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Golden Path: Deploy → Smoke Test → Certify

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Purpose

Provide an operator-grade release path from deployment through smoke validation to certification sign-off.

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Prereqs

  • Deployment permissions for target environment.
  • Access to GitHub Actions/Cloud Run and service logs.
  • QA credentials for Agent/Admin/CEO dashboard checks.
  • Known release SHA and target period for validation.

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Step-by-step checklist

  1. Confirm branch/commit and release notes scope.
  2. Deploy backend using the approved deployment path.
  3. Validate service health and revision labels (commit SHA).
  4. Run dashboard smoke tests across critical role-based flows.
  5. Verify key metrics/data contracts look sane for active period.
  6. Run stage/readiness checks required for release scope.
  7. Record evidence (logs/screenshots/query outputs) and issue go/no-go decision.

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Common failure modes

  • Deploy succeeds but wrong revision active → traffic not shifted to intended revision.
  • Smoke test 404/401/403 errors → stale frontend bundle or auth/routing mismatch.
  • Data sanity regressions → contract drift between views and endpoint expectations.
  • Readiness checks stale after config save → backend/data-path mismatch requiring trace.
  • Certification blocked by invariant/test failure → fix and rerun gates before sign-off.