Deployment Checklist Skill

Systematic verification to ensure code is ready for deployment.

Pre-Deployment Checklist

1. Code Quality

# Lint check
npm run lint

# Type check
npm run build
# or: npx tsc --noEmit

• No lint errors
• No type errors
• Build succeeds without warnings

2. Test Suite

# Run all tests
npm test

# Check coverage (if configured)
npm run test:coverage

• All tests pass
• No skipped tests without reason
• Coverage meets threshold (if required)

3. Security

# Audit dependencies
npm audit --audit-level=high

• No high/critical vulnerabilities
• No hardcoded secrets in code
• Environment variables documented
• Sensitive routes are protected

4. Database

• Migrations are ready and tested
• Migrations are reversible
• No destructive migrations without approval
• Indexes added for new queries
• Backup verified (if applicable)

5. Configuration

• Environment variables updated in deployment config
• Feature flags configured correctly
• API keys/secrets rotated if compromised
• Third-party service limits checked

6. Documentation

• README updated if setup changed
• API documentation updated
• CHANGELOG updated
• Release notes prepared

7. Performance

• No N+1 queries introduced
• Large queries are paginated
• Caching configured appropriately
• Load testing done (for major features)

8. Monitoring

• Error tracking operational
• Key metrics have alerts
• Logging is appropriate (not excessive)
• Health check endpoints working

Deployment Process

Before Deployment

1. Create deployment branch/tag

   git tag -a v1.2.3 -m "Release 1.2.3"
   

2. Run full verification

   npm run lint && npm run build && npm test
   

3. Notify team

   • Announce deployment window
   • Ensure someone is available for rollback

During Deployment

1. Monitor deployment pipeline
2. Watch error rates
3. Check health endpoints
4. Verify core functionality

After Deployment

1. Smoke test critical paths

   • User can log in
   • Core features work
   • No error spikes

2. Monitor for 15-30 minutes

   • Error rates
   • Response times
   • Resource usage

3. Document the release

   • Update status page
   • Notify stakeholders

Rollback Plan

Triggers for Rollback

• Error rate > 5% increase
• Core functionality broken
• Security vulnerability discovered
• Data integrity issues

Rollback Process

1. Communicate - Alert team
2. Rollback - Revert to previous version
3. Verify - Confirm previous version works
4. Document - Record what happened
5. Investigate - Find root cause before retrying

Output Format

## Deployment Readiness Report

**Version:** [version number]
**Date:** [deployment date]

### Checklist Results

| Category | Status | Notes |
|----------|--------|-------|
| Code Quality | PASS/FAIL | [details] |
| Tests | PASS/FAIL | [details] |
| Security | PASS/FAIL | [details] |
| Database | PASS/FAIL | [details] |
| Config | PASS/FAIL | [details] |
| Docs | PASS/FAIL | [details] |

### Overall Status
[ ] Ready to deploy
[ ] Not ready - see issues below

### Issues to Address
1. [Issue description]

### Rollback Plan
[Brief description of rollback procedure]

Quick Verification Script

#!/bin/bash
echo "Running pre-deployment checks..."

echo "1. Lint check..."
npm run lint || exit 1

echo "2. Type check..."
npm run build || exit 1

echo "3. Test suite..."
npm test || exit 1

echo "4. Security audit..."
npm audit --audit-level=high || echo "Review audit results"

echo "All checks passed!"