# DSPy Production Readiness Checklist

> Use this checklist to ensure your DSPy application is production-ready.

- Skill: `tools-only/dspy-production-readiness-checklist` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tools-only/dspy-production-readiness-checklist`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tools-only/dspy-production-readiness-checklist/raw
- Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: tools-only (https://skillmd.com/u/tools-only)
- Updated: 2026-09-29
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tools-only/dspy-production-readiness-checklist

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# DSPy Production Readiness Checklist

Use this checklist to ensure your DSPy application is production-ready.

## Code Quality

### Module Design
- [ ] Modules follow single responsibility principle
- [ ] Clear separation between retrieval, generation, and orchestration
- [ ] Reusable components extracted into libraries
- [ ] Type hints used throughout codebase
- [ ] Docstrings document all public APIs

### Error Handling
- [ ] All external calls wrapped in try/except
- [ ] Graceful degradation implemented for failures
- [ ] Fallback responses defined for critical paths
- [ ] Circuit breakers implemented for external services
- [ ] Retry logic with exponential backoff

### Validation
- [ ] Input validation for all user-facing functions
- [ ] Output validation with dspy.Assert/Suggest
- [ ] Schema validation for structured outputs
- [ ] Rate limiting implemented
- [ ] Request size limits enforced

## Testing Coverage

### Unit Tests
- [ ] All modules have unit tests (>80% coverage)
- [ ] LM calls mocked in unit tests
- [ ] Edge cases tested (empty inputs, malformed data)
- [ ] Error paths tested
- [ ] Fixtures created for common test data

### Integration Tests
- [ ] End-to-end workflows tested
- [ ] External service integrations tested
- [ ] Database interactions tested
- [ ] API endpoints tested
- [ ] Performance requirements validated

### Evaluation
- [ ] Baseline metrics established
- [ ] Test dataset representative of production
- [ ] Multiple evaluation metrics defined
- [ ] Evaluation integrated into CI/CD
- [ ] Quality thresholds enforced (e.g., >80% accuracy)

## Performance

### Latency
- [ ] P50 latency < 500ms
- [ ] P95 latency < 2000ms
- [ ] P99 latency < 5000ms
- [ ] Timeout configured (e.g., 10s max)
- [ ] Load testing performed (target: 100 req/s)

### Optimization
- [ ] Models compiled offline (not in production)
- [ ] Compiled prompts version controlled
- [ ] Caching implemented (memory + disk)
- [ ] Database queries optimized
- [ ] Batch processing where applicable

### Resource Usage
- [ ] Memory usage profiled (<2GB per instance)
- [ ] CPU usage monitored (<70% avg)
- [ ] GPU memory managed (if applicable)
- [ ] Connection pools configured
- [ ] Resource cleanup on shutdown

## Monitoring & Observability

### Metrics
- [ ] Request rate tracked (requests/sec)
- [ ] Latency tracked (p50, p95, p99)
- [ ] Error rate tracked (errors/total)
- [ ] Success rate tracked
- [ ] Cost per request tracked

### Logging
- [ ] Structured logging implemented (JSON)
- [ ] Log levels configured (INFO in prod, DEBUG in dev)
- [ ] Sensitive data redacted from logs
- [ ] Request IDs for tracing
- [ ] Error stack traces captured

### Alerting
- [ ] Alerts configured for high error rates (>5%)
- [ ] Alerts for high latency (p95 > 3s)
- [ ] Alerts for service unavailability
- [ ] On-call rotation defined
- [ ] Runbook created for common issues

### Dashboards
- [ ] Real-time metrics dashboard created
- [ ] Historical trends tracked
- [ ] Cost tracking dashboard
- [ ] User-facing status page

## Security

### Authentication & Authorization
- [ ] API keys rotated regularly
- [ ] Environment variables for secrets
- [ ] No secrets in code or git
- [ ] Rate limiting per user/API key
- [ ] HTTPS enforced for all endpoints

### Data Protection
- [ ] User data encrypted at rest
- [ ] User data encrypted in transit
- [ ] PII handling compliant (GDPR, CCPA)
- [ ] Data retention policies defined
- [ ] Audit logs for data access

### Dependencies
- [ ] Dependencies scanned for vulnerabilities
- [ ] Dependency versions pinned
- [ ] Regular security updates scheduled
- [ ] License compliance verified
- [ ] Supply chain security reviewed

## Deployment

### Infrastructure
- [ ] Infrastructure as code (Terraform, Pulumi)
- [ ] Auto-scaling configured
- [ ] Health checks implemented
- [ ] Graceful shutdown handling
- [ ] Zero-downtime deployment strategy

### Configuration
- [ ] Environment-specific configs (dev, staging, prod)
- [ ] Feature flags for gradual rollout
- [ ] Configuration changes don't require redeployment
- [ ] Secrets managed with vault/secrets manager
- [ ] Configuration validated on startup

### Rollback Strategy
- [ ] Previous version deployable within 5 minutes
- [ ] Database migrations reversible
- [ ] Feature flags for instant disable
- [ ] Blue-green deployment or canary releases
- [ ] Rollback tested regularly

## Documentation

### Code Documentation
- [ ] README with setup instructions
- [ ] API documentation (OpenAPI/Swagger)
- [ ] Architecture diagrams
- [ ] Deployment guide
- [ ] Troubleshooting guide

### Operations
- [ ] Runbook for common incidents
- [ ] Disaster recovery plan
- [ ] Backup and restore procedures
- [ ] Monitoring and alerting documentation
- [ ] On-call playbook

### User Documentation
- [ ] User guide created
- [ ] API examples provided
- [ ] Rate limits documented
- [ ] Error codes explained
- [ ] Support contact information

## Compliance & Legal

### Regulatory
- [ ] GDPR compliance (if applicable)
- [ ] CCPA compliance (if applicable)
- [ ] HIPAA compliance (if handling health data)
- [ ] Data residency requirements met
- [ ] Terms of service defined

### Model Governance
- [ ] Model card created (performance, limitations)
- [ ] Bias evaluation performed
- [ ] Fairness metrics tracked
- [ ] Model versioning implemented
- [ ] Model approval process defined

## Final Checks

### Pre-Launch
- [ ] Load testing completed at 2x expected traffic
- [ ] Chaos engineering tests passed
- [ ] Security audit completed
- [ ] Legal review completed
- [ ] Go-live checklist reviewed

### Launch Day
- [ ] All team members available
- [ ] Monitoring dashboards visible
- [ ] Rollback plan ready
- [ ] Communication plan active
- [ ] Support team briefed

### Post-Launch
- [ ] Monitor metrics for 24 hours
- [ ] Review incident logs
- [ ] Gather user feedback
- [ ] Schedule retrospective
- [ ] Update documentation with learnings

---

## Scoring

Total items: ~120

**Production Ready**: 95%+ checked (114+ items)
**Nearly Ready**: 85-94% checked (102-113 items)
**Needs Work**: 70-84% checked (84-101 items)
**Not Ready**: <70% checked (<84 items)

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**Version**: 1.0
**Last Updated**: 2025-10-30