Release smoke tests

A short fixed set run on every build before release.

Mandatory for 46 of 46 product types. Usually run by a QA engineer.

What it catches

• broken builds
• dead environments

What it misses

• anything deep

Which product types need it and why

Done conditions used on playbook pages

Each mandatory cell has its own done condition, written for that product type.

• accounting and invoicing SaaS (Fintech): After each release, a test company creates and sends an invoice, records the payment and sees the trial balance still in balance.
• buy now pay later service (Fintech): After each release, a test shopper completes a pay-in-four checkout on a test merchant and sees four instalments with the right dates in the app.
• clinical trial management software (Healthcare): After each deployment to production, a test site enters, edits and signs one eCRF page, and the audit trail shows the old value, new value, user, time and reason.
• crypto exchange (Fintech): After each deploy, a test account places, fills and cancels a small order on web and mobile, and the balance and order history match.
• data pipeline (Infrastructure and developer products): After each deploy, a run on a fixed sample input produces the expected row count and totals in every target table.
• dating app (Consumer apps): On the release build, a new member verifies a phone number, completes a profile with a photo, gets a match, sends a first message, and reports and blocks the match.
• desktop application (Infrastructure and developer products): The signed installer opens on clean macOS and Windows machines with no Gatekeeper or SmartScreen warning, and lists the same files and services as the previous release plus documented changes.
• e-signature service (B2B SaaS): On every build, a two-signer test envelope completes, the test consumer signer sees the electronic records disclosure before the document opens, its certificate lists each signer's email, authentication method, IP address and timestamp, and the signed PDF shows a valid signature.
• ecommerce store (Commerce): On the release build, a shopper finds a product, adds it to the cart, pays with a test card and receives an order confirmation email.
• electronic health record system (Healthcare): After each update, a test clinician opens a test patient's chart, places a lab order and sees it arrive in the lab worklist.
• email marketing platform (B2B SaaS): After every deploy, a test campaign to seed inboxes at Gmail and Yahoo lands in the inbox with SPF, DKIM and DMARC shown as pass in the headers.
• ERP system (B2B SaaS): After every deploy, a test payroll run for a fixed set of employees produces the expected net pay for each person.
• EV charging app (Infrastructure and developer products): On the release build, using the demo station and test account given to store review, a test driver finds a station on the map, starts a session on a test charger, stops it and receives a receipt, and billing on the receipt stops at the stop tap.
• expense management tool (Fintech): After each release, a test employee captures a receipt, submits a report, a manager approves it and the reimbursement appears in the payout file.
• fleet and logistics tracking (Infrastructure and developer products): On the release build, a test vehicle's position appears on the dispatcher map, the driver app shows today's route, a delivery photo uploads, and hours driven with the test vehicle appear in the driver's duty log.
• government services portal (Public sector): On the release build, a citizen signs in, starts an application, saves it and sees its case status, and sees only their own cases.
• grocery delivery app (Commerce): On the release build, a shopper adds a weighed item and an out-of-stock item that offers a substitute, sees a full-slots message instead of a crash when every chilled delivery slot is taken, books an open one and pays with a test card.
• identity and access management service (B2B SaaS): On every build, a test user signs in through SAML and OIDC to a sample app, a wrong password is refused, and sign-out ends the session in the sample app.
• insurance app (Fintech): After each release, a test customer gets a quote, binds a policy, pays the first premium and sees the policy documents in the app.
• smart home or IoT app (Infrastructure and developer products): On the release build, the app opens a demo home without hardware, adds a real device and switches it on and off from the phone.
• kids app (Education): On the release build, a child opens the app, plays the first activity, and any purchase or link asks for the parental gate.
• language learning app (Education): On the release build, a new learner picks a language, completes the first lesson including one speaking exercise, and sees the paywall with price and renewal terms.
• lending platform (Fintech): After each release, a test borrower can apply, sign the loan agreement and see the first repayment scheduled against the account they named.
• LLM-based assistant (Infrastructure and developer products): On the release build, a signed-in user sends a prompt, gets an answer, triggers one tool call, finds the chat saved in history, and one fixed policy question returns its approved answer.
• loyalty program app (Commerce): On every build, a test member signs in, scans a receipt or purchase, sees points arrive and redeems a reward without a crash.
• online marketplace (Commerce): On the release build, a buyer finds a listing, reports it, blocks the seller and completes a purchase from another seller.
• mental health app (Healthcare): On the release build, a test user completes onboarding, logs a mood entry and opens a therapy session screen on the oldest supported phone.
• messaging app (Consumer apps): On the release build, two test users on different platforms exchange a text, a photo and a voice note, each item shows as delivered, and report and block appear in the chat.
• machine learning model service (Infrastructure and developer products): After each model or code deploy, a fixed set of reference inputs returns the stored expected scores and labels from the live endpoint.
• mobile banking app (Fintech): On every store build, a tester installs the app fresh, logs in to a test customer, sees only that customer's accounts and moves money between two of them.
• mobile game (Consumer apps): On the release build, a new player completes the tutorial, buys one item with a sandbox account and finds it in the inventory after a restart, and the loot box screen shows item odds before the buy button.
• neobank (Fintech): On every store build, a tester signs up a new test applicant, passes the ID step, receives account details and makes a first card payment in the sandbox.
• peer-to-peer payment app (Fintech): On every store build, a tester installs the app fresh, links a test card, sends a payment to a second test user and sees it arrive once.
• patient portal (Healthcare): After each release, a test patient signs in, views a test result, sends a message and sees it arrive in the test clinician's inbox.
• pharmacy delivery app (Healthcare): On the release build, a prescription-only item cannot reach payment until a prescription is uploaded or transferred, and an over-the-counter item checks out without one.
• ride-hailing app (Commerce): On every build, a test rider requests a ride, a test driver accepts it, and both apps reach trip complete without a crash.
• software as a medical device (Healthcare): On the release build, the app pairs with a test device, shows a live reading and sounds a forced test alarm on each supported phone.
• SDK or client library (Infrastructure and developer products): Each release candidate carries its privacy manifest and a signature that Xcode validates, installs into sample host apps for every supported platform, builds from a clean cache, launches and completes the quick-start call.
• social network (Consumer apps): On the release build, a new user signs up, posts, follows someone, reports a post and blocks a user.
• subscription box service (Commerce): On the release build, a test subscriber signs up, skips the next box and cancels online, and the account shows no upcoming charge.
• telemedicine app (Healthcare): On the release build, a test patient books a visit, enters the waiting room and sees and hears the test clinician once the clinician admits them.
• event ticketing platform (Commerce): On the release build before each onsale, with the test queue opened at the scheduled onsale time, buyers join the queue, pick seats on the map, pay and receive scannable tickets.
• stock trading app (Fintech): After each release, a test account logs in, sees live quotes, places and cancels a market and a limit order, and the order history shows both.
• travel booking app (Commerce): On the release build, a traveller searches, books a test hotel and a test flight, pays and receives both confirmations.
• video conferencing tool (B2B SaaS): On every build, each client installs from the store or notarized build without a warning, two test accounts on different platforms join a passcode meeting, see and hear each other, share a screen, the host ends the meeting for all, and after the desktop client is uninstalled a test web page can no longer start or join a meeting through it.
• wearable companion app (Healthcare): On the release build, the app opens to a demo mode without a band, pairs with a real band, and shows a reading synced in the last minute.

Tools

Alphabetical. Not recommendations.