DEPLOYMENT_CHECKLIST.md

Pre-Deployment Checklist

Use this checklist before pushing to GitHub or deploying to production.

🔐 Security & Configuration

• .env file is in .gitignore (verify with git check-ignore .env)
• .env file is NOT committed (check git history)
• .env.example exists with placeholder values only
• No API keys visible in any committed files
• All API keys stored in environment variables, not hardcoded
• package.json has all required dependencies

✅ Functionality

• npm install completes without errors
• npm run dev:all starts both frontend and backend
• Frontend loads at http://localhost:5173
• Backend responds at http://localhost:5000/api/health
• Can submit question and get answer response
• Images/maps/videos display correctly
• All pages load (Home, Answer, Contact, Privacy, Terms)
• Footer links work
• State selector displays all 36 Nigerian states

📦 Build & Production

• npm run build completes without errors
• npm run lint shows no critical errors
• Build output is in dist/ folder
• npm run preview shows production build works locally

📝 Documentation

• README.md is updated with setup instructions
• STARTUP_GUIDE.md has troubleshooting steps
• .env.example has clear comments
• Any custom features are documented

🐛 Bug Testing

• Test with empty question input
• Test with very long question
• Test with special characters
• Test all 36 Nigerian states
• Test Contact form submission
• Test page navigation with browser back button
• Test on mobile browser view (Ctrl+Shift+M)

🚀 Deployment

For Vercel (Recommended)

• GitHub repo is public
• Vercel is connected to GitHub
• Environment variables set in Vercel dashboard
• Build command: npm run build
• Output directory: dist
• Framework preset: Vite
• Node version: 18 or higher

For Heroku

• Created Procfile with: web: npm run dev:all
• Added buildpacks: Node.js
• Set environment variables in dashboard
• Committed changes to GitHub
• Run git push heroku main

For AWS/Google Cloud

• Node.js 18+ available
• Environment variables configured
• Both ports 5173 and 5000 exposed
• CORS properly configured for production domain

🔍 Final Review

• Run through user story from fresh clone:

  1. git clone repo
  2. npm install
  3. cp .env.example .env
  4. Add API key to .env
  5. npm run dev:all
  6. Open http://localhost:5173
  7. Ask a question
  8. Get response

• No console errors (F12 → Console)

• No warning messages in terminal

• Performance is acceptable (< 3s load time)

📊 Performance Benchmarks

• Page load time: < 3 seconds
• API response time: < 5 seconds
• Image load time: < 2 seconds each
• Browser memory usage: < 100MB

🎯 Launch Readiness

• All checklist items complete
• Team review passed
• Backup of current code
• Rollback plan in place
• Monitoring/error tracking set up

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Tip: Save this checklist as a GitHub issue template for team reviews!