Running in production

Build the same artifact every time, keep settings and secrets outside the code, and know about errors before your users report them.

By Erik Bergstedt, Agent Wranglers. Updated 20 October 2026.

Required

Make builds repeatable
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The same commit always gives the same build. Pin the language version, the tools and every dependency.
Keep settings outside the code
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Read everything that differs between test and production from the environment. Never edit code to deploy somewhere else.
Log, track errors and alert
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Write structured logs, collect every unhandled error in one place, and alert a person when errors or response times jump.
Watch the service from outside
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Watch the service from outside your own network, and alert a person when it stops answering.
Keep secrets in a secrets store
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Keep passwords, keys and tokens in a secrets manager or the platform's encrypted store. Give them to the app when it starts, and rotate them on a schedule.