deployment-procedures

name	deployment-procedures
description	Production deployment workflows, rollback strategies, and CI/CD best practices.
version	1.0.0
allowed-tools	Read, Glob, Grep, Bash

Deployment Procedures

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

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1. 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

• All tests passing
• Code reviewed and approved
• Production build successful
• Environment variables verified
• Database migrations ready (if any)
• Rollback plan documented
• Team notified
• Monitoring ready

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2. The 5-Phase Deployment 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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3. Platform-Specific Procedures

Vercel

# Preview deploy (automatic on PR)
git push origin feature-branch

# Production deploy
git push origin main
# or
vercel --prod

Firebase

# Deploy hosting
firebase deploy --only hosting

# Deploy functions
firebase deploy --only functions

Docker/VPS

# Build and push
docker build -t app:latest .
docker push registry/app:latest

# On server
docker pull registry/app:latest
docker-compose up -d

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4. Rollback Strategies

When to Rollback

Symptom	Action
5xx errors	Rollback immediately
Critical feature broken	Rollback
Minor visual bug	Hotfix forward
Performance degradation	Evaluate, then decide

Rollback by Platform

Platform	Method
Vercel	Redeploy previous commit, or use dashboard
Firebase	firebase hosting:rollback
Docker	Switch to previous image tag

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5. Zero-Downtime Strategies

Strategy	When to Use
Blue-Green	Multiple servers, quick switch
Rolling	Gradual, Kubernetes
Canary	Test with subset of users

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6. 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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7. Decision Checklist

Before deploying:

• Platform-appropriate procedure?
• Backup strategy ready?
• Rollback plan documented?
• Monitoring configured?
• Team notified?
• Time to monitor after?

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8. Best Practices

1. Small, frequent deploys over big releases
2. Feature flags for risky changes
3. Automate repetitive steps
4. Document every deployment
5. Review what went wrong after issues
6. Test rollback before you need it

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9. Example Deployment Flow

develop → staging (auto) → main → production (auto)
    │          │              │
    └── PR ────┴── Review ────┴── Deploy

Branch Protection

• main requires PR approval
• CI must pass before merge
• No force push allowed

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Golden Rule: If in doubt, don't deploy. Wait, prepare, then deploy.