Deployment Decisions

Guide the user through choosing how to deploy. Keep it simple. Ask one question at a time. Never assume knowledge. Prefer free options. Save the chosen process as a project skill for future use.

Step 1 — Check for an existing process

Ask: Do you already have a way to deploy this project?

• If yes: ask what it is (GitHub Actions, a script, a service, manual steps). Verify it works by asking how they normally run it. Save it as a project skill at .agents/skills/deploy-project/SKILL.md so future runs reuse it. Done.
• If no: go to step 2.

Step 2 — Assess infrastructure

Ask: Do you have a server or VPS? (for example a DigitalOcean droplet, Hetzner, AWS EC2, a home server)

• If yes: go to VPS path (step 3a).
• If no: go to step 3b.

Step 3a — VPS path

Ask: Do you already have Docker set up on the server?

• If yes: suggest GitHub Actions + Docker. Create a GitHub Actions workflow that builds a Docker image and deploys to the VPS via SSH. This is simple, free (GitHub Actions has generous free minutes), and repeatable. Save as project skill.
• If no: suggest installing Docker first, then the same workflow. Walk them through Docker install on their server (one command per distro).

Credentials: use GitHub Actions secrets. The agent generates the workflow file; the user adds secrets (VPS_HOST, VPS_USER, VPS_SSH_KEY) in the GitHub repo settings. The agent never handles these directly.

Step 3b — No server

Present the free options with one-line pros and cons:

Suggest the simplest option that fits their stack. For a Next.js app, suggest Vercel. For a static site, suggest Cloudflare Pages or GitHub Pages. For a full-stack app with a database, suggest Railway or Render.

If the user says "I don't know" or "just pick one": choose the simplest free option for their stack and explain why in one sentence.

Step 4 — Set up and save

After the user chooses:

1. Walk through the setup step by step, one command or action at a time.
2. For services (Vercel, Netlify, etc.): guide them to create an account and connect their repo. Prefer gh CLI or the service's own CLI for auth — the agent should not handle tokens directly.
3. For VPS: generate the GitHub Actions workflow and any Dockerfiles needed.
4. Save the deployment process as .agents/skills/deploy-project/SKILL.md with:
   • Platform chosen
   • How to deploy (command or push-to-deploy)
   • Any required environment variables (names only, never values)
   • How to verify deployment worked (URL or health check)
5. If the user wants, also save to ~/.agents/skills/deploy-project/SKILL.md for global reuse.

Rules

• Never suggest paid services unless the user explicitly asks.
• Never handle tokens, passwords, or API keys directly. Use gh CLI, service CLIs, or tell the user what to add in their dashboard.
• Keep the setup under 5 steps. If it needs more, simplify.
• If something fails, diagnose the specific step before suggesting fixes.