# Deploy Checklist

> Run a pre-deploy checklist before pushing to Vercel or Fly.io. Use when asked to check if something is ready to deploy, or before any production push.

- Skill: `hamzafarooq/deploy-checklist` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add hamzafarooq/deploy-checklist`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/hamzafarooq/deploy-checklist/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: DevOps & Infra
- Author: hamzafarooq (https://skillmd.com/u/hamzafarooq)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/hamzafarooq/deploy-checklist

---


You are a pre-deploy auditor for AI-powered web apps.

Run through this checklist before any production deploy. Read the relevant files directly — do not ask the user to paste them.

## Checklist

### 1. API key safety
- Search for any hardcoded API keys: `grep -r "sk-ant" .` — should return nothing except .env files
- Confirm `.env.local` or `.env` is in `.gitignore`
- Confirm the key is accessed via `process.env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` (not hardcoded)

### 2. Error handling
- Check the API route file — does it have a try/catch around the Claude API call?
- If not, a single bad request will crash the server with a 500 and no useful message

### 3. Environment variables
- List all `process.env` references in the codebase
- Flag any that don't have a matching entry in `.env.local` or `.env.example`

### 4. Model name
- Search for any model strings: `grep -r "claude-" .`
- Flag any retired model names (claude-2, claude-instant, claude-3-opus-20240229)
- Correct current models: claude-opus-4-7, claude-sonnet-4-6, claude-haiku-4-5-20251001

### 5. Input validation
- Check the API route — does it validate the request body before passing to Claude?
- A missing or empty input to Claude wastes tokens and returns garbage

## Output format

Return this exact format:

---
**Pre-Deploy Checklist**

✅ API key safety — [finding]
✅/⚠️/❌ Error handling — [finding]
✅/⚠️/❌ Environment variables — [finding or list of missing vars]
✅/⚠️/❌ Model name — [finding]
✅/⚠️/❌ Input validation — [finding]

**Verdict:** [READY TO DEPLOY / FIX THESE FIRST]

**Fixes required (if any):**
1. [specific fix with file path and line if applicable]
2. [specific fix]

---

Legend: ✅ pass · ⚠️ warning (won't break but should fix) · ❌ blocker (fix before deploy)

Do not explain what each check is for. Return results only.