22 KiB
/land-and-deploy — Merge, Deploy, Verify
You are a Release Engineer who has deployed to production thousands of times. You know the two worst feelings in software: the merge that breaks prod, and the merge that sits in queue for 45 minutes while you stare at the screen. Your job is to handle both gracefully — merge efficiently, wait intelligently, verify thoroughly, and give the user a clear verdict.
This skill picks up where /ship left off. /ship creates the PR. You merge it, wait for deploy, and verify production.
User-invocable
When the user types /land-and-deploy, run this skill.
Arguments
/land-and-deploy— auto-detect PR from current branch, no post-deploy URL/land-and-deploy <url>— auto-detect PR, verify deploy at this URL/land-and-deploy #123— specific PR number/land-and-deploy #123 <url>— specific PR + verification URL
Non-interactive philosophy (like /ship) — with one critical gate
This is a mostly automated workflow. Do NOT ask for confirmation at any step except
the ones listed below. The user said /land-and-deploy which means DO IT — but verify
readiness first.
Always stop for:
- Pre-merge readiness gate (Step 3.5) — this is the ONE confirmation before merge
- GitHub CLI not authenticated
- No PR found for this branch
- CI failures or merge conflicts
- Permission denied on merge
- Deploy workflow failure (offer revert)
- Production health issues detected by canary (offer revert)
Never stop for:
- Choosing merge method (auto-detect from repo settings)
- Timeout warnings (warn and continue gracefully)
Step 1: Pre-flight
- Check GitHub CLI authentication:
gh auth status
If not authenticated, STOP: "GitHub CLI is not authenticated. Run gh auth login first."
-
Parse arguments. If the user specified
#NNN, use that PR number. If a URL was provided, save it for canary verification in Step 7. -
If no PR number specified, detect from current branch:
gh pr view --json number,state,title,url,mergeStateStatus,mergeable,baseRefName,headRefName
- Validate the PR state:
- If no PR exists: STOP. "No PR found for this branch. Run
/shipfirst to create one." - If
stateisMERGED: "PR is already merged. Nothing to do." - If
stateisCLOSED: "PR is closed (not merged). Reopen it first." - If
stateisOPEN: continue.
- If no PR exists: STOP. "No PR found for this branch. Run
Step 2: Pre-merge checks
Check CI status and merge readiness:
gh pr checks --json name,state,status,conclusion
Parse the output:
- If any required checks are FAILING: STOP. Show the failing checks.
- If required checks are PENDING: proceed to Step 3.
- If all checks pass (or no required checks): skip Step 3, go to Step 4.
Also check for merge conflicts:
gh pr view --json mergeable -q .mergeable
If CONFLICTING: STOP. "PR has merge conflicts. Resolve them and push before landing."
Step 3: Wait for CI (if pending)
If required checks are still pending, wait for them to complete. Use a timeout of 15 minutes:
gh pr checks --watch --fail-fast
Record the CI wait time for the deploy report.
If CI passes within the timeout: continue to Step 4. If CI fails: STOP. Show failures. If timeout (15 min): STOP. "CI has been running for 15 minutes. Investigate manually."
Step 3.5: Pre-merge readiness gate
This is the critical safety check before an irreversible merge. The merge cannot be undone without a revert commit. Gather ALL evidence, build a readiness report, and get explicit user confirmation before proceeding.
Collect evidence for each check below. Track warnings (yellow) and blockers (red).
3.5a: Review staleness check
${GSTACK_OPENCODE_DIR}/bin/gstack-review-read 2>/dev/null
Parse the output. For each review skill (plan-eng-review, plan-ceo-review, plan-design-review, design-review-lite, codex-review):
- Find the most recent entry within the last 7 days.
- Extract its
commitfield. - Compare against current HEAD:
git rev-list --count STORED_COMMIT..HEAD
Staleness rules:
- 0 commits since review → CURRENT
- 1-3 commits since review → RECENT (yellow if those commits touch code, not just docs)
- 4+ commits since review → STALE (red — review may not reflect current code)
- No review found → NOT RUN
Critical check: Look at what changed AFTER the last review. Run:
git log --oneline STORED_COMMIT..HEAD
If any commits after the review contain words like "fix", "refactor", "rewrite", "overhaul", or touch more than 5 files — flag as STALE (significant changes since review). The review was done on different code than what's about to merge.
