Compressed window
Hotfix Gate Review
A hotfix is not a small release. It is a release made under time pressure, which is when rollback steps tend to exist only as a sentence in a chat.
The Hotfix Gate Review exists because emergency patches often skip the meeting that a planned version gets. Someone still has to say, in writing, whether the patch should go out.
We keep the document short on purpose. The people waiting on it are already tired. The note names the incident, the patch, the residual risk, and the person who can stop a staged rollout after the first percentage step.
Book this only when you already have a candidate build. We cannot usefully review an intention to patch.
Who it is for
Teams already in incident hours who need a second pair of eyes before a patch leaves QA.
What you leave with
A short gate note: ship, hold, or ship with named conditions.
Preparation
Have the production version number, the patch version number, and a rollback that has been tried or explicitly marked untested.
Constraints
If the rollback has never been rehearsed, that fact will appear in the note. We will not hide it to keep the clock.
Included
- Read of the incident note, the candidate patch description, and the rollback steps
- One call with the person who will approve the patch
- A one-to-two page gate note delivered inside the 48-hour window
Not included
- Root-cause analysis of the original incident
- Rewriting the patch
- Weekend coverage unless booked before Friday noon MYT
How this assessment is delivered
Open the window
You send the incident note, the patch description, and who can halt the rollout. We confirm we can meet the 48-hour clock.
Read and call
We read, then spend thirty minutes with the approver on what the patch does not cover.
Gate note
You receive ship, hold, or conditional ship, with the conditions written as actions someone owns.