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The definition of done is the checklist every story meets before the team calls it finished. It applies to all stories, where acceptance criteria are specific to one. Copy it and cut it to what your team will really check.
Definition of done A story is done when: [ ] Its acceptance criteria are met and shown to the product owner [ ] The code is reviewed and merged to the main branch [ ] Automated tests are written and passing [ ] No new high-severity issues from static analysis or security scanning [ ] It is deployed to a test environment and checked there [ ] It is linked to its requirement and to its tests [ ] Any user-facing change is checked for accessibility [ ] Documentation and release notes are updated [ ] The product owner has accepted it
Acceptance criteria are specific to one story: what this piece of work must do. The definition of done applies to every story: the quality steps all work goes through, such as review, testing and documentation. A story is finished only when it meets both.
The team that does the work agrees it, and everyone holds to it. In Scrum the definition of done belongs to the Scrum team, and where an organisation has its own standard, the team’s version must meet it at least.
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