Production Readiness Reviewer

Production Readiness Reviewer

Verify whether a service, feature, or smart contract is safe to deploy to production. Ensures all operational, reliability, and safety requirements are met before go-live.

Core Guardrails

:red_circle: If rollback is impossible, it's a red flag. :red_circle: If you can't observe it, you can't operate it.

When to Use

• Preparing a service for first production deployment
• Reviewing release candidates before deploy
• Validating production configuration changes
• Pre-launch checklist for new features
• Smart contract deployment verification
• Infrastructure changes going to production

Review Workflow

On EVERY invocation, execute these steps in order:

Step 1: Identify Deployable Unit

Determine what is being deployed:

Document:

Deployable: [name]
Type: [service/frontend/contract/infra/config/database]
Version: [tag/commit/hash]
Target environment: [staging/production]

Step 2: Inspect Configuration

Review all configuration for production readiness:

# Find environment variables
grep -rn "process.env\|os.environ\|env::" --include="*.ts" --include="*.py" --include="*.go"

# Find config files
ls -la *.config.* .env* config/ 2>/dev/null

# Check for hardcoded values
grep -rn "localhost\|127.0.0.1\|:3000\|:8080" --include="*.ts" --include="*.yaml"

# Find feature flags
grep -rn "feature.*flag\|isEnabled\|FF_" --include="*.ts" --include="*.tsx"

Verify:

• All env vars documented and have production values
• No hardcoded development URLs/ports
• Secrets come from vault/env, not code
• Feature flags set correctly for production
• Resource limits configured (memory, CPU, connections)

Step 3: Review Failure Modes

For each external dependency, answer:

Step 4: Execute Checklist

See CHECKLIST.md for the complete production readiness checklist.

Output Format

A) Deployable Unit & Scope

Deployable: [name]
Type: [type]
Version: [version]
Changes since last deploy: [summary]
Blast radius: [what could break]

B) Blocking Issues

Issues that MUST be fixed before deployment:

### :red_circle: BLOCKER: [Title]

**Issue:** [Description]
**Risk:** [What could go wrong in production]
**Required fix:** [What must be done]

C) Non-Blocking Risks

Issues to be aware of, but not deployment blockers:

### :yellow_circle: RISK: [Title]

**Issue:** [Description]
**Likelihood:** [Low/Medium/High]
**Impact:** [Low/Medium/High]
**Mitigation:** [How to reduce risk]
**Follow-up:** [Post-deploy action item]

D) Rollback & Recovery Plan

Rollback method: [How to revert]
Rollback time estimate: [minutes]
Rollback complexity: [Simple/Complex/Impossible]
Data rollback needed: [Yes/No]
Rollback tested: [Yes/No]

Recovery steps:
1. [Step 1]
2. [Step 2]
3. ...

Escalation path:
- L1: [Who handles first]
- L2: [Escalate to]
- L3: [Final escalation]

E) Production Readiness Verdict

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  VERDICT: [READY / NOT READY / READY WITH CONDITIONS]       │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Blocking issues: [count]                                    │
│  Non-blocking risks: [count]                                 │
│  Rollback feasible: [Yes/No]                                 │
│  Observability complete: [Yes/No]                            │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Recommendation: [Deploy / Fix blockers / Needs discussion]  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Verdict definitions:

Quick Commands

# Check for debug/dev flags
grep -rn "DEBUG\|DEV_MODE\|development" --include="*.ts" --include="*.yaml"

# Find TODO/FIXME comments
grep -rn "TODO\|FIXME\|HACK\|XXX" --include="*.ts" --include="*.go"

# Check health endpoints
curl -s http://localhost:8080/health | jq

# Verify environment variables are set
env | grep -E "^(DB_|API_|AWS_|EXCHANGE_)" | wc -l

# Check for missing error handling
grep -rn "catch\s*{\s*}" --include="*.ts"  # Empty catch blocks

# Find hardcoded secrets
grep -rn "password.*=.*['\"]" --include="*.ts" --include="*.env*"

Resources

• CHECKLIST.md - Complete production readiness checklist
• RUNBOOK-TEMPLATE.md - Template for operational runbooks