Deploy

Vibeops — Deploy

You are deploying the user's app to Railway. This skill has real side effects: it builds code, creates live deployments, and if production is configured, makes changes that real users will see.

Required references:

• references/safety-rules.md — Rules 1 (Destructive Blocklist), 2 (Production Lock), 3 (Leak Gate), 5 (Dry-Run First)
• references/railway.md — load when host: railway in config

This skill only runs when the user explicitly says to deploy. It does not trigger on "I want to deploy someday" or "we'll need to deploy later." Ambient mentions = do not run.

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Step 1 — Pre-flight checks

Before doing anything else, verify the project is ready to deploy.

1a. Read .infra/config.yml

If the file does not exist:

"I need your project configured before I can deploy. Run vibeops-configure first." Stop.

Parse: app.name, stack.build, stack.start, host, environments, secrets

1b. Check Railway CLI

Run railway whoami. If not authenticated:

"You need to be logged in to Railway first. Run railway login and then come back." Stop.

Run railway status. If no project linked:

"Your project isn't linked to a Railway project yet. Run railway link to connect, or railway init to create a new one." Stop.

1c. Check secrets are set

Run railway variables --environment dev and compare the output against the secrets: list in config.

If any secrets are missing:

"Some secrets aren't set yet. Before deploying, I need to collect them — otherwise your app will fail to start.

Missing: [SECRET_NAME_1], [SECRET_NAME_2]

Say 'set up secrets' and I'll walk you through it, or run vibeops-secrets directly." Stop.

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Step 2 — Leak gate (Rule 3)

Run scripts/leak_scan.sh on staged files:

bash "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/leak_scan.sh" --staged /path/to/project

If leaks found:

"I found exposed secrets in your staged files — I can't deploy until these are fixed."

Translate each finding to plain language. Point to vibeops-secrets to resolve.

Do not proceed if the leak gate fails.

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Step 3 — Dry-run plan (Rule 5)

Print the deployment plan before running anything:

Here's what I'm going to do:

1. Run your build: [stack.build from config]
2. Deploy to your dev environment on Railway
3. Wait for the app to start and check it's responding
[If prod in environments:]
4. Ask for your confirmation before pushing to production
5. Deploy to production with a second health check
6. Give you the live URL

[If prod:] I'll keep the previous version pinned — if anything goes wrong, one command reverts it.

Type 'yes' to run this, or tell me what you'd like to change.

Wait for explicit confirmation. Do not proceed without it.

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Step 4 — Execute scripts/deploy.sh

Run the deploy script:

bash "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/deploy.sh" .infra/config.yml

Relay its output in plain English. Do not show raw Railway CLI output — translate each step as it completes:

• "Running your build..." → "Build finished successfully." or "Build failed — see errors above."
• "Deploying to dev..." → "Deployed to dev. Checking it's working..."
• "Health check passed" → "Dev is up and responding."
• "Health check failed" → "Dev didn't start correctly. I've rolled it back automatically. Here's what to check: [translated reasons]"

Translate deploy.sh output

Stream deploy.sh output to the user with this translation approach:

• Replace technical Railway CLI status messages with plain-English equivalents
• Keep error messages verbatim (they contain important technical info the user may need to share)
• Prefix each translated line with the current step number from the plan

Production confirmation (Rule 2)

When deploy.sh prompts for production confirmation, relay the prompt exactly:

"Dev deployment looks good.

I'm ready to push to production. This will update your live app — real users will see the new version immediately.

Type DEPLOY to continue, or anything else to cancel."

This confirmation is required by Rule 2 (Production Lock). Do not skip it, do not pre-confirm on the user's behalf.

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Step 5 — Report outcome

Success

Your app is live!

Dev:        https://your-app-dev.up.railway.app
[If prod:]
Production: https://your-app.up.railway.app

If anything goes wrong, say "rollback" — I'll revert to the previous version instantly.

Dev-only success (no production configured)

Deployed to dev!

Dev URL: https://your-app-dev.up.railway.app

When you're ready to go live with real users, run vibeops-configure to add
a production environment, then deploy again.

Health check failure (auto-rollback ran)

The deployment didn't pass the health check — something went wrong when the app started.

I've automatically rolled back to the previous version, so your live app is still running normally.

Here's what to check:
1. Are all secrets set correctly? (Say "check secrets" to verify)
2. Did the build succeed? (Check the build output above for errors)
3. Is your app listening on $PORT? Railway sets this automatically — your app must use it
4. Check your app logs: railway logs --environment [dev/production]

Say "doctor" to run a full diagnosis, or fix the issue and say "deploy" again.

Build failure

The build failed before anything was deployed. No changes were made to your live app.

Build error: [the error from deploy.sh output]

Fix the build error above and say "deploy" again when ready.

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Rollback (if user says "rollback" after this skill ran)

Route immediately to scripts/rollback.sh:

bash "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/rollback.sh" [env] .infra/config.yml

Relay the rollback script's confirmation prompt verbatim. Translate its output to plain English.

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What you must never do

• Never skip the dry-run plan (Step 3)
• Never skip the production confirmation prompt (Rule 2)
• Never run deploy.sh without first passing the leak gate (Step 2)
• Never attempt a git push --force to main or any destructive command (Rule 1)
• Never tell the user "I deployed" if deploy.sh did not confirm success
• Never show raw Railway CLI output without translation
• Never deploy if pre-flight checks (Step 1) failed — always stop and explain what's missing