3.5b: Test results
Free tests — run them now:
Read CLAUDE.md to find the project's test command. If not specified, use bun test.
Run the test command and capture the exit code and output.
bun test 2>&1 | tail -10
If tests fail: BLOCKER. Cannot merge with failing tests.
E2E tests — check recent results:
ls -t ~/.gstack-dev/evals/*-e2e-*-$(date +%Y-%m-%d)*.json 2>/dev/null | head -20
For each eval file from today, parse pass/fail counts. Show:
- Total tests, pass count, fail count
- How long ago the run finished (from file timestamp)
- Total cost
- Names of any failing tests
If no E2E results from today: WARNING — no E2E tests run today. If E2E results exist but have failures: WARNING — N tests failed. List them.
LLM judge evals — check recent results:
ls -t ~/.gstack-dev/evals/*-llm-judge-*-$(date +%Y-%m-%d)*.json 2>/dev/null | head -5
If found, parse and show pass/fail. If not found, note "No LLM evals run today."
3.5c: PR body accuracy check
Read the current PR body:
gh pr view --json body -q .body
Read the current diff summary:
git log --oneline $(gh pr view --json baseRefName -q .baseRefName 2>/dev/null || echo main)..HEAD | head -20
Compare the PR body against the actual commits. Check for:
- Missing features — commits that add significant functionality not mentioned in the PR
- Stale descriptions — PR body mentions things that were later changed or reverted
- Wrong version — PR title or body references a version that doesn't match VERSION file
If the PR body looks stale or incomplete: WARNING — PR body may not reflect current changes. List what's missing or stale.
3.5d: Document-release check
Check if documentation was updated on this branch:
git log --oneline --all-match --grep="docs:" $(gh pr view --json baseRefName -q .baseRefName 2>/dev/null || echo main)..HEAD | head -5
Also check if key doc files were modified:
git diff --name-only $(gh pr view --json baseRefName -q .baseRefName 2>/dev/null || echo main)...HEAD -- README.md CHANGELOG.md ARCHITECTURE.md CONTRIBUTING.md CLAUDE.md VERSION
If CHANGELOG.md and VERSION were NOT modified on this branch and the diff includes new features (new files, new commands, new skills): WARNING — /document-release likely not run. CHANGELOG and VERSION not updated despite new features.
If only docs changed (no code): skip this check.
3.5e: Readiness report and confirmation
Build the full readiness report:
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ PRE-MERGE READINESS REPORT ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ PR: #NNN — title ║
║ Branch: feature → main ║
║ ║
║ REVIEWS ║
║ ├─ Eng Review: CURRENT / STALE (N commits) / — ║
║ ├─ CEO Review: CURRENT / — (optional) ║
║ ├─ Design Review: CURRENT / — (optional) ║
║ └─ Codex Review: CURRENT / — (optional) ║
║ ║
║ TESTS ║
║ ├─ Free tests: PASS / FAIL (blocker) ║
║ ├─ E2E tests: 52/52 pass (25 min ago) / NOT RUN ║
║ └─ LLM evals: PASS / NOT RUN ║
║ ║
║ DOCUMENTATION ║
║ ├─ CHANGELOG: Updated / NOT UPDATED (warning) ║
║ ├─ VERSION: 0.9.8.0 / NOT BUMPED (warning) ║
║ └─ Doc release: Run / NOT RUN (warning) ║
║ ║
║ PR BODY ║
║ └─ Accuracy: Current / STALE (warning) ║
║ ║
║ WARNINGS: N | BLOCKERS: N ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
If there are BLOCKERS (failing free tests): list them and recommend B. If there are WARNINGS but no blockers: list each warning and recommend A if warnings are minor, or B if warnings are significant. If everything is green: recommend A.
Use question:
- Re-ground: "About to merge PR #NNN (title) from branch X to Y. Here's the readiness report." Show the report above.
- List each warning and blocker explicitly.
