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Runbook: Deploy Portfolio App

Purpose​

Provide a deterministic deployment procedure for the Portfolio App that ensures:

  • PR review and preview validation
  • Staging validation in production-like environment
  • CI gates are green before merge
  • Production promotion is gated by imported checks
  • Post-deploy validation is explicit

Governance Context​

This runbook assumes Vercel and GitHub governance are already configured per rbk-vercel-setup-and-promotion-validation.md. Key governance already in place:

  • Vercel Deployment Checks: ci / quality and ci / build are required for production promotion
  • GitHub Ruleset: main-protection and staging-protection require checks to pass and PR approval before merge
  • Environment Variables: Configured per scope (preview, staging, and production)
  • Staging Domain: staging-bns-portfolio.vercel.app mapped to staging branch

If governance has not been set up, see the setup runbook first (~120 minutes including staging setup).

Scope​

Use when​

  • Publishing any Portfolio App change to production
  • Releasing routing/navigation updates
  • Shipping new project pages or evidence link updates
  • Validating changes in staging before production deployment

Do not use when​

  • Experimenting locally without intent to deploy (use local validation only)
  • Making documentation-only changes (portfolio-docs has separate workflow)

Prereqs / Inputs​

  • Access:
    • ability to open PRs and merge to main
  • Tools:
    • Node (20+), pnpm, git
  • Preconditions:
    • change is on a feature branch
    • PR template includes “No secrets added”
    • local build and CI checks pass
warning

Do not deploy content that includes secrets, internal endpoints, or sensitive logs/screenshots. If suspected, stop and treat as an incident.

Procedure / Content​

Pre-merge checklist (quick)​

  • Local validation passed (choose one approach):
    • Comprehensive: pnpm verify (auto-formats, runs all checks with detailed reporting)
    • Individual: pnpm lint && pnpm format:check && pnpm typecheck && pnpm audit --audit-level=high && pnpm build
  • PR readiness:
    • PR template completed with security note (“No secrets added”)
    • Vercel preview exists and routes render (/, /cv, /projects, one project detail)
    • Evidence link UI is present and href values look correct
    • Optional: external monitor reviewed (external-link-monitor workflow)
  • CI governance:
    • Required checks green: ci / quality, ci / build
    • Branch ruleset active (e.g., main-protection) and required checks selected

1) Local preflight validation (required)​

Recommended approach (comprehensive validation):

pnpm install
pnpm verify  # Runs the full local verification suite with detailed error reporting

This runs: environment check, auto-format, format validation, lint, typecheck, audit, secret scanning, registry validation, build, performance checks, unit tests, and Playwright E2E checks.

Alternative: Quick validation (skip tests):

pnpm verify:quick  # Skips tests/performance for faster local iteration

Alternative: Manual step-by-step:

From repository root:

pnpm install
pnpm format:write      # Auto-fix formatting
pnpm lint              # ESLint (zero warnings)
pnpm typecheck         # TypeScript validation
pnpm audit --audit-level=high  # Dependency vulnerability gate
pnpm registry:validate # Projects YAML schema check
pnpm build             # Production build
pnpm test:e2e          # Playwright E2E suite
pnpm links:check       # Registry+E2E gate equivalent used by CI link-validation job
 # Secrets scanning runs in CI on PRs (TruffleHog). Local verify uses a lightweight pattern scan.

Secrets scanning scope:

  • TruffleHog-based secrets:scan runs in CI on PRs and must pass.
  • Local verification does not run TruffleHog; a lightweight pattern-based scan is included.
  • Optional local opt-in: enable pre-commit (pip install pre-commit && pre-commit install) or install TruffleHog if you want to run pnpm secrets:scan manually.

Optional local preview:

pnpm dev

Expected outcome:

  • all commands succeed with no errors.
  • Playwright E2E checks pass.

