6.2 Feature Release Schedule

Dates can slip, yet predictability in how a feature moves from ideation to production builds user confidence. NXT therefore employs a five-gate release framework: Concept Draft → Community Review → Testnet Pilot → Canary Mainnet → General Availability.

During the Concept Draft gate, a feature owner publishes a high-level specification on the forum, complete with problem statement, regulatory scan, and rough technical outline. A minimum of two working-group chairs—one technical, one legal—must sign off for the draft to advance. The policy avoids endless bikeshedding by imposing a seven-day comment limit, after which the owner consolidates feedback into a green (go) or red (rethink) status.

Community Review transforms abstract enthusiasm into executable checklists. Dedicated reviewers attach risk matrices, unit-test plans, and cost-benefit analyses. If the feature touches compliance logic or token economics, reviewers also draft addenda for auditors and regulators. Documentation teams begin parallel work to avoid last-minute scrambling. The output is a locked specification and a threat model that penetration testers can reference.

In the Testnet Pilot gate, code hits a public network behind feature flags. Metrics collected include execution-gas variance, revert-scenario coverage, and user-journey abandonment rates. A public leaderboard gamifies bug bounty submissions, rewarding not just exploit discovery but also UX pain points and localisation gaps. Pilots run for a fixed epoch count—never shorter than two weeks—so participation metrics are statistically meaningful.

Canary Mainnet is a guarded launch. The feature is live but capped: perhaps a tokenisation limit per wallet, a whitelist of early adopters, or a geographic restriction pending final legal clearance. Real value is at stake, so a live incident-bridge operates 24/7. Downtime thresholds are stricter than in Testnet; even a minor anomaly can trigger an automated rollback to the previous stable contract version, thanks to proxy patterns and time-locked upgrade managers.

Upon clearing performance and compliance thresholds—verified through on-chain dashboards and external auditor sign-off—the feature graduates to General Availability. Release notes, migration guides, and educational videos drop simultaneously, ensuring frontline support and developers speak the same language. Importantly, post-launch telemetry remains on high alert for two full release cycles; only then is the feature classed as mature and offboarded from daily incident drills. This framework, while detailed, is predictable—users know exactly what to expect, and developers have a clear playbook that balances pace with prudence.