deploy-checklist

anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins

Pre-deployment verification checklist to catch issues before shipping to production.

What is deploy-checklist?

Generates a structured checklist for verifying readiness before deploying a service or release. Use this when shipping releases, deploying database migrations or feature flags, verifying CI status and approvals, or documenting rollback triggers ahead of time.

Generates pre-deploy, deploy, and post-deploy verification steps
Includes rollback trigger documentation and criteria
Customizes checklist based on deployment type (migrations, feature flags, breaking changes)
Integrates with source control to verify PR approvals and merged changes
Connects to CI/CD to check build and test status automatically
Pulls baseline metrics from monitoring systems to pre-fill rollback thresholds

How to install deploy-checklist

npx skills add https://github.com/anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins --skill deploy-checklist

Claude Code

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How to use deploy-checklist

1.Run the skill with your service or release name as the argument
2.Provide details about your deployment (e.g., includes database migration, uses feature flags, breaking API change)
3.Review the generated checklist covering pre-deploy, deploy, and post-deploy phases
4.Customize rollback triggers based on your service's performance baselines
5.Work through each checklist item before and after deployment

Use cases

Good for

Shipping a new release to production with code review verification
Deploying a service with database migrations to ensure schema changes are tested
Rolling out feature flags and verifying configuration before going live
Documenting rollback triggers and thresholds before a critical deployment
Verifying CI pipeline is green and all approvals are in place before production deploy

Who it's for

DevOps engineers and release managers
Backend and full-stack developers deploying to production
Teams managing database migrations and schema changes
On-call engineers verifying deployment readiness

deploy-checklist FAQ

When should I use this skill?

Run this before every deployment, even routine ones. It helps catch forgotten steps like notifying on-call teams or documenting rollback criteria.

Can it integrate with my CI/CD system?

Yes, if CI/CD is connected, it automatically checks build and test status and verifies the pipeline is green before deploy.

How does it handle database migrations?

Tell it your deploy includes a migration and it adds migration-specific checks like testing migrations and verifying rollback procedures.

What are rollback triggers?

Rollback triggers are pre-defined thresholds (e.g., error rate exceeds 5%, P50 latency exceeds 500ms) that indicate when to roll back a deployment.

Can I reuse the same checklist?

Yes, customize it once for your stack and deployment process, and the skill will remember your preferences for future deployments.

Full instructions (SKILL.md)

Source of truth, from anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins.

name: deploy-checklist description: Pre-deployment verification checklist. Use when about to ship a release, deploying a change with database migrations or feature flags, verifying CI status and approvals before going to production, or documenting rollback triggers ahead of time. argument-hint: "[service or release name]"

/deploy-checklist

If you see unfamiliar placeholders or need to check which tools are connected, see CONNECTORS.md.

Generate a pre-deployment checklist to verify readiness before shipping.

Usage

/deploy-checklist $ARGUMENTS

Output

## Deploy Checklist: [Service/Release]
**Date:** [Date] | **Deployer:** [Name]

### Pre-Deploy
- [ ] All tests passing in CI
- [ ] Code reviewed and approved
- [ ] No known critical bugs in release
- [ ] Database migrations tested (if applicable)
- [ ] Feature flags configured (if applicable)
- [ ] Rollback plan documented
- [ ] On-call team notified

### Deploy
- [ ] Deploy to staging and verify
- [ ] Run smoke tests
- [ ] Deploy to production (canary if available)
- [ ] Monitor error rates and latency for 15 min
- [ ] Verify key user flows

### Post-Deploy
- [ ] Confirm metrics are nominal
- [ ] Update release notes / changelog
- [ ] Notify stakeholders
- [ ] Close related tickets

### Rollback Triggers
- Error rate exceeds [X]%
- P50 latency exceeds [X]ms
- [Critical user flow] fails

Customization

Tell me about your deploy and I'll customize the checklist:

"We use feature flags" → adds flag verification steps
"This includes a database migration" → adds migration-specific checks
"This is a breaking API change" → adds consumer notification steps

If Connectors Available

If ~~source control is connected:

Pull the release diff and list of changes
Verify all PRs are approved and merged

If ~~CI/CD is connected:

Check build and test status automatically
Verify pipeline is green before deploy

If ~~monitoring is connected:

Pre-fill rollback trigger thresholds from current baselines
Set up post-deploy metric watch

Tips

Run before every deploy — Even routine ones. Checklists prevent "I forgot to..."
Customize once, reuse — Tell me your stack and I'll remember your deploy process.
Include rollback criteria — Decide when to roll back before you deploy, not during.