What is the definition of done? Definition for agile teams
The definition of done is the shared bar a work item must clear before it counts as shipped — the team-wide checklist that applies to every story, not just the current one.
The definition of done is the shared bar a work item must clear before it counts as shipped — the team-wide checklist that applies to every story, not just the current one.
The format prevents a class of recurring argument. Without it, every retro surfaces the same questions: should this have had a test, should this have been reviewed before deploy, who was supposed to verify the visible behavior. Writing the answer down once, where everyone can see it, removes the question from the per-story conversation.
Where it lives in the workflow
The acceptance criteria are the story-specific test: did this change produce the behavior we wanted? The definition of done is the universal test: did this change clear the floor we require of any change? A story is not done until both pass.
A useful pattern: include "PM signed off on the live behavior" on the definition of done. A short capture session against the staging build, with the visible behavior recorded and notes attached, gives the PM a low-effort way to do that sign-off and gives engineering a markdown record of what was approved.
Frequently asked questions
How is the definition of done different from acceptance criteria?
Acceptance criteria is per-story. Definition of done is per-team — the universal floor every story has to pass on top of its own criteria.
What usually goes on a definition of done?
Code review approved, tests added and passing, no new lint or type errors, deployed to staging, product manager has signed off on the visible behavior. Teams tune the list to what their incidents have taught them.
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