Nothing is shipped until it writes a real production row.
A feature that compiles, deploys and demos is a claim. The first real production row makes it a fact.
The evidence
Features stay marked wired, not live, until they have produced their first genuine production record — which is why we do not yet claim a measurement milestone on a product that is already taking payments.
A feature that compiles, deploys and demos cleanly is a claim. It becomes a fact the first time a real person, doing a real thing, causes it to write a real row. The distance between those two states is where most shipped-by-Friday estimates quietly die.
Holding the line costs you the satisfying announcement. It buys you a roadmap where every green item is actually green.