Summary

Deliver a production-ready Wikibase Suite Deploy setup tool by aligning UX, product, and engineering around a single validated direction, then implementing and releasing it to users.

Background

In mid-2025, engineering produced a working draft setup tool (web-based and CLI-based) in an attempt to address some known frictions in the Wikibase Suite Deploy setup process. That implementation introduced meaningful improvements: guided configuration, domain-to-server validation, integrated help/documentation touchpoints, and setup progress visibility during service startup.

A draft of the as-is tool was reviewed in early Summer of 2025 and again recently, and the directive is so far to move forward with a few targeted improvements. However, the existing tool was created during a team transition period in which UX was not aware of or otherwise appropriately integrated in the process.

In concert with that product directive to move forward, and in respect for the history of this feature, it seems important that we allow time for a full UX review and feedback round on this critical product feature as part of any next steps. In this regard the 2025 implementation can and should be treated a strong reference input, but not a constraint: we may iterate from it, significantly revise it, or replace parts of it if needed to reach the right user experience and delivery outcome.

Scope

This epic covers coordinated product + UX + engineering delivery of a Deploy setup tool, including decision-making, design validation, implementation, and release readiness.

It includes:

• driving a shared UX/product/engineering process to decide the final setup experience,
• evaluating the web-based flow and CLI path as product options (web, CLI, or both),
• confirming key technical decisions that affect user installs,
• implementing the agreed solution,
• preparing release communication and user-facing guidance.

Acceptance Criteria / Definition of Done

1. Key product and UX decisions for the setup tool are completed, documented, and agreed by PM, UX, and engineering.
2. A final UX direction is approved (using prototypes and/or design artifacts), with clear behavior for the end-to-end setup flow.
3. Implementation of the approved direction is completed (web, CLI, or both), reviewed, and merged.
4. The setup tool is released to users with updated documentation and clear usage guidance.
5. Community/user communication for availability and adoption is completed as appropriate.