---
user-invocable: true
name: launch-checklist
description: Coordinate product launches - checklist and timeline for releasing something
tokens: ~400
cloud-ok: true
---

# Launch Checklist
#claudeai

## When to Use
You're launching something - new product, major feature, rebrand, or any coordinated release that needs multiple things to happen.

## What I Need
- What are you launching?
- When is the target date?
- How big is this launch? (quiet release, soft launch, big push)

## Launch Tiers

| Tier | Description | Effort |
|------|-------------|--------|
| **Quiet** | Just ship it, announce minimally | 1-2 days |
| **Soft** | Ship with basic announcement, gather feedback | 1 week |
| **Standard** | Coordinated announcement, some promotion | 2-3 weeks |
| **Big** | Full press, multiple channels, event-style | 4-6 weeks |

## The Master Checklist

### Product Readiness
- [ ] Feature complete and tested
- [ ] Known bugs documented (ship anyway or block?)
- [ ] Rollback plan if something breaks
- [ ] Monitoring/alerts in place
- [ ] Performance tested under load
- [ ] Mobile/browser compatibility checked

### Content & Messaging
- [ ] Core messaging defined (what it is, who it's for, why it matters)
- [ ] Landing page / product page updated
- [ ] Changelog / release notes written
- [ ] Blog post drafted (if applicable)
- [ ] Email announcement drafted
- [ ] Social posts drafted
- [ ] Demo video / screenshots ready

### Sales & Support
- [ ] Sales team briefed on new features
- [ ] Support docs / help center updated
- [ ] FAQ prepared for common questions
- [ ] Support team trained
- [ ] Pricing page updated (if pricing changes)

### Technical & Ops
- [ ] DNS / redirects configured
- [ ] Analytics tracking in place
- [ ] A/B tests configured (if any)
- [ ] Feature flags ready to toggle
- [ ] Database migrations planned

### External
- [ ] Press/media outreach (if big launch)
- [ ] Partner notifications
- [ ] Product Hunt scheduled (if applicable)
- [ ] Influencer/community seeding
- [ ] Paid promotion ready to activate

### Team
- [ ] Launch owner assigned
- [ ] All stakeholders know their role
- [ ] War room / communication channel set up
- [ ] Post-launch monitoring shifts assigned

## Launch Timeline Template

### T-2 Weeks
- [ ] Lock scope - no more features
- [ ] Begin content creation
- [ ] Brief sales and support
- [ ] Schedule social posts

### T-1 Week
- [ ] Complete all content
- [ ] Final testing round
- [ ] Dry run of launch sequence
- [ ] Confirm all stakeholders ready

### T-1 Day
- [ ] Final go/no-go decision
- [ ] Pre-load everything that can be pre-loaded
- [ ] Test monitoring and alerts
- [ ] Team on standby

### Launch Day
- [ ] Deploy / flip the switch
- [ ] Monitor for issues (first hour critical)
- [ ] Activate announcements
- [ ] Watch social for early feedback
- [ ] Respond quickly to any issues

### T+1 Day
- [ ] Review metrics vs expectations
- [ ] Address any bugs that emerged
- [ ] Gather early customer feedback
- [ ] Internal debrief

### T+1 Week
- [ ] Launch retrospective
- [ ] Document learnings
- [ ] Celebrate (or course correct)

## Output Format

```
## Launch Plan: [What You're Launching]

**Target Date:** [Date]
**Launch Tier:** [Quiet / Soft / Standard / Big]
**Launch Owner:** [Who]

**Go / No-Go Criteria:**
- [ ] [Must be true to launch]
- [ ] [Must be true to launch]

**Timeline:**
| Date | Milestone |
|------|-----------|
| [T-X] | [Task] |
| [T-X] | [Task] |
| [Launch] | [Ship!] |
| [T+X] | [Follow-up] |

**Checklist:**
[Relevant items from master checklist]

**Success Metrics:**
- [Metric]: Target [X]
- [Metric]: Target [X]

**Rollback Plan:**
If [condition], we will [action].

**Communication:**
- Internal: [How you'll update team]
- External: [Channels for announcement]
```

## Launch Day Rules

1. **One person owns the call** - They say go/no-go
2. **Everyone knows their role** - No confusion about who does what
3. **Have a war room** - Slack channel, Zoom, whatever
4. **Monitor everything** - Errors, traffic, social mentions
5. **Celebrate, then fix** - Don't let bugs ruin the moment, but do fix them