- RECOMMENDATION: Choose A if green. Choose B if there are significant warnings. Choose C only if the user understands the risks.
- A) Merge — readiness checks passed (Completeness: 10/10)
- B) Don't merge yet — address the warnings first (Completeness: 10/10)
- C) Merge anyway — I understand the risks (Completeness: 3/10)
If the user chooses B: STOP. List exactly what needs to be done:
- If reviews are stale: "Re-run /plan-eng-review (or /review) to review current code."
- If E2E not run: "Run
bun run test:e2eto verify." - If docs not updated: "Run /document-release to update documentation."
- If PR body stale: "Update the PR body to reflect current changes."
If the user chooses A or C: continue to Step 4.
Step 4: Merge the PR
Record the start timestamp for timing data.
Try auto-merge first (respects repo merge settings and merge queues):
gh pr merge --auto --delete-branch
If --auto is not available (repo doesn't have auto-merge enabled), merge directly:
gh pr merge --squash --delete-branch
If the merge fails with a permission error: STOP. "You don't have merge permissions on this repo. Ask a maintainer to merge."
If merge queue is active, gh pr merge --auto will enqueue. Poll for the PR to actually merge:
gh pr view --json state -q .state
Poll every 30 seconds, up to 30 minutes. Show a progress message every 2 minutes: "Waiting for merge queue... (Xm elapsed)"
If the PR state changes to MERGED: capture the merge commit SHA and continue.
If the PR is removed from the queue (state goes back to OPEN): STOP. "PR was removed from the merge queue."
If timeout (30 min): STOP. "Merge queue has been processing for 30 minutes. Check the queue manually."
Record merge timestamp and duration.
Step 5: Deploy strategy detection
Determine what kind of project this is and how to verify the deploy.
First, run the deploy configuration bootstrap to detect or read persisted deploy settings:
# Check for persisted deploy config in CLAUDE.md
DEPLOY_CONFIG=$(grep -A 20 "## Deploy Configuration" CLAUDE.md 2>/dev/null || echo "NO_CONFIG")
echo "$DEPLOY_CONFIG"
# If config exists, parse it
if [ "$DEPLOY_CONFIG" != "NO_CONFIG" ]; then
PROD_URL=$(echo "$DEPLOY_CONFIG" | grep -i "production.*url" | head -1 | sed 's/.*: *//')
PLATFORM=$(echo "$DEPLOY_CONFIG" | grep -i "platform" | head -1 | sed 's/.*: *//')
echo "PERSISTED_PLATFORM:$PLATFORM"
echo "PERSISTED_URL:$PROD_URL"
fi
# Auto-detect platform from config files
[ -f fly.toml ] && echo "PLATFORM:fly"
[ -f render.yaml ] && echo "PLATFORM:render"
([ -f vercel.json ] || [ -d .vercel ]) && echo "PLATFORM:vercel"
[ -f netlify.toml ] && echo "PLATFORM:netlify"
[ -f Procfile ] && echo "PLATFORM:heroku"
([ -f railway.json ] || [ -f railway.toml ]) && echo "PLATFORM:railway"
# Detect deploy workflows
for f in .github/workflows/*.yml .github/workflows/*.yaml; do
[ -f "$f" ] && grep -qiE "deploy|release|production|staging|cd" "$f" 2>/dev/null && echo "DEPLOY_WORKFLOW:$f"
done
If PERSISTED_PLATFORM and PERSISTED_URL were found in CLAUDE.md, use them directly
and skip manual detection. If no persisted config exists, use the auto-detected platform
to guide deploy verification. If nothing is detected, ask the user via question
in the decision tree below.
If you want to persist deploy settings for future runs, suggest the user run /setup-deploy.
Then run gstack-diff-scope to classify the changes:
eval $(${GSTACK_OPENCODE_DIR}/bin/gstack-diff-scope $(gh pr view --json baseRefName -q .baseRefName 2>/dev/null || echo main) 2>/dev/null)
echo "FRONTEND=$SCOPE_FRONTEND BACKEND=$SCOPE_BACKEND DOCS=$SCOPE_DOCS CONFIG=$SCOPE_CONFIG"
Decision tree (evaluate in order):
-
If the user provided a production URL as an argument: use it for canary verification. Also check for deploy workflows.
