deployment-procedures

Deployment Procedures

> Deployment principles and decision-making for safe production releases.

> Learn to THINK, not memorize scripts.

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⚠️ How to Use This Skill

This skill teaches deployment principles, not bash scripts to copy.

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1. Platform Selection

Decision Tree

What are you deploying?
│
├── Static site / JAMstack
│   └── Vercel, Netlify, Cloudflare Pages
│
├── Simple web app
│   ├── Managed → Railway, Render, Fly.io
│   └── Control → VPS + PM2/Docker
│
├── Microservices
│   └── Container orchestration
│
└── Serverless
    └── Edge functions, Lambda

Each Platform Has Different Procedures

| Platform | Deployment Method |

|----------|------------------|

| Vercel/Netlify | Git push, auto-deploy |

| Railway/Render | Git push or CLI |

| VPS + PM2 | SSH + manual steps |

| Docker | Image push + orchestration |

| Kubernetes | kubectl apply |

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2. Pre-Deployment Principles

The 4 Verification Categories

| Category | What to Check |

|----------|--------------|

| Code Quality | Tests passing, linting clean, reviewed |

| Build | Production build works, no warnings |

| Environment | Env vars set, secrets current |

| Safety | Backup done, rollback plan ready |

Pre-Deployment Checklist

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3. Deployment Workflow Principles

The 5-Phase Process

1. PREPARE
   └── Verify code, build, env vars

2. BACKUP
   └── Save current state before changing

3. DEPLOY
   └── Execute with monitoring open

4. VERIFY
   └── Health check, logs, key flows

5. CONFIRM or ROLLBACK
   └── All good? Confirm. Issues? Rollback.

Phase Principles

| Phase | Principle |

|-------|-----------|

| Prepare | Never deploy untested code |

| Backup | Can't rollback without backup |

| Deploy | Watch it happen, don't walk away |

| Verify | Trust but verify |

| Confirm | Have rollback trigger ready |

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4. Post-Deployment Verification

What to Verify

| Check | Why |

|-------|-----|

| Health endpoint | Service is running |

| Error logs | No new errors |

| Key user flows | Critical features work |

| Performance | Response times acceptable |

Verification Window

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5. Rollback Principles

When to Rollback

| Symptom | Action |

|---------|--------|

| Service down | Rollback immediately |

| Critical errors | Rollback |

| Performance >50% degraded | Consider rollback |

| Minor issues | Fix forward if quick |

Rollback Strategy by Platform

| Platform | Rollback Method |

|----------|----------------|

| Vercel/Netlify | Redeploy previous commit |

| Railway/Render | Rollback in dashboard |

| VPS + PM2 | Restore backup, restart |

| Docker | Previous image tag |

| K8s | kubectl rollout undo |

Rollback Principles

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6. Zero-Downtime Deployment

Strategies

| Strategy | How It Works |

|----------|--------------|

| Rolling | Replace instances one by one |

| Blue-Green | Switch traffic between environments |

| Canary | Gradual traffic shift |

Selection Principles

| Scenario | Strategy |

|----------|----------|

| Standard release | Rolling |

| High-risk change | Blue-green (easy rollback) |

| Need validation | Canary (test with real traffic) |

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7. Emergency Procedures

Service Down Priority

Investigation Order

| Check | Common Issues |

|-------|--------------|

| Logs | Errors, exceptions |

| Resources | Disk full, memory |

| Network | DNS, firewall |

| Dependencies | Database, APIs |

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8. Anti-Patterns

| ❌ Don't | ✅ Do |

|----------|-------|

| Deploy on Friday | Deploy early in week |

| Rush deployment | Follow the process |

| Skip staging | Always test first |

| Deploy without backup | Backup before deploy |

| Walk away after deploy | Monitor for 15+ min |

| Multiple changes at once | One change at a time |

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9. Decision Checklist

Before deploying:

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10. Best Practices

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> Remember: Every deployment is a risk. Minimize risk through preparation, not speed.