Design
Diagram a Release Migration and Rollback Sequence
A release sequence diagram that makes migration order, compatibility windows, verification gates, rollback triggers, and data-recovery ownership explicit before a rollout.
The process
Work it in this order.
- Define the release and migration owner, system, environments, current and target versions, exact diagram question, and data-loss, security, accessibility, privacy, and downtime constraints.
- Separate the planned sequence from commands that would actually execute; do not access production or run migration, validation, or rollback commands.
- Define preconditions, actors, version or schema states, and invariants that must hold before cutover.
- Lay out forward steps in order, including backups or snapshots, compatibility checks, migration, application change, validation, and observation.
- Branch every failure or stop point to a rollback or recovery path, mark irreversible steps and the decision owner, and do not promise a rollback after data loss.
- Add validation, monitoring, accessibility, security, and data-integrity checks, then produce a static accessible diagram with a text alternative; do not rehearse or test commands.
- Package self-contained diagram source, versioned assumptions, runbook links, coverage limits, and an explicit no-execution result, and pause before any real release or migration.
Bring this
Inputs the cat will ask for.
- release and migration versions
- environment and dependency map
- compatibility and verification gates
- rollback owner and recovery objectives
Router + one playbook
Route first. Choose one.
Cat Paw loads one playbook per task rather than merging several. Start with this router; the remaining paths are workflow-specific candidates it can inspect.
- Router:
diagram-design-pack skills/diagram-design-pack/release-migration-rollback-sequence-diagram/SKILL.md
Guardrails
The boundaries travel with the prompt.
- Verify the actual tools, accounts, permissions, and workspace before starting; never claim an unavailable tool, account, source, or capability.
- Use Latch/target-workspace for private code, artifacts, live probes, or non-public data; if that access is unavailable, stop at the boundary and report the blocker rather than substituting a guess.
- Pause for explicit approval before consequential external actions; return evidence and unresolved risks, assumptions, and any action still awaiting approval.
Done means
A checkable finish.
A versioned, accessible static sequence diagram defines ordered states, compatibility windows, validation gates, recovery branches, irreversible points, and coverage limits, with an explicit no-execution result.
Sources
Where this process came from.
- github.com/cathrynlavery/diagram-design/tree/dc1ace47b99a419e42d01a03cb6ace5346efa8ae/
- sre.google/sre-book/release-engineering/
- kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/workloads/controllers/deployment/
Sources establish the workflow pattern. Reddit and community posts, where present, are treated as practitioner anecdotes rather than universal facts.