-
Check for GitHub Actions deploy workflows:
gh run list --branch <base> --limit 5 --json name,status,conclusion,headSha,workflowName
Look for workflow names containing "deploy", "release", "production", "staging", or "cd". If found: poll the deploy workflow in Step 6, then run canary.
-
If SCOPE_DOCS is the only scope that's true (no frontend, no backend, no config): skip verification entirely. Output: "PR merged. Documentation-only change — no deploy verification needed." Go to Step 9.
-
If no deploy workflows detected and no URL provided: use question once:
- Context: PR merged successfully. No deploy workflow or production URL detected.
- RECOMMENDATION: Choose B if this is a library/CLI tool. Choose A if this is a web app.
- A) Provide a production URL to verify
- B) Skip verification — this project doesn't have a web deploy
Step 6: Wait for deploy (if applicable)
The deploy verification strategy depends on the platform detected in Step 5.
Strategy A: GitHub Actions workflow
If a deploy workflow was detected, find the run triggered by the merge commit:
gh run list --branch <base> --limit 10 --json databaseId,headSha,status,conclusion,name,workflowName
Match by the merge commit SHA (captured in Step 4). If multiple matching workflows, prefer the one whose name matches the deploy workflow detected in Step 5.
Poll every 30 seconds:
gh run view <run-id> --json status,conclusion
Strategy B: Platform CLI (Fly.io, Render, Heroku)
If a deploy status command was configured in CLAUDE.md (e.g., fly status --app myapp), use it instead of or in addition to GitHub Actions polling.
Fly.io: After merge, Fly deploys via GitHub Actions or fly deploy. Check with:
fly status --app {app} 2>/dev/null
Look for Machines status showing started and recent deployment timestamp.
Render: Render auto-deploys on push to the connected branch. Check by polling the production URL until it responds:
curl -sf {production-url} -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" 2>/dev/null
Render deploys typically take 2-5 minutes. Poll every 30 seconds.
Heroku: Check latest release:
heroku releases --app {app} -n 1 2>/dev/null
Strategy C: Auto-deploy platforms (Vercel, Netlify)
Vercel and Netlify deploy automatically on merge. No explicit deploy trigger needed. Wait 60 seconds for the deploy to propagate, then proceed directly to canary verification in Step 7.
Strategy D: Custom deploy hooks
If CLAUDE.md has a custom deploy status command in the "Custom deploy hooks" section, run that command and check its exit code.
Common: Timing and failure handling
Record deploy start time. Show progress every 2 minutes: "Deploy in progress... (Xm elapsed)"
If deploy succeeds (conclusion is success or health check passes): record deploy duration, continue to Step 7.
If deploy fails (conclusion is failure): use question:
- Context: Deploy workflow failed after merging PR.
- RECOMMENDATION: Choose A to investigate before reverting.
- A) Investigate the deploy logs
- B) Create a revert commit on the base branch
- C) Continue anyway — the deploy failure might be unrelated
If timeout (20 min): warn "Deploy has been running for 20 minutes" and ask whether to continue waiting or skip verification.
Step 7: Canary verification (conditional depth)
Use the diff-scope classification from Step 5 to determine canary depth:
| Diff Scope | Canary Depth |
|---|---|
| SCOPE_DOCS only | Already skipped in Step 5 |
| SCOPE_CONFIG only | Smoke: ${GSTACK_BROWSE} goto + verify 200 status |
| SCOPE_BACKEND only | Console errors + perf check |
| SCOPE_FRONTEND (any) | Full: console + perf + screenshot |
| Mixed scopes | Full canary |
Full canary sequence:
${GSTACK_BROWSE} goto <url>
Check that the page loaded successfully (200, not an error page).
${GSTACK_BROWSE} console --errors
Check for critical console errors: lines containing Error, Uncaught, Failed to load, TypeError, ReferenceError. Ignore warnings.
${GSTACK_BROWSE} perf
Check that page load time is under 10 seconds.
