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[ESSAY]
Checklist for Multi-Service Railway Deployments
Repeatable deploy beats heroic memory — especially past three services.
[ essay ]
When a project spans app + database + cache (+ optional worker):
- Pin image/tag version in config
- Document which service owns public HTTP and which port
- Verify env var names match app docs (URL triplets confuse every team once)
- Run smoke test after first deploy before connecting OAuth
- Back up database before schema migrations
- Set registration closed after bootstrap admin exists
- Log retention and cost alerts enabled on host
Rollback story: previous image tag + database restore point — write it before you need it.
— JV · Dark Heart Labs.