Project Deployment Skill

Universal deployment patterns for any project type.

Inheritance: inheritable — Available to all heirs

Purpose

Generic deployment knowledge that helps with releasing, publishing, and deploying any type of project. Works across package managers, languages, and platforms.

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Quick Reference

Deployment Decision Tree

Need to deploy?
├─ Is it a package/library?
│   ├─ npm → npm publish
│   ├─ PyPI → twine upload
│   ├─ NuGet → dotnet nuget push
│   └─ Cargo → cargo publish
├─ Is it a web app?
│   ├─ Static → Deploy to CDN/hosting
│   ├─ Server → Container or VM deployment
│   └─ Serverless → Function deployment
└─ Is it a desktop app?
    ├─ Installer → Build & sign installer
    └─ App store → Platform-specific process

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Pre-Deployment Checklist

Always complete before deploying:

• Version bumped — Follow semantic versioning
• Changelog updated — Document what changed
• Tests passing — All automated tests green
• Build succeeds — Clean build from scratch
• Credentials valid — API keys, tokens not expired
• Git clean — No uncommitted changes

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Common Package Managers

npm (Node.js)

# Check what will be published
npm pack --dry-run

# Publish to npm
npm publish

# Publish scoped package publicly
npm publish --access public

# Publish beta/prerelease
npm publish --tag beta

PyPI (Python)

# Build distribution
python -m build

# Check package
twine check dist/*

# Upload to PyPI
twine upload dist/*

# Upload to TestPyPI first
twine upload --repository testpypi dist/*

NuGet (.NET)

# Pack
dotnet pack -c Release

# Push to NuGet
dotnet nuget push *.nupkg --api-key YOUR_API_KEY --source https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json

Cargo (Rust)

# Dry run
cargo publish --dry-run

# Publish to crates.io
cargo publish

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Versioning

Semantic Versioning (SemVer)

MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH

MAJOR = Breaking changes (1.0.0 → 2.0.0)
MINOR = New features, backward compatible (1.0.0 → 1.1.0)
PATCH = Bug fixes, backward compatible (1.0.0 → 1.0.1)

Pre-release Versions

1.0.0-alpha.1    # Early testing
1.0.0-beta.1     # Feature complete, testing
1.0.0-rc.1       # Release candidate

Version Commands

# npm
npm version patch  # 1.0.0 → 1.0.1
npm version minor  # 1.0.0 → 1.1.0
npm version major  # 1.0.0 → 2.0.0

# Python (in pyproject.toml or setup.py)
# Manual edit or use bump2version

# .NET (in .csproj)
# <Version>1.0.0</Version>

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Changelog Best Practices

Keep a CHANGELOG Format

# Changelog

## [Unreleased]

## [1.1.0] - 2026-02-01

### Added
- New feature X

### Changed
- Improved performance of Y

### Fixed
- Bug in Z

### Deprecated
- Old API method (use new method instead)

### Removed
- Legacy support for A

### Security
- Fixed vulnerability in B

Categories

Category	When to Use
Added	New features
Changed	Changes in existing functionality
Deprecated	Features that will be removed
Removed	Features that were removed
Fixed	Bug fixes
Security	Security-related fixes

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CI/CD Patterns

GitHub Actions Release

name: Release
on:
  push:
    tags:
      - 'v*'

jobs:
  release:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Build
        run: npm ci && npm run build
      - name: Publish
        run: npm publish
        env:
          NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}

Azure Pipelines Release

trigger:
  tags:
    include:
      - v*

pool:
  vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'

steps:
  - task: NodeTool@0
    inputs:
      versionSpec: '20.x'
  - script: npm ci && npm run build
  - script: npm publish
    env:
      NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: $(NPM_TOKEN)

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Rollback Strategies

npm

# Unpublish within 72 hours
npm unpublish package@version

# Deprecate (preferred over unpublish)
npm deprecate package@version "Security issue, use version X"

PyPI

# Cannot delete, but can yank
# Go to PyPI web interface → Manage → Yank

General Rollback

1. Don't panic — Most package managers support quick fixes
2. Document the issue — Update changelog
3. Publish fix — New patch version with fix
4. Communicate — Notify users if critical

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Troubleshooting

Authentication Errors

Error	Likely Cause	Solution
401 Unauthorized	Token expired	Generate new token
403 Forbidden	Wrong permissions	Check token scopes
404 Not Found	Wrong registry URL	Verify registry config

Common Issues

Issue	Solution
"Package already exists"	Bump version number
"Invalid package name"	Check naming conventions
"Missing files"	Check .npmignore or equivalent
"Build failed"	Run build locally first

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Project-Specific Deployment

When deploying a specific project type, ask Alex to help identify:

1. What type of project is this? (library, app, service)
2. Where does it deploy to? (npm, PyPI, Azure, AWS, etc.)
3. What are the project's deployment scripts? (check package.json, Makefile, etc.)
4. Are there environment-specific configs? (staging vs production)

Alex will adapt this general knowledge to your specific project context.

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Related Skills

• git-workflow — Version control and tagging
• infrastructure-as-code — Cloud resource deployment
• security-review — Pre-deployment security checks