Deployment Strategy

Overview

Zeron uses a multi-stage deployment strategy to ensure stability and enable safe testing before production releases.

Branch-Based Deployment Model

🚀 Production Branch

• Purpose: Stable production releases only
• Deployment: Manual promotion after validation
• Protection: Strict branch protection rules, required reviews
• Environment: Full production configuration

🧪 Staging Branch

• Purpose: Integration testing and pre-production validation
• Deployment: Automatic on merge
• Source: Merge target for all feature branches
• Environment: Staging configuration with isolated resources

🔧 Development Branch

• Purpose: Continuous integration for active development
• Deployment: Local/development only
• Function: Integration point for feature development
• Environment: Local development configuration

Deployment Workflow

Feature Branches → Staging → Production
     ↓              ↓           ↓
  Development   Testing     Live
   (Local)    (Validation) (Customers)

Development Workflow

1. Feature Development

• Start from staging branch
• Create isolated feature branch
• Develop and test locally
• Submit PR targeting staging

2. Staging Validation

• Automatic deployment to staging environment
• Integration testing with other systems
• QA validation and testing
• Performance verification

3. Production Deployment

• Manual promotion after staging validation
• Controlled rollout with monitoring
• Rollback capability maintained
• Health checks and verification

Environment Configuration

Environment Separation

• Production: Full production credentials and resources
• Staging: Isolated staging resources (separate databases, APIs)
• Development: Local development configuration

Benefits

• ✅ Controlled releases: No accidental production updates
• ✅ Safe testing: Validate changes before customer impact
• ✅ Rollback capability: Easy revert when issues arise
• ✅ Parallel development: Multiple features tested simultaneously
• ✅ Security: Production environment fully protected
• ✅ Confidence: Thorough validation before release

Best Practices

Branch Protection

• Require reviews before merging
• Enforce passing tests and checks
• Restrict direct pushes to critical branches
• Maintain clean commit history

Deployment Safety

• Always deploy to staging first
• Monitor staging for issues
• Use feature flags for gradual rollouts
• Document rollback procedures

Rollback Strategy

Emergency Rollback

Quick revert to last known good state when critical issues arise:

• Identify last stable deployment
• Revert production to that commit
• Verify system health
• Investigate root cause

Planned Rollback

Controlled rollback for identified issues:

• Revert specific changes
• Test in staging first
• Deploy rollback during maintenance window
• Communicate with stakeholders

Key Principles

1. Never skip staging - All changes go through staging first
2. Automate validation - Use automated checks wherever possible
3. Monitor actively - Watch metrics after every deployment
4. Document everything - Maintain clear deployment history
5. Test rollbacks - Ensure rollback procedures actually work