Definition of Done enforced by the tool, not by team memory.
Quality gates that block stories from "done" until AC are verified, tests pass, and review is complete.
Most teams have a Definition of Done that lives on a Confluence page nobody reads. Stride enforces it: stories can't transition to Done until AC are verified, tests pass, code is reviewed, and any other team-specific gates are met. Drift between intent and reality drops to zero.
When do quality gates turn into compliance theater?
Definitions of Done are aspirational. In practice, stories get marked Done because the engineer thinks they're done, before tests, before docs, before security review, before the AC are actually verified. The work gets accepted, the tech debt accumulates, and the team retrospectives note 'we keep accepting stories that aren't done' for the fifth quarter in a row.
How does Stride enforce AC verification at the story's 'done' transition?
Stride lets you define quality gates per project: AC verified, tests passing in CI, code reviewed and approved, security scan passed, performance test green, docs updated. Stories visually cannot move to Done until every gate clears. The DoD becomes enforced, not aspirational.
- Per-project quality-gate config (AC, tests, review, security, performance, docs)
- Visual indicator on every story showing which gates are clear / pending / failed
- Automated gates: CI passing, security scan, accessibility audit (via integrations)
- Human gates: AC verified by PM, code reviewed by 2+ people, design review
- Override flow: time-pressure exceptions go through an explicit override with rationale captured
- Audit log: who overrode which gate when (compliance-friendly)
Teams whose retrospectives consistently surface "we accept stories before they're really done", and who have leadership willing to enforce the discipline.
Teams without an existing DoD to formalise: start with /glossary/definition-of-done first. Also not a fit for teams whose 'gates' are entirely informal and would resent a tool surface enforcing them; in that case, the social contract isn't ready.