## 1. Test Framework Baseline

- [x] 1.1 Inventory current test/tooling gaps across frontend, backend, and DB layers.
- [x] 1.2 Add or standardize test runners, fixtures, and deterministic seed data.
- [x] 1.3 Define CI quality-gate stages and failure policies.

## 2. UI/API/DB End-to-End Coverage

- [x] 2.1 Implement E2E tests for critical UI journeys (hero/feed/modal/permalink/share).
- [x] 2.2 Implement API contract integration tests for news, config, and admin flows.
- [x] 2.3 Add DB state verification for ingestion, archiving, and translation workflows.
- [x] 2.4 Add edge-case E2E scenarios for invalid input, empty data, and failure paths.

## 3. Accessibility and UX Testing

- [x] 3.1 Integrate automated WCAG checks into CI for core pages.
- [x] 3.2 Add keyboard-focus and contrast regression checks.
- [x] 3.3 Add user-experience validation checklist for readability and interaction clarity.

## 4. Security and Performance Testing

- [x] 4.1 Add dependency and static security scanning to CI.
- [x] 4.2 Add abuse/safety smoke tests for API endpoints.
- [x] 4.3 Add page-speed and runtime performance checks with threshold budgets.
- [x] 4.4 Fail pipeline when security/performance thresholds are breached.

## 5. Review, Remediation, and Optimization

- [x] 5.1 Run comprehensive code review pass and log findings with severity/owner.
- [x] 5.2 Remediate defects uncovered by automated and manual testing.
- [x] 5.3 Implement optimization tasks with before/after evidence.

## 6. Monitoring and Alerting

- [x] 6.1 Define production metrics for reliability and latency.
- [x] 6.2 Configure dashboards and alert thresholds for key services.
- [x] 6.3 Add alert runbook guidance for common incidents.

## 7. Final Validation

- [x] 7.1 Verify all quality gates pass in CI.
- [x] 7.2 Verify coverage targets and edge-case suites meet defined thresholds.
- [x] 7.3 Verify monitoring alerts trigger correctly in test conditions.