[EPIC] PR and Release Quality Guardrails

Nobody has claimed this yet.

## Problem statement

Azure MCP release velocity has increased review load while changelog, documentation, live-test, recording, evaluation, packaging, and release-template requirements remain partly manual. Important checks can be missed, reviewers repeat mechanical validation, and release artifacts can drift from the changes they represent.

## Vision

Pull requests receive fast, focused review because objective quality requirements are automated, release inputs are generated consistently, and human reviewers can concentrate on security, correctness, architecture, and product behavior.

## Current work

- [ ] #2495, enforce required changelog entries
- [x] #2497, run ToolDescriptionEvaluator in CI
- [x] #2499, reduce author and reviewer turnaround time
- [x] #2500, require live tests and recordings in contribution guidance
- [x] #1689, eliminate release-template copy and paste
- [ ] #2796, keep VS Code changelog and extension versions consistent
- [ ] #156, generate changelog content and contributor attribution
- [ ] microsoft/mcp#3571, run VSIX packaging on dependency-update pull requests to detect release packaging failures before merge

The command documentation epic provides contract-specific documentation enforcement consumed by these guardrails.

## Goals (in scope)

- Automate objective PR checklist requirements
- Provide fast, actionable feedback for changelog, documentation, tests, recordings, and evaluations
- Reduce repeated mechanical work for authors, reviewers, and release managers
- Keep release templates, versions, changelogs, and artifacts consistent
- Define exceptions explicitly instead of relying on undocumented reviewer judgment

## Non-goals (out of scope)

- Replacing security, architectural, or product review with automation
- Adding checks without clear remediation guidance or measurable value
- Making every repository-wide quality initiative a child of this epic

## Success criteria

- [ ] Objective contribution requirements are enforced automatically
- [ ] Failed checks explain the required corrective action
- [ ] Median author and reviewer turnaround time improves without increasing escaped defects
- [ ] Release metadata and artifacts remain internally consistent
- [ ] Manual release and review steps are documented, automated, or intentionally retained

## Dependencies

- Changelog, documentation, test, and evaluation infrastructure
- Stable contribution and release policies
- CI capacity and repository administration
- Metrics for review latency and escaped quality problems