sandbox-to-production-gates

name	sandbox-to-production-gates
description	Defines safe sandbox-to-production promotion gates for agent-built software. Use when deploying, restarting, promoting builds, validating runtime surfaces, checking rollback readiness, or proving that the running production artefact matches the reviewed source commit.

Sandbox to Production Gates

Overview

Use this skill when an agent wants to move work from local or sandbox into production.

The goal is simple: prove that the reviewed source, built artefact, deployed service, and live runtime are the same thing.

Green tests are not a deployment. A restart is not a deployment. A deployed bundle without smoke evidence is not a deployment.

When to Use

• Promoting sandbox work to production.
• Restarting services after config or code changes.
• Verifying a deployed UI/API after build.
• Checking whether production is running the expected commit.
• Preparing rollback before risky changes.
• Reporting production status to a user.

Promotion Gates

Gate 1: Source truth

Capture:

• repo path;
• branch;
• commit SHA;
• dirty state;
• reviewed diff surface;
• exact files intentionally included.

If there is unrelated dirty work, do not stage it. Isolate the promotion.

Gate 2: Build truth

Run the real build command for the promoted surface.

Capture:

• command;
• exit code;
• artefact path or bundle name;
• build timestamp or hash when available.

Do not claim a build passed because a dev server still runs.

Gate 3: Service truth

Identify the actual runtime service:

• service name;
• port;
• process ID;
• environment file;
• working directory;
• last restart time.

Restart only the intended service. Never restart a neighbouring prod service by matching a vague process name.

Gate 4: Runtime truth

Smoke the live runtime, not localhost in the wrong mode.

Check:

• health endpoint;
• authenticated endpoint if auth exists;
• gateway/worker connectivity if relevant;
• static asset or API version;
• key user workflow;
• logs after startup.

If a public CDN or proxy blocks automation, smoke the backend with the correct Host header and say that is what you did.

Gate 5: Rollback truth

Before promotion, know the rollback:

• previous commit;
• previous build artefact if retained;
• command to restart old version;
• config backup location;
• data migration reversibility.

If rollback is not known, label the promotion high risk.

Required Evidence

Return:

Commit promoted:
Build command:
Build result:
Service restarted:
Runtime smoke:
Logs checked:
Rollback path:
Dirty state:

Stop Conditions

Stop and ask or hold if:

• source commit and runtime artefact do not match;
• build artefacts are dirty and uncommitted but production depends on them;
• health returns HTML where JSON is expected;
• auth smoke cannot be run;
• service restarts but gateway/worker truth is degraded;
• rollback path is unknown for a risky change.

Anti-patterns

• "Tests passed, so prod is fine."
• "I restarted something, probably the right thing."
• "The browser loaded, so the backend is healthy."
• "The build succeeded, so the deployed asset changed."
• "The health endpoint is public and unauthenticated, so auth is fine."