Definition of done (DoD)
Also called DoD.
The shared checklist every piece of work must pass, such as tested, reviewed and deployed, before the team calls it finished.
Last updated
What it is.
The Scrum Guide describes the definition of done as a formal description of the state of the work when it meets the quality measures required for the product. It applies to every item, unlike acceptance criteria, which are specific to one feature.
A typical one says: code reviewed by a second engineer, automated tests written and passing, works on the agreed browsers and devices, no new accessibility errors, documentation updated, and deployed to a staging environment.
Why it matters
Without a shared bar, "done" means "works on my machine". Unfinished testing and review then pile up as hidden work, which turns into technical debt and late surprises. A clear definition also makes velocity honest, because only finished work is counted.
In a product build
A definition of done is agreed at the start of a build, next to the first milestone, so that "finished" means the same thing to the client and to the engineers for the whole project.
Common mistakes.
- 01
Writing it once and never enforcing it when deadlines get close.
- 02
Making it so long that no item can pass, so the team quietly ignores it.
- 03
Confusing it with acceptance criteria. One is the quality bar, the other is what this feature must do.
Read the official text.
Primary sources this definition is based on.
- The Scrum Guide (Schwaber and Sutherland, 2020)checked 2026-10-25
Related terms.
- Acceptance criteriaThe testable conditions a feature must meet before the person who asked for it accepts it as done.
- SprintA fixed time box, one month or less and often two weeks, in which a team builds and shows a working piece of the product.
- VelocityThe amount of finished work a team completes in a sprint, used to forecast how much fits in the time left.
- Technical debtThe future cost of shortcuts taken in code today.
Guides and pages
Browse the full glossary or read answers to common questions.
