> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.droplinked.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Deploy flow

> How code reaches dev.droplinked.com and droplinked.com — the dev-first, manual-promote discipline that keeps production stable.

Droplinked ships every backend change through a **dev-first flow with a manual production
gate**. Dev (`dev.droplinked.com`) and live (`droplinked.com`) always run the same code from
the same branch — what diverges is *when* each environment redeploys.

## At a glance

```
PR merges to main
  ↓
Dev workflow auto-fires → dev.droplinked.com redeploys
  ↓
Smoke dev
  ↓
If green → operator clicks "Run workflow" on the main deploy
            in the GitHub Actions UI → droplinked.com redeploys
  ↓
Re-smoke live immediately
  ↓
If regression → instant rollback to last-known-good ECS revision
```

<Warning>
  Nothing reaches live without a green dev smoke first. No exceptions.
</Warning>

## Why this flow exists

The `droplinked-backend` repo drives two ECS services:

* A dev service backing `dev.droplinked.com`
* A live service backing `droplinked.com`

These deploy from the **same branch** (`main`) so dev can actually validate live behavior.
The dev workflow runs on every merge; the live workflow is `workflow_dispatch`-only — an
operator manually triggers it after the dev smoke is green.

<Note>
  GitHub Environment protection rules with required reviewers would be the prettier solution
  but require a paid GitHub plan tier. The `workflow_dispatch`-only pattern is the no-cost
  equivalent.
</Note>

## How to deploy a change

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open a PR against main">
    Wait for CI (`verify`) to pass. Request a reviewer + merge.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Wait for the dev deploy">
    `Deploy ECS - Dev` auto-fires on merge and completes in \~2–3 min.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Smoke dev">
    Hit `dev.droplinked.com` — log in, exercise the affected endpoint, anything the diff
    touches. Use a dev-only smoke merchant; never client accounts.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Promote to live">
    Go to **Actions → Deploy ECS - main → Run workflow** in the GitHub UI. Select branch
    `main`, click **Run workflow**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Re-smoke live">
    Smoke `droplinked.com` immediately after the deploy completes. If a regression appears,
    revert the PR's commit or roll back the ECS service to the previous task-definition
    revision before doing anything else.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Emergency overrides

<Tip>
  The `workflow_dispatch` trigger lets you select any branch when running a deploy manually
  — useful for hotfixes that haven't merged yet.
</Tip>

**Emergency live deploy (critical patch, can't wait for the standard flow):** Run
`Deploy ECS - main` against the branch carrying the fix. Skip the dev smoke step but
document the override in the post-incident notes.

**Emergency dev deploy of a non-`main` branch (testing an unmerged fix):** Run
`Deploy ECS - Dev` against the branch under test.

## Related

* See [Environment variables](/guides/environment-variables) for the runtime configuration
  surface each environment expects.
* See [Order lifecycle](/guides/order-lifecycle) for what an end-to-end smoke should
  exercise post-deploy.