Prepare
AI may research, compare, draft and assemble a review package without executing the external action.
Working artifact / AI product operations / Reusable checklist
AI-assisted release control checklist
A practical gate for workflows where AI may research, draft or transform work, but the system must still verify current state, stop before consequential actions and prove the exact released artifact.
- Used at
- Before publish, submit, send or deploy
- Owner
- Human accountable for the external action
- Output
- Release, correction, escalation or stop
- Evidence status
- Applied portfolio QA artifact
01 / Authoritative state
Confirm what has already happened before preparing the next action.
Current record openedThe authoritative ledger or system of record is open; chat memory and old drafts are not treated as state.Evidence: record URL
Prior action checkedSubmission, publication, message or deployment history has been checked for duplicates.Evidence: timestamp / ID
Request still currentThe source, deadline, recipient, vacancy, form or environment is still active and unchanged.Evidence: live surface
Allowed next state namedThe next permitted transition is explicit: prepare, review, approve, execute once, follow up or close.Owner: operator
02 / External-action boundary
Approval applies to one exact action, route and artifact.
Inspect
The human reviews the live destination, exact file, claims, recipient and any question not present in the prepared data.
Approve
Permission names the specific action and artifact. It is not reusable authorization for later variants.
Execute once
The action is performed once, confirmation is captured and the authoritative state is updated immediately.
Stop condition: missing evidence, changed live surface, uncertain recipient, stale state or a new irreversible choice returns the task to human review.
03 / Exact-artifact QA
Review the delivered object, not only the source that produced it.
| Layer | Required check | Evidence | Failure response |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deterministic | Filename, count, dimensions, page count, links, required text and expected checksum. | Machine-readable output. | Block release and repair source or build. |
| Visual | Hierarchy, clipping, collisions, wrapping, mobile behavior and recruiter/user readability. | Exact screenshots or page renders. | Reject candidate even when tests are green. |
| Semantic | Claims, freshness, context, action state and whether the result solves the real request. | Human review note. | Correct wording, evidence or scope. |
| External | Production URL, HTTPS, route, uploaded file, recipient and confirmation state. | Live-surface evidence. | Stop, roll back or correct before closure. |
04 / Release record
Close the task with evidence that another person can audit.
Candidate identityCommit, file hash, version or exact draft identifier is recorded.Required
Approval evidenceReviewer, time, approved action and any limitations are recorded.Required
Execution evidenceDeployment, submission, message or publication confirmation is captured.Required
State updatedThe authoritative record reflects the action immediately and blocks accidental repetition.Required
Next action assignedFollow-up date, monitoring condition or closure reason is explicit.Closeout
05 / Defect and near-miss log
Convert escaped assumptions into the next deterministic check.
| Observed defect | Why the previous gate missed it | Immediate action | Permanent control |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wrong or uncontrolled contact route | Link existence was checked; ownership was not. | Replace with verified route. | Require exact approved email and fail on alternatives. |
| Green build with broken visual hierarchy | Structural tests could not judge design quality. | Reject candidate after visual review. | Open exact desktop/mobile or PDF renders before approval. |
| Duplicate external action | Preparation context did not query authoritative state. | Stop and reconcile history. | Duplicate protection before any submit/send step. |
| Correct source, wrong delivered artifact | Source was reviewed instead of the exported object. | Regenerate and inspect output. | Exact-artifact checksum, annotations and visual gate. |