Collaboration & Process › Agile & Delivery Process

Definition of Done

The team's checklist for when work is truly finished.

Also known as: DoD, Definition of Done checklist, done criteria, team done checklist

The definition of done (DoD) is a shared checklist the team agrees on for when any piece of work counts as finished. It prevents the “it works on my machine, it’s basically done” situation.

An example checklist:

• Code is written and reviewed (approved pull request).
• Tests are added or updated, and the whole suite passes in CI (continuous integration).
• The acceptance criteria are met (acceptance criteria).
• No new lint or security warnings.
• Documentation updated (README, API docs, changelog).
• Deployed to staging and checked there.
• Monitoring and alerts in place for anything new that could fail.
• Feature flags, migrations and config are set up.
• The product owner has seen it working.

Acceptance criteria vs definition of done

A story is done only when it satisfies both.

Why teams use one

• Consistent quality, with the same bar for everyone, regardless of who did the work.
• No hidden work. Without it, “done” stories quietly accumulate untested, undocumented, undeployed leftovers (technical debt, see technical debt).
• A shared language in planning and reviews (sprint review).

Making it work

• Write it together as a team, and keep it short enough to be used.
• Make items verifiable, not aspirational (“good quality”).
• Apply it honestly. Calling something “done” with unfinished items just moves the work somewhere less visible.
• Revisit it in retrospectives, and tighten it as the team matures. Add automation (CI checks) so that much of it doesn’t depend on memory.
• Don’t confuse it with the definition of ready, which is about whether a story is clear enough to start.