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name: release-health-gates description: | Declarative release readiness checklist that mirrors GitHub checks, deployment issues, and documentation requirements.

Triggers: release gates, release readiness, deployment checklist, release review, quality signals, rollout scorecard, QA handshake, deployment gates

Use when: preparing releases, validating deployment gates, conducting release reviews, embedding release gate snippets in PRs

DO NOT use when: weekly status updates - use github-initiative-pulse. DO NOT use when: code reviews - use pensive review skills.

Standardizes release approvals with GitHub-aware checklists. version: 1.0.0 category: governance tags: [release, github, readiness, quality, governance] dependencies: [] tools: [minister-tracker] provides: governance: [release-gates, rollout-scorecards] reporting: [deployment-comment, qa-handshake] usage_patterns:

• release-train
• hotfix-review
• stakeholder-briefing complexity: intermediate estimated_tokens: 700 progressive_loading: true modules:
• modules/quality-signals.md
• modules/deployment-readiness.md

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Release Health Gates

Purpose

Standardize release approvals by expressing gates as GitHub-aware checklists. validates code, docs, comms, and observability items are all green before flipping deploy toggles.

Gate Categories

1. Scope & Risk – Are all blocking issues closed or deferred with owners?
2. Quality Signals – Are required checks, tests, and soak times satisfied?
3. Comms & Docs – Are docs merged and release notes posted?
4. Operations – Are runbooks, oncall sign-off, and rollback plans ready?

Workflow

1. Load skill to access gate modules.
2. Attach Release Gate section to deployment PR.
3. Use tracker data to auto-fill blockers and highlight overdue tasks.
4. Update comment as gates turn green; require approvals for any waivers.

Outputs

• Release Gate markdown snippet (embed in PR/issue).
• QA Handshake summary referencing GitHub Checks.
• Rollout scorecard that persists in tracker data for retros.

Exit Criteria

• All release gates evaluated and documented.
• Any blocking gates have waiver approvals recorded.
• Deployment PR contains embedded Release Gate snippet.
• Rollout scorecard saved for post-release retrospective.