2) Open a PR (required)​

  • PR must include:
    • what changed
    • why
    • evidence: local validation passed (verify script or manual commands)
    • security note: "No secrets added"
    • security note: “No secrets added”

3) Validate preview deployment​

In the PR:

  • confirm Vercel preview deployment exists
  • validate critical routes:
    • / loads and primary CTA works
    • /cv renders correctly
    • /projects renders list
    • at least one /projects/[slug] renders and includes evidence links
  • validate /docs links target the expected host/path (path strategy or subdomain strategy)

4) Merge to main​

  • Merge only when all required GitHub checks are green:
    • ci / quality
    • ci / test
    • ci / link-validation
    • ci / build
  • Use "Squash and merge" for clean history (recommended)

Note: Production deployment happens automatically from main after CI checks pass, but staging validation is required before considering production deployment complete.

5) Deploy to Staging​

After merging to main, promote changes to staging for validation:

# Switch to staging branch
git checkout staging
git pull origin staging

# Merge main into staging
git merge main

# Push to trigger Vercel deployment to staging domain
git push origin staging

Expected outcome:

  • Vercel deploys to https://staging-bns-portfolio.vercel.app
  • CI checks run on staging branch
  • Staging domain updates within 1-2 minutes

6) Validate Staging Deployment​

Manual validation (required):

  1. Open https://staging-bns-portfolio.vercel.app in browser
  2. Verify critical paths:
    • Home page loads (/)
    • Navigation works (header, footer)
    • CV page renders (/cv)
    • Projects index renders (/projects)
    • At least one project detail page renders (e.g., /projects/portfolio-app)
    • Contact page renders (/contact)
  3. Verify evidence links:
  • Evidence link elements render with non-empty href values
  • Click sample links to sanity-check expected destinations
  • Optional: use external monitor for live connectivity confirmation
  1. Check browser console:
    • No JavaScript errors
    • No failed network requests
    • No React warnings in console

Automated validation (recommended):

# Run Playwright E2E tests against staging
PLAYWRIGHT_TEST_BASE_URL=https://staging-bns-portfolio.vercel.app pnpm test:e2e

# Or run specific test file
PLAYWRIGHT_TEST_BASE_URL=https://staging-bns-portfolio.vercel.app pnpm test:e2e:single

# Optional: run live external link monitor (non-blocking)
pnpm links:check:external

Expected outcome:

  • All manual checks pass
  • Automated tests pass (if running)
  • No console errors; external-link monitor results reviewed when connectivity confidence is required

If staging validation fails:

  • Do NOT proceed to production validation
  • See Failure modes / Troubleshooting section below
  • Either fix forward with hotfix PR or rollback (see rbk-portfolio-rollback.md)

7) Confirm Production Promotion​

Production is already deployed because:

  • Changes were merged to main in Step 4
  • Vercel automatically deploys main branch after CI checks pass
  • GitHub Deployment Checks ensure quality gates are met

Validation steps:

  1. Navigate to Vercel dashboard → portfolio-app → Deployments
  2. Find deployment from main branch
  3. Verify:
    • Status: "Ready" (green checkmark)
    • Branch: main
    • Commit SHA matches your merged PR
    • Production domain assigned: https://bryce.seefieldt.ca (canonical domain)

8) Validate Production Deployment​

Manual validation (required after staging passes):

  1. Open https://bryce.seefieldt.ca in browser
  2. Verify same critical paths as staging:
    • Home, CV, Projects, Contact pages render
  • Evidence links render correctly and navigate to expected destinations
  • No console errors
  1. Compare with staging:
    • Production behavior matches staging validation
    • No unexpected differences

If production validation fails but staging passed:

  • Indicates environment-specific issue (check env vars)
  • See Failure modes / Troubleshooting section

9) Env var verification (required)​

Validate that the deployment environment is configured with the expected public-safe environment variables. This prevents broken evidence links and inconsistent metadata between Preview, Staging, and Production.

A) Verify Vercel environment variables (Preview + Staging + Production)​

In Vercel Project Settings → Environment Variables, confirm these are present:

Required (recommended minimum):

  • NEXT_PUBLIC_DOCS_BASE_URL

Recommended for production polish:

  • NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL
  • NEXT_PUBLIC_GITHUB_BASE_URL
  • NEXT_PUBLIC_GITHUB_URL
  • NEXT_PUBLIC_LINKEDIN_URL

Optional:

  • NEXT_PUBLIC_CONTACT_EMAIL

Expected outcome:

  • Values are set for Preview, Staging (as Preview), and Production (unless intentionally different)
  • No sensitive values are stored in any NEXT_PUBLIC_* variable

Note: Staging uses Preview environment scope in Vercel because it's deployed from a non-main branch (staging).

