Deploy & Ship

Takes a project from "works locally" to "live and reliable".

1. Choose the target

• Vercel (default for Next.js), Netlify (static/Vite), Railway/Fly.io (full control, backends), Docker + VPS (self-hosted) — or match what the user already uses.
• Add the platform config: vercel.json / netlify.toml / Dockerfile + docker-compose.yml (with HEALTHCHECK).

2. Environment & secrets

• Move every secret to the platform's env var store (never in the repo).
• .env.example documents all variables; the deployment env mirrors it.
• Database: ensure migrations run on deploy (build step or release command), and the DB is reachable from the host.

3. CI/CD

• .github/workflows/deploy.yml (or platform auto-deploy on push to main).
• Pre-deploy gates: lint, typecheck, test, build must pass.