# Phase 15 Final Release Recommendation

## Recommendation

**Not ready for Phase 16**

The repository has materially better static controls than the supplied Phase 14 baseline, but final QA is not complete. The exact clean installation, production build, dependency audit, unit/integration regression, cross-browser flows, automated accessibility, manual keyboard/screen-reader/zoom review, visual baselines, performance budgets, deployment rehearsal, and rollback rehearsal have not been executed against the final Phase 15 manifest.

## Defect and issue counts

- Critical unresolved: **1**
- High unresolved: **21**
- Medium unresolved: **17**
- Low unresolved: **2**
- Phase 15 defects resolved: **4**
- Accepted exceptions: **0**

The cumulative counts include inherited business, research, legal, localization, design, integration, operations, and verification issues. The Phase 15 defect register contains one open High aggregate acceptance blocker, P15-005.

## Failed or blocked release gates

The blocked gates include exact runtime/frozen install, final package-backed checks, current unit/integration/build, dependency/license audit, browser/accessibility/visual/manual matrices, performance and bundle measurement, production-like deployment, rollback, CRM, legal/privacy consent, analytics approval, distributed idempotency/rate limiting, native localization review, participant acceptance research, production origin, final brand assets, destinations, and a real commit identifier.

## Required Phase 16 approvals

Phase 16 must not begin release-candidate freeze until engineering QA closes P15-005. Business/legal work still required includes final copy, claims/evidence, customer assets, legal/privacy text, analytics and consent, CRM/scheduler operations, production destinations, domain/hosting, credentials, launch ownership, and final assets.

## Required remediation before production

1. Commit the Phase 15 repository and record the SHA.
2. Run the complete command matrix on Node 24.17.0 and pnpm 11.9.0 from a frozen clean install.
3. Fix and retest every resulting Critical, High, and Medium defect.
4. Complete browser, accessibility, localization/RTL, theme, responsive, visual, performance, deployment, rollback, and observability evidence.
5. Resolve or formally approve every production business/legal gate. No Critical or High exception currently exists.

## Overall risk statement

Static source integrity is improved and production integrations remain safely disabled. Release risk is nevertheless **unacceptably high** because the final executable artifact has not been built or observed in browsers and assistive technologies, and the production data-processing and destination decisions are unresolved.
