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Release GuardLabs

Software studio, Dublin

Build and deploy software with confidence.

Release Guard Labs builds web and desktop products, puts quality assurance around them, and connects them to the platforms your business runs on.

Start a projectSee our work

Experience with teams at

  • Kaseya
  • Ryanair
  • Acustek
  • Gigi
  • HENI
  • Fenergo

Services

Three disciplines, one standard

Everything we ship passes the same gate: built to the brief, tested before release, and watched after it.

  • Software development

    Web and desktop products, built end to end and shipped with a pipeline behind them.

    • React and Next.js frontends
    • Node and TypeScript services on PostgreSQL
    • Shopify storefronts and internal dashboards
    • Electron desktop applications
    • CI/CD and environments from the first commit

  • Quality assurance

    Test strategy and automation that finds regressions before your customers do.

    • Test strategy and risk mapping
    • Automation with Playwright, Appium and Karate
    • Performance testing with Gatling and k6
    • Release gates in GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps and Jenkins
    • Web, desktop, mobile and API coverage

  • Integrations

    Support, commerce and operations systems connected properly, with the failure cases handled.

    • Intercom and Zendesk apps and middleware
    • Shopify, subscription and fulfilment integrations
    • Webhook receivers with signature checks and retries
    • Help-centre and catalogue sync
    • Zendesk implementation and configuration

Work

Recent work

A mix of client engagements and a product of our own. Each one shipped with tests in the pipeline.

  • Gigi Supplements

    Ecommerce

    Storefront, support middleware and a metrics dashboard

    A Shopify storefront, an Intercom integration layer and a team dashboard for a growing supplements brand.

    • Intercom sidebar apps for subscriptions and fulfilment, so agents act without leaving the conversation
    • Contact form with spam guards, attachments and duplicate detection
    • Help-centre articles synced into Shopify
    • About 500 automated tests, with no live network calls allowed in the suite
    ShopifyIntercomTypeScriptVercel

  • Acustek

    Industrial devices

    Desktop automation against real hardware, plus a customer portal

    Real-user UI automation for a desktop client, run against physical devices, alongside a company website and support portal.

    • Appium tests drive the installed desktop app the way an operator would
    • Every device action is checked against the backend, not just the screen
    • Website with software downloads and a support ticket portal
    • Gems Connect, an Electron SMS and voice gateway for device customers
    Appium.NETReact RouterElectron

  • Kaseya

    IT management software

    Quality assurance for KaseyaOne

    Test case design and regression coverage across UI and API, with tooling to organise and maintain the suite.

    • Regression suites organised by area and automation status
    • UI and API coverage mapped to release risk
    • Internal tooling for reviewing and bulk-editing cases
    Test strategyRegressionAPI testing

  • Ryanair

    Aviation

    Automation for safety-critical Flight Operations systems

    Test automation for the applications pilots and cabin crew rely on, built into the release pipeline.

    • Karate, Appium and Protractor frameworks covering API, mobile and web
    • Jenkins pipelines running the suites on every build
    • Manual and BDD test design for safety-critical flows
    KarateAppiumJenkins

  • BESS Map

    Our own product

    Site intelligence for Irish battery storage developers

    A product we design, build and run ourselves: grid capacity, planning history, land and environmental risk in one scored view.

    • Next.js on PostgreSQL and PostGIS
    • A scoring engine that grades every substation in Ireland
    • PDF reports and email alerts as data changes
    Next.jsPostGISProductbessmap.com
Faster test runs
90%
Two hours down to twenty minutes on a bank onboarding platform
Faster checkout
80%
Performance testing on an art-market payment gateway
Automated cases maintained
300+
Core regression suite for client onboarding
Years in test automation
8+
Across aviation, fintech, art and ecommerce

Process

A short loop, repeated until release

No long silent build phase. Each increment is scoped, built with tests first, checked by the pipeline, and shipped.

  1. Scope and risk map

    We agree what done looks like and where a failure would hurt most. That map decides where testing and review effort go.

  2. Build in verified increments

    Small changes, each with tests written first, reviewed and merged behind a passing pipeline. No big-bang integration at the end.

  3. Guard the release

    Functional, performance and security checks run on every change, so release day is a formality rather than an event.

  4. Ship and stay close

    Deployment, monitoring and a written handover. We stay on for the first weeks after launch, when the real feedback arrives.

About

Run by an engineer who has been on call for the release

Release Guard Labs is led by Mark Hughes, a QA lead and software engineer with more than eight years in test automation and three leading quality teams. He has led QA at HENI in London and Fenergo in Dublin, automated safety-critical systems at Ryanair, and now builds and tests software for clients from Dublin.

The studio takes on a small number of projects at a time. You work directly with the person writing the code and the tests, and the same person answers when something breaks.

Contact

Tell us what you are shipping

Send a few lines about the project and where it is stuck. You will get a reply from Mark within one working day.

Based in
Dublin, Ireland
Working hours
Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm Irish time

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