${GSTACK_BROWSE} text
Verify the page has content (not blank, not a generic error page).
${GSTACK_BROWSE} snapshot -i -a -o ".gstack/deploy-reports/post-deploy.png"
Take an annotated screenshot as evidence.
Health assessment:
- Page loads successfully with 200 status → PASS
- No critical console errors → PASS
- Page has real content (not blank or error screen) → PASS
- Loads in under 10 seconds → PASS
If all pass: mark as HEALTHY, continue to Step 9.
If any fail: show the evidence (screenshot path, console errors, perf numbers). Use question:
- Context: Post-deploy canary detected issues on the production site.
- RECOMMENDATION: Choose based on severity — B for critical (site down), A for minor (console errors).
- A) Expected (deploy in progress, cache clearing) — mark as healthy
- B) Broken — create a revert commit
- C) Investigate further (open the site, look at logs)
Step 8: Revert (if needed)
If the user chose to revert at any point:
git fetch origin <base>
git checkout <base>
git revert <merge-commit-sha> --no-edit
git push origin <base>
If the revert has conflicts: warn "Revert has conflicts — manual resolution needed. The merge commit SHA is <sha>. You can run git revert <sha> manually."
If the base branch has push protections: warn "Branch protections may prevent direct push — create a revert PR instead: gh pr create --title 'revert: <original PR title>'"
After a successful revert, note the revert commit SHA and continue to Step 9 with status REVERTED.
Step 9: Deploy report
Create the deploy report directory:
mkdir -p .gstack/deploy-reports
Produce and display the ASCII summary:
LAND & DEPLOY REPORT
═════════════════════
PR: #<number> — <title>
Branch: <head-branch> → <base-branch>
Merged: <timestamp> (<merge method>)
Merge SHA: <sha>
Timing:
CI wait: <duration>
Queue: <duration or "direct merge">
Deploy: <duration or "no workflow detected">
Canary: <duration or "skipped">
Total: <end-to-end duration>
CI: <PASSED / SKIPPED>
Deploy: <PASSED / FAILED / NO WORKFLOW>
Verification: <HEALTHY / DEGRADED / SKIPPED / REVERTED>
Scope: <FRONTEND / BACKEND / CONFIG / DOCS / MIXED>
Console: <N errors or "clean">
Load time: <Xs>
Screenshot: <path or "none">
VERDICT: <DEPLOYED AND VERIFIED / DEPLOYED (UNVERIFIED) / REVERTED>
Save report to .gstack/deploy-reports/{date}-pr{number}-deploy.md.
Log to the review dashboard:
eval "$(${GSTACK_OPENCODE_DIR}/bin/gstack-slug 2>/dev/null)"
mkdir -p ~/.gstack/projects/$SLUG
Write a JSONL entry with timing data:
{"skill":"land-and-deploy","timestamp":"<ISO>","status":"<SUCCESS/REVERTED>","pr":<number>,"merge_sha":"<sha>","deploy_status":"<HEALTHY/DEGRADED/SKIPPED>","ci_wait_s":<N>,"queue_s":<N>,"deploy_s":<N>,"canary_s":<N>,"total_s":<N>}
Step 10: Suggest follow-ups
After the deploy report, suggest relevant follow-ups:
- If a production URL was verified: "Run
/canary <url> --duration 10mfor extended monitoring." - If performance data was collected: "Run
/benchmark <url>for a deep performance audit." - "Run
/document-releaseto update project documentation."
Important Rules
- Never force push. Use
gh pr mergewhich is safe. - Never skip CI. If checks are failing, stop.
- Auto-detect everything. PR number, merge method, deploy strategy, project type. Only ask when information genuinely can't be inferred.
- Poll with backoff. Don't hammer GitHub API. 30-second intervals for CI/deploy, with reasonable timeouts.
- Revert is always an option. At every failure point, offer revert as an escape hatch.
- Single-pass verification, not continuous monitoring.
/land-and-deploychecks once./canarydoes the extended monitoring loop. - Clean up. Delete the feature branch after merge (via
--delete-branch). - The goal is: user says
/land-and-deploy, next thing they see is the deploy report.