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Safe Deploy Pipeline v2

Overview

A deploy without gates is a deploy with hope. Hope is not a strategy.

Core principle: Every project needs a multi-gate deploy pipeline. Code passes through syntax → tests → i18n → build → verify → deploy, with hard stops at each gate. No gate skipping. No "it'll be fine."

CAUTION

March 2026 Incident: 572 backend tests passed green while app.js had catastrophic syntax errors → white screen in production. This pipeline exists because test:gate alone was NOT enough.

The Iron Law

NO DEPLOY WITHOUT PASSING ALL GATES.
GATES ARE SEQUENTIAL. EACH MUST PASS BEFORE THE NEXT RUNS.
SYNTAX CHECK IS GATE 1. IF IT FAILS, NOTHING ELSE RUNS.

When to Use

ALWAYS when:

  • Setting up a new project's deployment infrastructure
  • A project has no test gate before deploy
  • Project deploys directly from git push
  • After a production incident caused by untested code
  • Adding CI/CD to an existing project

The 7-Gate Pipeline

dot
digraph pipeline {
    rankdir=LR;
    gate0 [label="Gate 0\nSecret\nHygiene", shape=box, style=filled, fillcolor="#ffc0cb"];
    gate1 [label="Gate 1\nSyntax", shape=box, style=filled, fillcolor="#ffcccc"];
    gate2 [label="Gate 2\nTest\nSuite", shape=box, style=filled, fillcolor="#ffe0cc"];
    gate3 [label="Gate 3\ni18n\nParity", shape=box, style=filled, fillcolor="#e0ccff"];
    gate4 [label="Gate 4\nBuild", shape=box, style=filled, fillcolor="#ffffcc"];
    gate5 [label="Gate 5\nDist\nVerify", shape=box, style=filled, fillcolor="#ccffcc"];
    gate6 [label="Gate 6\nDeploy +\nSmoke", shape=box, style=filled, fillcolor="#cce5ff"];
    fail [label="STOP\nFix first", shape=box, style=filled, fillcolor="#ff9999"];

    gate0 -> gate1 [label="pass"];
    gate0 -> fail [label="fail"];
    gate1 -> gate2 [label="pass"];
    gate1 -> fail [label="fail"];
    gate2 -> gate3 [label="pass"];
    gate2 -> fail [label="fail"];
    gate3 -> gate4 [label="pass"];
    gate3 -> fail [label="fail"];
    gate4 -> gate5 [label="pass"];
    gate4 -> fail [label="fail"];
    gate5 -> gate6 [label="pass"];
    gate5 -> fail [label="fail"];
}

Gate 0: Secret Hygiene (FASTEST FAIL — < 0.5 seconds)

CAUTION

March 2026 Security Incident: SUPABASE_SERVICE_KEY was accidentally committed to wrangler.jsonc. This exposed a service-role key that bypasses Row Level Security in git history. Gate 0 prevents this from ever reaching the remote.

The Rule: Where Each Variable Lives

Variable TypeCorrect LocationWRONG Location
Supabase URL (public)wrangler.jsonc vars section❌ Hardcoded in code
SUPABASE_SERVICE_KEYCloudflare Secret (wrangler secret put)wrangler.jsonc
SUPABASE_ANON_KEYCloudflare Secretwrangler.jsonc
DB connection stringsCloudflare Secret❌ Anywhere in repo
Local dev secrets.dev.vars (gitignored)wrangler.jsonc
Build config (non-secret)wrangler.jsonc

Secret Hygiene Check:

bash
node -e "
const src = require('fs').readFileSync('wrangler.jsonc', 'utf-8');
const dangerous = ['SERVICE_KEY', 'ANON_KEY', 'DB_PASSWORD', 'SECRET_KEY', 'PRIVATE_KEY'];
const found = dangerous.filter(k => src.includes(k));
if (found.length > 0) {
  console.error('❌ DANGEROUS: Found potential secrets in wrangler.jsonc:', found);
  console.error('  Fix: wrangler secret put KEY_NAME (then remove from wrangler.jsonc)');
  process.exit(1);
}
console.log('✅ Gate 0 passed: no sensitive keys in wrangler.jsonc');
"

Setup .dev.vars for local development:

bash
# .dev.vars — local only, NEVER committed
SUPABASE_URL=https://YOUR_PROJECT.supabase.co
SUPABASE_SERVICE_KEY=YOUR_SERVICE_KEY

# Add to .gitignore:
echo ".dev.vars" >> .gitignore

# Commit the template:
cp .dev.vars .dev.vars.example  # Remove values first
git add .dev.vars.example

If secrets were already committed:

bash
# Remove from git history (URGENT — do before pushing)
git filter-repo --path wrangler.jsonc --invert-paths  # Nuclear option
# OR just remove the value from wrangler.jsonc and add as secret:
wrangler secret put SUPABASE_SERVICE_KEY
# Then rotate the key immediately in Supabase dashboard

Gate 1: Syntax Validation (FAST FAIL)

IMPORTANT

This gate runs in < 1 second and catches the EXACT class of errors that caused the March 2026 incident. Run it BEFORE the test suite (which takes 10-30s).

