WD-04
Closed Without Acceptance Criteria
Work Definition
Default severity: critical
Product BacklogEstimationProcessQuality
What it detects
Issues transition to the configured Done statuses while the AC field is still empty.
Detection formula
done_statuses = config.workflow.done_statuses // e.g. \[\'Done\', \'Closed\', \'Resolved\'\] IF issue.status IN done_statuses AND field_value(config.workflow.acceptance_criteria_field) IS EMPTY THEN FLAGExamples in practice
- Work items enter active flow without the definition fields the team agreed on.
- Stories or features lack the metadata needed to verify readiness or completion.
- A team shows issues transition to the configured done statuses while the ac field is still empty while done statuses is set to Configured per workspace.
Suggested response
Bring acceptance criteria, sizing, and metadata in line with your definition of ready and done.
Coaching playbook
Symptom
Issues transition to the configured Done statuses while the AC field is still empty.
Why it matters
When "Closed Without Acceptance Criteria" keeps appearing, the team is signalling a repeatable process gap. Left unexamined, the pattern hides where work really stalls and makes improvement metrics harder to trust.
What you can achieve
Bring acceptance criteria, sizing, and metadata in line with your definition of ready and done.
Facilitation questions
- What system change would stop "Closed Without Acceptance Criteria" from firing again?
- What do the cited issues have in common — same root cause or same workaround?
- Who owns the two-week experiment and how will we verify on the next import?
Run this rule against your own tracker data with Flow Analyzer.