๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ช๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ
I broke production three times in one week. My code was fine. My pipeline lied to me.
Here is what happened and how I fixed it.
Failure 1: Database migrations ran twice. It caused duplicate key errors. Fix: I added a migration status check. It checks for applied migrations before running new ones.
Failure 2: A missing API key killed production. Staging passed because the key existed there. Fix: I added a pre-deployment check. It verifies all required variables exist. This blocked 4 bad deployments.
Failure 3: Stale mocks hid a bug. Tests passed. Production failed. Fix: I added contract testing. I added integration tests with a real staging database.
My new pipeline flow:
- Git push
- Lint and Type Check
- Unit and Contract Tests
- Build and Env Validation
- Staging Deploy
- Integration Tests
- Migration Check
- Production Deploy
- Health Check
Results after two weeks:
- 0 production breaks.
- 4 bad deployments blocked.
- The team ships on Fridays.
Your pipeline is your last line of defense. Map every step. Ask if a step lies to you. Fix the gaps before production finds them.
What is your worst pipeline failure? Tell me in the comments.