StackCommandWhat it checks
Vanilla JSnode -c path/to/app.jsJavaScript parse errors
TypeScriptnpx tsc --noEmitType errors + syntax
Pythonpython -m py_compile app.pyPython syntax
Gogo vet ./...Go static analysis

For frontend monoliths without TypeScript:

bash
# Ultra-fast syntax check — fails in < 1s if broken
node -c public/static/app.js

Why separate from Gate 2?

  • node -c takes < 1 second. Test suite takes 10-30 seconds.
  • If syntax is broken, 100% of tests will fail anyway — but with confusing error messages.
  • A fast syntax check gives you the EXACT line number of the error instantly.

REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: Use cm-quality-gate for parser-based validation inside the test suite (Layer 1).


Gate 2: Test Suite

The test suite MUST include:

Test CategoryWhat it validatesPriority
Frontend safetyJS syntax, function integrity, corruption patternsCRITICAL
Backend APIRoutes return correct dataRequired
Business logicCalculations, rules, validationRequired
i18n syncTranslation key parity, orphaned keysRequired for multi-lang
IntegrationEnd-to-end workflowsRecommended

Setup the test:gate script:

json
{
  "scripts": {
    "test:gate": "vitest run --reporter=verbose"
  }
}

Gate decision:

IF 0 failures → proceed to Gate 3
IF any failures → STOP. Fix before continuing.

REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: Use cm-quality-gate for enforcement discipline.


Gate 3: i18n Parity Check (for multi-language projects)

NOTE

Skip this gate if the project does not have i18n. For projects with i18n, this gate catches what test suites can miss: key drift between languages that causes blank strings in production.

bash
# All language files must have identical key counts
node -e "
const fs = require('fs');
const path = require('path');
const I18N_DIR = 'public/static/i18n';
const langs = ['vi','en','th','ph'];
const results = {};
let allMatch = true;

for (const lang of langs) {
  const filePath = path.join(I18N_DIR, lang + '.json');
  const data = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(filePath, 'utf-8'));
  const flatKeys = JSON.stringify(data).split('\":').length - 1;
  results[lang] = flatKeys;
  console.log(lang + ': ' + flatKeys + ' keys');
}

const counts = Object.values(results);
if (new Set(counts).size !== 1) {
  console.error('❌ KEY PARITY FAILURE! Counts differ across languages.');
  console.error(JSON.stringify(results));
  process.exit(1);
} else {
  console.log('✅ Key parity: all languages have ' + counts[0] + ' keys');
}

// Check for null/empty values
let nullCount = 0;
for (const lang of langs) {
  const data = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(path.join(I18N_DIR, lang + '.json'), 'utf-8'));
  const check = (obj, prefix) => {
    for (const [k, v] of Object.entries(obj)) {
      if (k === '_meta') continue;
      if (typeof v === 'object' && v !== null) { check(v, prefix + '.' + k); continue; }
      if (v === null || v === undefined || v === '') {
        console.error('  ⚠ ' + lang + '.' + prefix + '.' + k + ' is null/empty');
        nullCount++;
      }
    }
  };
  check(data, lang);
}
if (nullCount > 0) {
  console.error('❌ Found ' + nullCount + ' null/empty translation values!');
  process.exit(1);
}
console.log('✅ No null/empty values');
"

What this catches:

  • Keys added to vi.json but forgotten in en.json → blank strings for English users
  • Null values from bad translation scripts → t() returns key name instead of translation
  • Key count drift between languages → inconsistent UX

Gate 4: Build Verification

Production build must succeed without errors.

bash
npm run build

What this catches that tests don't:

  • Import resolution failures
  • Tree-shaking errors
  • Missing environment variables
  • Asset compilation failures
  • Bundle size explosions

Optional: Bundle size guard:

json
{
  "scripts": {
    "build:verify": "npm run build && node -e \"const s=require('fs').statSync('dist/_worker.js').size; if(s>2e6) {console.error('Bundle too large: '+s); process.exit(1)}\""
  }
}

Gate 5: Dist Asset Verification (NEW)

IMPORTANT

The build can "succeed" but produce an incomplete dist/ directory. This gate catches missing critical assets.

