ARES Mainnet Go/No-Go Checklist

Status date: March 5, 2026

Current stage: Testnet-live infrastructure with security-closure batch applied (Base Sepolia)

Purpose

This checklist defines the hard launch gates for Base mainnet.

Any unchecked Critical Gate means No-Go.

Rationale: avoid “feature-complete” bias and ship only when governance + security + ops are verifiably ready.

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Gate 1: Governance Authority (Critical)

• [ ] Timelock + Governor deployed and verified.
• [ ] Conservative governance profile deployed (proposalThreshold=1,000,000 ARES, quorum=6%, timelock>=48h).
• [ ] Core/admin contracts delegated to Timelock (DEFAULT_ADMIN_ROLE + GOVERNANCE_ROLE where applicable).
• [ ] Token admin delegated to Timelock.
• [ ] Timelock proposer/canceller set to Governor.
• [ ] Bootstrap deployer privileges revoked according to launch policy.
• [ ] Governance state report generated and archived.

Evidence:

• deploy/contracts/governance.base-sepolia.json
• deploy/contracts/verify-governance-state.mjs output
• Sepolia hard-handoff proof: docs/demo/governance-state-sepolia-revoke-check.json

Rationale: mainnet control must be exercised by governance executor (Timelock), not deployer EOA.

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Gate 2: Security Readiness (Critical)

• [x] External audit completed.
• [x] High/Critical findings fully remediated in code snapshot.
• [x] Foundry tests pass (forge test) including adapter + dispute + ARI correction coverage.
• [x] Fuzz/invariant pass on key modules (Registry/Ledger/Engine/Dispute).
• [x] API auth replay protections validated (nonce TTL + single-use).
• [ ] Dispute v2 cutover rehearsal completed (new dispute + new validation adapter + old-claim continuity).
• [ ] Webhook auth migration completed (dual -> sender HMAC ready -> hmac enforced).

Evidence:

• /Users/busecimen/reports/audit_20260305_051253_ares_overall_external.md
• Security closure commits on codex/security-closure-ext-001-004:

- ebf5d24 (AresDispute settlement/liveness fixes)

- 50f6373 (webhook HMAC + dependency patch)

- c8f7131 (CI critical advisory gate + rollout docs)

• CI green test logs

Rationale: mainnet risk is dominated by authority and economic attack surface.

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Gate 3: Operations & Reliability (Critical)

• [ ] Production runbooks finalized (incident, rollback, key compromise).
• [ ] Monitoring + alerting active (API, explorer, chain RPC, DB).
• [ ] Backup/restore drill completed.
• [ ] Rate limiting + abuse controls validated in production config.

Evidence:

• Runbook docs
• Alert test screenshots/logs

Rationale: launch risk includes operational failures, not only contract bugs.

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Gate 4: Data Plane Integrity (Critical)

• [ ] Subgraph and API data paths consistent for leaderboard, score, actions, disputes.
• [ ] Explorer shows live and historical data from canonical pipeline.
• [ ] Demo/test data separated from production policies.
• [ ] Dispute response semantics expose NO_QUORUM vs REJECTED separation for consumers.

Evidence:

• /api/v1/health, /api/v1/leaderboard, /api/v1/actions checks
• Explorer smoke output

Rationale: trust protocol must present consistent data across all integration surfaces.

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Gate 5: Token/TGE Finalization (Pre-launch Critical)

• [ ] Mainnet supply + distribution policy frozen.
• [ ] Single-vault launch topology frozen and evidenced.
• [ ] Vesting/distributor contracts finalized (if used).
• [ ] Governance-approved fee policy (burn/treasury/validator split) confirmed.
• [ ] Public docs synchronized with on-chain parameters.

Rationale: prevent launch with ambiguous token economics.

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Pre-Base-Batches (Application) Scope

For Base Batches application window (before March 9, 2026), target:

• Go for testnet-live proof.
• No-Go for mainnet launch until Gates 1–5 are fully complete.

Rationale: strongest application posture is proven testnet traction + credible gated path to mainnet.

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Current Snapshot (Mar 5, 2026)

• Testnet infra: Live
• Contracts on Base Sepolia: Live
• Governance layer on Base Sepolia: Timelock + Governor deployed and verified
• Handoff mode currently applied: Hard handoff complete (deployer roles revoked; strict --require-deployer-revoked verification passing)
• Governance smoke test: Proposal created on-chain (proof archived in private operational records)
• Demo dataset: 40 agents / 500 actions / 20 disputes
• External audit (round-1): Completed
• Security findings EXT-001/002/003/004: Implemented in current code snapshot
• Webhook auth mode target: dual -> hmac migration still open
• Production recovery project: Redacted (managed via GCP_PROJECT_ID in ops runbooks)
• Production recovery VM: ares-vm-01
• DNS/SSL cutover: Complete
• Legacy compromised projects: Deleted
• Monitoring/alerting: Configured (notification email verification pending)
• Secret rotation: Completed on production host
• Accepted mainnet governance target: Conservative (1M threshold / 6% quorum / 48h timelock)
• Accepted mainnet dispute window target: 14 days
• Mainnet declaration: No-Go (pending dispute-v2 live cutover evidence, HMAC-only webhook enforcement, final authority freeze, token finality execution proofs, and launch signoff)