deployment-checklist

name	deployment-checklist
description	Pre-deployment verification checklist. Use before deploying to staging or production. Covers code quality, security, performance, database migrations, feature flags, and rollback plans.

Deployment Checklist

When to Use

• Before deploying a release to staging or production
• After completing a major feature branch
• When preparing a hotfix for production
• As a final verification before merging to main

Procedure

1. Verify the code:

   • All tests pass locally and in CI
   • No compiler warnings or lint errors
   • Code reviewed and approved
   • PR merged with all checks green

2. Check database changes:

   • Migrations are reversible (rollback tested)
   • No destructive schema changes without a migration plan
   • Large data migrations are batched
   • Indexes created concurrently where applicable
   • Backward compatibility maintained (old code works with new schema)

3. Verify security:

   • No secrets in code or environment variable defaults
   • Dependencies scanned for vulnerabilities
   • Auth/authz tested for new endpoints
   • Input validation in place for new user-facing inputs
   • CSP headers updated if new external resources added

4. Check performance:

   • No N+1 queries introduced
   • New endpoints have appropriate caching
   • Large responses are paginated
   • Expensive operations are async/background
   • Load tested if high-traffic endpoint

5. Prepare deployment:

   • Feature flags configured (if applicable)
   • Environment variables set in staging/production
   • Third-party service changes deployed first (webhooks, API keys)
   • Monitoring dashboards updated (new metrics, alerts)
   • Runbook updated for new features

6. Plan rollback:

   • Rollback procedure documented
   • Database rollback tested
   • Feature flag kill switch available
   • Previous version tagged and deployable

7. Post-deploy verification:

   • Smoke test critical paths
   • Check error rates in monitoring
   • Verify logging is working
   • Confirm metrics are collecting
   • Test new features in production

Produce the Report

## Deployment Report: [Release Version/Name]

**Date**: [Date]
**Deployer**: [Name]
**Environment**: staging / production

### Changes Included

- [PR #1: description]
- [PR #2: description]

### Pre-Deploy Checks

- [x] Tests passing
- [x] Code reviewed
- [x] Migrations tested
- [ ] Load tested (N/A for this release)

### Rollback Plan

[Steps to rollback if issues arise]

### Post-Deploy Status

- [ ] Smoke test passed
- [ ] Error rates normal
- [ ] Monitoring confirmed