Ship products, not prototypes.
27 hard gates, 4 soft gates, a structured error contract, and an adoption guide. Define what "done" means before anything ships.
Quick start
# 1. Read the adoption guide
cat ADOPTION.md
# 2. Copy the gate into your repo
cp templates/SHIP_GATE.md ./SHIP_GATE.md
# 3. Check off items, mark N/A with SKIP:
# 4. Ship when all hard gates pass
Error shape
// Tier 1: mandatory for all user-facing errors
{
"code": "INPUT_TEXT_EMPTY",
"message": "Text must not be empty",
"hint": "Provide at least one character",
"retryable": false
}
Gate summary
# Hard gates (block release):
A. Security Baseline 4 + 4 items
B. Error Handling 6 items
C. Operator Docs 7 items
D. Shipping Hygiene 9 items
# Soft gate (defines "whole"):
E. Identity 4 items
Why shipcheck
"Done" used to mean the code works. That's not enough.
What, not how
The gate says what must be true, not how to implement it. TypeScript, Python, .NET, Go — the standard is language-agnostic.
No checkbox shame
Applicability tags ([all], [npm], [mcp], [cli], [desktop]) let you skip what doesn't apply. A standards repo doesn't need error handling gates.
30-minute adoption
ADOPTION.md walks you through applying shipcheck to any repo in under 30 minutes. Copy the gate, check items, ship.
Standards
Everything a product needs to be "done."
| Standard | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Ship Gate | 27 hard-gate + 4 soft-gate checks across all repo types |
| Error Contract | Tier 1: error shape (all repos) / Tier 2: base type + exit codes (CLI/MCP/desktop) |
| Security Baseline | Report email, response timeline, threat scope template |
| Handbook | Operational field manual for complex tools |
| Scorecard | Pre/post remediation scoring for tracking maturity |
Get started
Copy the gate
# Copy SHIP_GATE.md into your repo root
cp templates/SHIP_GATE.md ./SHIP_GATE.md
# Check off items as you go:
# - [x] `[all]` SECURITY.md exists (2026-02-27)
# - [ ] SKIP: not a CLI tool
# - [ ] unchecked = needs workError shape (Tier 1)
// Every user-facing error must have:
interface StructuredError {
code: string; // e.g. "INPUT_TEXT_EMPTY"
message: string; // human-readable
hint: string; // actionable guidance
cause?: string; // upstream error
retryable?: boolean;
}Exit codes (Tier 2)
// For CLI, MCP, and desktop apps:
// 0 = OK
// 1 = User error (bad input, missing config)
// 2 = Runtime error (crash, backend failure)
// 3 = Partial success (some items succeeded)
// Codes use namespaced prefixes:
// IO_, CONFIG_, PERM_, DEP_,
// RUNTIME_, PARTIAL_, INPUT_, STATE_Reference repo
# mcp-voice-soundboard scored 46/50
# after applying shipcheck:
#
# A. Security 10/10
# B. Error Handling 8/10
# C. Operator Docs 9/10
# D. Shipping 9/10
# E. Identity 10/10