bash
# Verify critical files exist in dist/
node -e "
const fs = require('fs');
const required = [
  'dist/_worker.js',
  'dist/static/app.js',
  'dist/static/style.css',
  'dist/static/i18n/vi.json',
  'dist/static/i18n/en.json',
  'dist/static/i18n/th.json',
  'dist/static/i18n/ph.json',
];
const missing = required.filter(f => !fs.existsSync(f));
if (missing.length > 0) {
  console.error('❌ Missing files in dist/:');
  missing.forEach(f => console.error('  ' + f));
  process.exit(1);
}
console.log('✅ All ' + required.length + ' critical files present in dist/');
"

Adapt required array to your project. At minimum, verify:

  • Worker/server entry point exists
  • Frontend JS/CSS files exist
  • Translation files are copied
  • Critical images/assets are present

Gate 6: Deploy + Post-Deploy Smoke Test

Only after Gates 1-5 pass.

Deploy command varies by platform:

PlatformCommand
Cloudflare Pagesnpx wrangler pages deploy dist/
Vercelnpx vercel --prod
Netlifynpx netlify deploy --prod

Post-deploy verification:

bash
# Smoke test the deployed URL — must return 200
STATUS=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" https://your-app.pages.dev)
if [ "$STATUS" != "200" ]; then
  echo "❌ POST-DEPLOY SMOKE TEST FAILED! Status: $STATUS"
  echo "⚠ Consider immediate rollback."
  exit 1
fi
echo "✅ Smoke test passed (HTTP $STATUS)"

Composing the Deploy Script

json
{
  "scripts": {
    "predeploy:syntax": "node -c public/static/app.js",
    "predeploy:i18n": "node scripts/check-i18n-parity.js",
    "predeploy:dist": "node scripts/verify-dist.js",
    "deploy": "npm run predeploy:syntax && npm run test:gate && npm run predeploy:i18n && npm run build && npm run predeploy:dist && YOUR_DEPLOY_COMMAND"
  }
}

Key insight: Chain gates with &&. If any gate fails, the chain stops immediately.


Rollback Protocol

When a deployment causes issues:

SeverityActionCommand
White screen (syntax)Revert last commit, redeploygit revert HEAD && npm run deploy
Broken translationsRevert JSON files, redeploygit checkout HEAD~1 -- public/static/i18n/*.json && npm run deploy
API errorRevert server code, redeploygit revert HEAD && npm run deploy
Partial breakageCherry-pick fix, deployFix → test → deploy

Cloudflare Pages specific:

bash
# Rollback to previous deployment
wrangler pages deployments list --project-name prms
wrangler pages deployment rollback <deployment-id> --project-name prms

Setting Up for a New Project

Step 1: Create test infrastructure

bash
npm install -D vitest acorn

Step 2: Create package.json scripts

json
{
  "scripts": {
    "test:gate": "vitest run --reporter=verbose",
    "build": "YOUR_BUILD_COMMAND",
    "deploy": "node -c public/static/app.js && npm run test:gate && npm run build && YOUR_DEPLOY_COMMAND"
  }
}

Step 3: Add frontend safety tests

REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: Follow cm-quality-gate to create test file with all layers.

Step 4: Create deploy workflow

Create .agents/workflows/deploy.md.


Red Flags — STOP

  • ❌ Deploying without running test:gate
  • ❌ Skipping syntax check ("tests will catch it")
  • ❌ Skipping build step ("tests passed so it'll build")
  • ❌ Running tests and deploy in parallel
  • ❌ "Tests passed last time" (run them NOW)
  • ❌ "Only changed one file" (test everything)
  • ❌ No frontend safety tests for JS projects
  • ❌ No dist/ verification after build
  • ❌ No post-deploy smoke test
  • ❌ No i18n parity check for multi-language apps

Rationalization Table

ExcuseReality
"Tests passed earlier"Code changed since then. Run fresh.
"Build always works"Until it doesn't. 30 seconds to verify.
"It's a one-line change"One line broke 600 lines of app.js. Test it.
"CI will catch it"CI runs AFTER push. Catch BEFORE push.
"Just a hotfix"Hotfixes need MORE testing, not less.
"Syntax check is redundant"node -c takes 0.5s and prevented the March 2026 disaster.
"i18n parity is overkill"Missing keys → blank strings in production.
"dist/ is always complete"Build tools can silently skip assets. Check.

Integration with Other Skills

SkillWhen
cm-quality-gateSetting up Gate 2 frontend tests and Test Gate
cm-safe-i18nAdding i18n-specific gates
cm-terminalMonitoring gate commands

The Bottom Line

6 gates. Sequential. Each must pass. No exceptions.

Syntax → Tests → i18n → Build → Dist Verify → Deploy + Smoke.

This is non-negotiable.

Open Source AI Agent Skills Framework