Agent Build Acceptance Gate (QA)

Agent Build Acceptance Gate (QA)

1. 01

   Label the build stage before testing begins and confirm the client signed off on that label

   A proof of concept, prototype, pilot, and MVP each answer a different question; testing an MVP against PoC criteria produces false failures and scope disputes.

2. 02

   Replay 30 real client inputs drawn from the last 90 days of tickets, not synthetic prompts

   Pull the actual messy inputs: misspellings, multi-language messages, attachments, and edge cases the delivery team already handled manually.

3. 03

   Score every agent output against a written pass/fail rubric the client has seen

   Rubric covers factual accuracy, tone match, required disclaimers, and whether the output is actionable without a human rewriting it.

4. 04

   Insert a human review checkpoint before any agent output reaches a client-facing dashboard

   Fewer than half of agent-generated insights at surveyed organizations lead to meaningful action, so treat unreviewed output as a defect, not a feature.

5. 05

   Run a tool-call failure drill: revoke one integration credential mid-run and observe recovery

   Agents built on Chipp or Agent Flux typically chain three to five external services; the build is not accepted until a broken tool call degrades gracefully instead of silently returning stale data.

6. 06

   Test the same workflow across two model providers and record output drift

   Routing and model choice shift latency and consistency, so document which provider the accepted build was validated on and what changes if the client swaps it.

7. 07

   Document who controls metering, feature access, and dispute resolution for every vendor in the stack

   Vendors that set usage limits and arbitrate their own disputes turn a routine pricing change into a delivery risk with no independent recourse.

8. 08

   Get written client acceptance against the rubric and archive the test set with the build

   The archived test set becomes the regression suite for every future change, which is what makes the retainer defensible after handoff.