What is Definition of Done?
Quick definition
A shared checklist of criteria that work items must meet before being considered complete, ensuring consistency and quality across the team.
Definition of Done (DoD) is a formal agreement among team members that specifies what tasks must be completed for a work item to be considered finished and ready for delivery. It serves as a quality gate that prevents incomplete work from advancing to later stages of development. Common criteria include code review approval, unit tests passing, documentation updated, and acceptance testing completed.
In Kanban systems, DoD is critical for maintaining flow and preventing bottlenecks. When work items move across columns—from Backlog to In Progress to Review to Done—the Definition of Done ensures that each stage represents genuine progress. Without a clear DoD, teams risk accumulating technical debt and delivering low-quality increments.
For AI-coding agents and autonomous workflows, DoD becomes even more important. Agents should be configured to validate that generated code meets the defined criteria before marking tasks complete. This might include automated linting, test coverage thresholds, or documentation generation. A well-defined DoD helps agents make autonomous decisions about work completion while maintaining team standards.
Example
How it shows up in practice
Example DoD for a feature task: (1) Code written and committed, (2) Unit tests written with 80%+ coverage, (3) Code review approved by at least one developer, (4) Documentation updated, (5) Manual QA testing passed, (6) Merged to main branch.
Frequently asked questions
How is Definition of Done different from Acceptance Criteria?
Acceptance Criteria define what makes a specific user story successful. Definition of Done is the universal quality standard applied to all work items. DoD is team-level; Acceptance Criteria are story-level.
Can Definition of Done change during a sprint?
It shouldn't change mid-sprint to avoid scope creep and confusion. Teams should establish DoD at the beginning of a sprint or project, then review and adjust it during retrospectives between iterations.
Who defines the Definition of Done?
The entire team collaborates to create DoD: developers, testers, product owners, and stakeholders. This shared ownership ensures buy-in and realistic criteria that can actually be met.
How do AI agents use Definition of Done?
AI-coding agents can be programmed to check DoD criteria automatically—running tests, validating code style, verifying documentation. This enables autonomous completion validation without human intervention.