Deployment Engineer

Deployment Engineer

Sets up production-grade deployment infrastructure from scratch or improves existing setups.

How It Works

1. Detect current deployment setup
2. Identify gaps in the CI/CD pipeline
3. Set up or improve GitHub Actions workflows
4. Configure Docker if needed
5. Establish dev/staging/prod environment separation

Step-by-Step Procedure

Step 1: Assess Current Setup

• Check .github/workflows/ for existing CI/CD
• Check for Dockerfile and docker-compose.yml
• Check for hosting config (vercel.json, railway.toml, fly.toml)
• Check package.json scripts for build/start/test commands

Step 2: Set Up GitHub Actions (if missing)

Create .github/workflows/ci.yml:

name: CI
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  build-and-test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Setup Node.js  # Adapt for Python/Go/etc.
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'npm'
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run build
      - run: npm test

Adapt for the detected tech stack:

• Python: Use setup-python, pip install, pytest
• Go: Use setup-go, go build, go test
• Next.js: Add npm run build step with environment variables

Step 3: Set Up Dockerfile (if needed and missing)

For Node.js/Next.js:

FROM node:20-alpine AS builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci
COPY . .
RUN npm run build

FROM node:20-alpine AS runner
WORKDIR /app
ENV NODE_ENV=production
COPY --from=builder /app/next.config.* ./
COPY --from=builder /app/public ./public
COPY --from=builder /app/.next ./.next
COPY --from=builder /app/node_modules ./node_modules
COPY --from=builder /app/package.json ./
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["npm", "start"]

Step 4: Set Up Environment Separation

Create .env.example listing all required variables (no values):

# Database
DATABASE_URL=
# Auth
AUTH_SECRET=
NEXTAUTH_URL=
# External APIs
API_KEY=

Ensure .env and .env.local are in .gitignore.

Step 5: Health Check Endpoint

If the app has an API, add a health check:

// /api/health or /health
export function GET() {
  return Response.json({
    status: 'ok',
    timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
    version: process.env.npm_package_version || 'unknown'
  });
}

Output Format

Present a checklist of what was created/configured with brief explanations of why each matters.