B) Verify runtime behavior in the deployed site​

From the deployed environment (Preview or Production), validate behavior that depends on env:

  • Documentation link(s) resolve correctly:
    • clicking “Docs” or “Evidence” navigates to the Documentation App host/path derived from NEXT_PUBLIC_DOCS_BASE_URL
  • Profile links navigate correctly:
    • GitHub/LinkedIn links (if present) go to the configured destinations
  • Optional mail link:
    • contact email (if configured) generates a correct mailto: link

If validation fails:

  • treat this as a release-blocking configuration defect
  • correct env vars in Vercel and trigger a new deployment (or redeploy from the same commit)
  • re-run post-deploy validation steps

7) Post-deploy validation​

Validate production:

  • core routes load (same set as preview)
  • evidence links to docs remain correct in UI and destination expectations
  • no broken images/assets

If change is material:

  • Add/update a release note entry in Portfolio Docs App (portfolio program release notes)
  • Update dossier pages if behavior changed
  • Document any new evidence links or navigation changes

Validation / Expected outcomes​

Deployment is successful when:

  • Staging validation passes (all critical paths work, no console errors)
  • Production site renders correctly
  • Production behavior matches staging
  • Required checks are green
  • Evidence links are correct
  • No sensitive information is exposed

Rollback / Recovery​

Rollback if:

  • Staging validation fails (fix or rollback before production impact)
  • Production rendering is broken
  • Critical routes 404
  • /docs linking is broken materially
  • Sensitive publication suspected
  • Production behavior differs unexpectedly from staging

Primary rollback method:

  1. Revert the offending PR on main:

    git checkout main
    git revert <commit-sha>
    git push origin main

  2. Update staging to match:

    git checkout staging
    git pull origin staging
    git merge main
    git push origin staging

  3. Validate rollback on both staging and production

For detailed rollback procedures, see rbk-portfolio-rollback.md.

Failure modes / Troubleshooting​

Staging validation fails​

Symptoms:

  • Console errors on staging
  • Evidence links broken on staging
  • Navigation doesn't work on staging

Resolution:

  1. Do NOT proceed to production validation
  2. Investigate the failure locally: 
    git checkout staging
    git pull
    pnpm install
    pnpm verify
  3. Choose fix strategy:
    • Minor issue: Create hotfix PR, merge to main, redeploy to staging
    • Major issue: Rollback main, update staging

Staging passes but production fails​

Symptoms:

  • Staging works correctly
  • Production has different behavior, errors, or broken links

Likely causes:

  • Environment variable mismatch between Preview (staging) and Production
  • Build artifact differs between deployments
  • Caching issues

Resolution:

  1. Compare environment variables in Vercel:
    • Settings → Environment Variables
    • Verify Preview and Production values match expectations
  2. Check Vercel deployment details:
    • Verify both staging and production used same commit SHA
    • Check build logs for differences
  3. Force redeploy production:
    • Vercel → Deployments → Find production deployment → "Redeploy"
  4. If issue persists, rollback and investigate locally
  • Preview succeeds but prod fails:
    • compare env settings; confirm check gating; rollback if needed
  • Promotion stuck “waiting for checks”:
    • ensure CI runs on push to main; confirm check names match imported checks
  • Broken evidence links:
    • distinguish between app-side regression (broken href/render) and external outage (monitor alert)
    • app-side regression: treat as release blocker; fix forward or rollback
    • external outage only: track operationally; do not weaken deterministic PR gates

References​

  • Portfolio App dossier deployment: docs/60-projects/portfolio-app/deployment.md
  • Hosting ADR: docs/10-architecture/adr/adr-0007-portfolio-app-hosting-vercel-with-promotion-checks.md
  • Rollback runbook: docs/50-operations/runbooks/rbk-portfolio-rollback.md
  • CI triage runbook: docs/50-operations/runbooks/rbk-portfolio-ci-triage.md