (user must provide written justification)
• Skip Phase 6 entirely — do not tag, deploy to staging, deploy to production, or spawn community-manager.
• Produce a partial report summarizing Phases 1–5 and what was skipped (Phase 6) and why.
• Verdict: BLOCKED — release not deployed.

After the user selects "Override NO-GO with documented rationale":

• Ask (plain text, not widget): "Please describe the justification for overriding the NO-GO verdict. This will be embedded in the release record."
• Wait for the user's written justification.
• Embed the justification text in the partial approval record before Phase 6: append a "⚠️ Override Justification: [user's text]" field.
• Only then proceed to Phase 6.

Phase 6: Deployment (if GO)

Delegate to release-manager + devops-engineer:

• Tag the release in version control
• Generate changelog using /changelog
• Deploy to staging for final smoke test
• Deploy to production
• Human team action: Monitor dashboards and error rates for 48 hours post-release. Schedule a follow-up retrospective using /retrospective at the 48-hour mark.

Delegate to community-manager (in parallel with deployment):

• Finalize patch notes using /patch-notes [version]
• Prepare launch announcement (store page updates, social media, community post)
• Draft known issues post if any S3+ issues shipped
• Output: all player-facing release communication, ready to publish on deploy confirmation

Phase 7: Post-Release

• release-manager: Generate release report (what shipped, what was deferred, metrics)
• producer: Update milestone tracking, communicate to stakeholders
• qa-lead: Monitor incoming bug reports for regressions
• community-manager: Publish all player-facing communication, monitor community sentiment
• analytics-engineer: Confirm live dashboards are healthy; alert if any critical events are missing
• Schedule post-release retrospective if issues occurred

Error Recovery Protocol

If any spawned agent (via Task) returns BLOCKED, errors, or cannot complete:

1. Surface immediately: Report "[AgentName]: BLOCKED — [reason]" to the user before continuing to dependent phases
2. Assess dependencies: Check whether the blocked agent's output is required by subsequent phases. If yes, do not proceed past that dependency point without user input.
3. Offer options via AskUserQuestion with choices:
   • Skip this agent and note the gap in the final report
   • Retry with narrower scope
   • Stop here and resolve the blocker first
4. Always produce a partial report — output whatever was completed. Never discard work because one agent blocked.

Common blockers:

• Input file missing (story not found, GDD absent) → redirect to the skill that creates it
• ADR status is Proposed → do not implement; run /architecture-decision first
• Scope too large → split into two stories via /create-stories
• Conflicting instructions between ADR and story → surface the conflict, do not guess

File Write Protocol

All file writes (release checklists, changelogs, patch notes, deployment scripts) are delegated to sub-agents and sub-skills. Each enforces the "May I write to [path]?" protocol. This orchestrator does not write files directly.

Output

A summary report covering: release version, scope, quality gate results, go/no-go decision, deployment status, and monitoring plan.

Verdict: COMPLETE — release executed and deployed. Verdict: BLOCKED — release halted; go/no-go was NO or a hard blocker is unresolved.

Next Steps

• Monitor post-release dashboards for 48 hours.
• Run /retrospective if significant issues occurred during the release.
• Update production/stage.txt to Live after successful deployment.

Source: Donchitos/Claude-Code-Game-Studios → .claude/skills/team-release/SKILL.md