Checkly Deploy

checkly deploy

Deploy checks to Checkly cloud with npx checkly deploy.

Quick start

# Deploy with confirmation prompt
npx checkly deploy

# Force deploy (skip prompt)
npx checkly deploy --force

# Preview changes without deploying
npx checkly validate

How deployment works

npx checkly deploy:

1. ✅ Parses your project
2. ✅ Validates all checks
3. ✅ Bundles code and dependencies
4. ✅ Shows preview of changes
5. ⚠️ Asks for confirmation
6. ✅ Creates/updates resources in Checkly cloud
7. ✅ Schedules checks to run continuously

Command reference

npx checkly deploy [options]

Options

Deployment workflows

Interactive deployment

npx checkly deploy

# Output:
# Parsing your project... done
# 
# Changes to be deployed:
#   + 2 checks to create
#   ~ 1 check to update
#   - 0 checks to delete
#
# Do you want to deploy? (y/N)

Type y to confirm, n to cancel.

Force deployment (CI/CD)

npx checkly deploy --force

# No confirmation prompt
# Useful for automated pipelines

Preview changes

# Validate without deploying
npx checkly validate

# Shows what would be deployed
# Catches errors before deployment

CI/CD integration

GitHub Actions

name: Deploy Checks

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          node-version: '20'
      
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci
      
      - name: Test checks
        env:
          CHECKLY_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.CHECKLY_API_KEY }}
          CHECKLY_ACCOUNT_ID: ${{ secrets.CHECKLY_ACCOUNT_ID }}
        run: npx checkly test
      
      - name: Deploy checks
        env:
          CHECKLY_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.CHECKLY_API_KEY }}
          CHECKLY_ACCOUNT_ID: ${{ secrets.CHECKLY_ACCOUNT_ID }}
        run: npx checkly deploy --force

GitLab CI

deploy-checks:
  stage: deploy
  only:
    - main
  script:
    - npm ci
    - npx checkly test
    - npx checkly deploy --force
  variables:
    CHECKLY_API_KEY: $CHECKLY_API_KEY
    CHECKLY_ACCOUNT_ID: $CHECKLY_ACCOUNT_ID

Deploy on application deployment

#!/bin/bash
# deploy-app-and-monitoring.sh

# Deploy application
./deploy-app.sh

# Deploy updated monitoring checks
npx checkly deploy --force

echo "✅ Application and monitoring deployed"

Deployment strategies

Test before deploy

# Validate locally first
npx checkly test

# Deploy only if tests pass
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
  npx checkly deploy --force
fi

Staged deployment

# 1. Deploy to staging project
CHECKLY_ACCOUNT_ID=$STAGING_ACCOUNT npx checkly deploy --force

# 2. Run smoke tests
npm run smoke-tests

# 3. Deploy to production
CHECKLY_ACCOUNT_ID=$PROD_ACCOUNT npx checkly deploy --force

Feature branch testing

# GitHub Actions - test on PRs, deploy on main
on:
  pull_request:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npx checkly test  # Test on all branches
        env:
          CHECKLY_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.CHECKLY_API_KEY }}
          CHECKLY_ACCOUNT_ID: ${{ secrets.CHECKLY_ACCOUNT_ID }}
  
  deploy:
    needs: test
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'  # Deploy only on main
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npx checkly deploy --force
        env:
          CHECKLY_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.CHECKLY_API_KEY }}
          CHECKLY_ACCOUNT_ID: ${{ secrets.CHECKLY_ACCOUNT_ID }}

What gets deployed

Created resources

• ✅ New checks (API, Browser, Multi-Step, Monitors)
• ✅ Check groups
• ✅ Alert channel subscriptions
• ✅ Private location assignments
• ✅ Retry strategies
• ✅ Environment variables

Updated resources

• ✅ Check configuration changes
• ✅ Schedule changes (frequency, locations)
• ✅ Code changes (for checks with scripts)
• ✅ Alert channel assignments

NOT deployed

• ❌ Alert channel definitions (configure in UI)
• ❌ Private location infrastructure (configure in UI)
• ❌ Account-level settings
• ❌ Team/user management

Deployment preview

Before deployment, Checkly shows a summary:

Changes to be deployed:

+ Create checks:
  • homepage-check (Browser)
  • api-status-check (API)

~ Update checks:
  • login-flow-check (Browser)
    - frequency: 10 → 5 minutes
    - locations: +eu-west-1

- Delete checks:
  (none)

+ Create groups:
  • critical-checks

~ Update groups:
  (none)

Troubleshooting

"No changes to deploy"

Cause: All checks already deployed and up-to-date

Solution: This is normal. Only deploy when you have changes.

"Cannot deploy: validation errors"

Solution:

# Check validation errors
npx checkly validate

# Fix errors in your code
# Re-run validate until no errors

# Deploy
npx checkly deploy

"Quota exceeded" errors

Cause: Account plan limits reached (checks, locations, etc.)

Solution:

• Upgrade your Checkly plan
• Delete unused checks in UI
• Contact Checkly support

Deploy hangs or times out

Solution:

# Check network connectivity
curl https://api.checklyhq.com/health

# Verify authentication
npx checkly whoami

# Try again with verbose output
npx checkly deploy --force

Related Skills

• See checkly-test to test before deploying
• See checkly-import to import existing checks
• See checkly-checks for check creation
• See checkly-auth for CI/CD authentication