Release severity triage (1.0)

Status: planning / published rules
Programme: pre_release_roadmap_1_0.md §7
Linked from: ROADMAP.md, release_governance.md

Without explicit severity, hardening expands indefinitely because every imperfection looks equally important. Apply these rules during 0.9.x hardening and RC triage.

Severity

Definition

1.0 action

Release blocker

Data loss; unsafe deletion; corrupt outputs; broken supported install; incorrect run truth; security/privacy failure

Must fix before RC/1.0; no known-limitation escape

Must fix

Principal journey broken; misleading prominent analysis; unusable error state; documentation cannot complete a supported workflow

Must fix before 1.0

May ship as known limitation

Optional module failure; unsupported language/model/platform combination; specialist UI friction; non-critical performance problem

Document honestly; do not block 1.0

Post-1.0

Aesthetic refactors; experimental analyses; specialist convenience; non-supported configurations

Explicitly out of scope for the release gate

Gate rules

  • Severity rules written and linked from ROADMAP / release governance

  • Hardening backlog tagged with severity before RC (provisional — analysis_quality_audit_judgements.md 0.9.7; owner confirm)

  • RC entry requires zero open release blockers and zero open must-fix items

Tag each hardening finding with one severity before scheduling work. Known limitations must be listed in release notes or a known-limitations section when shipping under that class.