Prepare OtterStack Deployment

Analyze a codebase and validate it's ready for OtterStack deployment by checking Docker Compose compatibility, scanning for environment variables, and detecting common failure patterns.

Quick Start

Run these three checks to verify OtterStack readiness:

# 1. Scan for environment variables
grep -rE '\$\{[A-Z_]+\}|\$[A-Z_]+' docker-compose.yml

# 2. Check compose compatibility
grep -E "container_name:|env_file:" docker-compose.yml  # Should be empty

# 3. Validate syntax
docker compose config --quiet

If all checks pass → ready to deploy. If issues found → follow the detailed workflow below.

Environment Variable Discovery

Scan Application Code

Different languages use different patterns for environment variables:

Node.js / TypeScript:

grep -r "process\.env\." --include="*.js" --include="*.ts"

Python:

grep -r "os\.getenv\|os\.environ" --include="*.py"

Ruby:

grep -r "ENV\[" --include="*.rb"

Go:

grep -r "os\.Getenv" --include="*.go"

Scan Docker Compose File

Find all variables referenced in compose file:

grep -oE '\$\{[A-Z_][A-Z0-9_]*\}' docker-compose.yml | sort -u

Network Detection

Detect networks defined in the Docker Compose file to ensure proper container connectivity:

Find network definitions:

grep -A 5 "^networks:" docker-compose.yml

Extract network names:

# Get all network names from the networks section
grep -A 10 "^networks:" docker-compose.yml | grep -E "^  [a-z]" | awk '{print $1}' | sed 's/:$//'

Identify default network:

1. If networks section exists, use the first network listed as default
2. If no networks section, Docker Compose creates a default network named {project}_default
3. Recommend explicit network definition for clarity

Check service network attachments:

# Find services that specify networks
grep -B 5 "networks:" docker-compose.yml | grep -E "^  [a-z]" | awk '{print $1}' | sed 's/:$//'

Network configuration requirements:

• All services should attach to the same network for inter-service communication
• Network name should use variable substitution: ${NETWORK_NAME:-app-network}
• Network should be defined explicitly at the bottom of compose file

Example network configuration:

services:
  web:
    networks:
      - ${NETWORK_NAME:-app-network}

  api:
    networks:
      - ${NETWORK_NAME:-app-network}

networks:
  app-network:
    name: ${NETWORK_NAME:-app-network}
    external: false

Scan Dockerfile

Check for ARG and ENV declarations:

grep -E "^(ENV|ARG)\s+" Dockerfile

Consolidate Results

For each variable found:

1. Determine if it's required (no default) or optional (has default)
2. Identify the purpose (database URL, API key, port, etc)
3. Flag sensitive variables (passwords, keys, tokens)
4. Note any default values from code

Compose File Validation

Critical OtterStack Requirements

❌ 1. No Hardcoded Container Names

Check:

grep "container_name:" docker-compose.yml

Why it fails: OtterStack creates unique container names per deployment (e.g., myapp-abc1234-web-1). Hardcoded names prevent parallel deployments and zero-downtime updates.

Fix: Remove all container_name: directives.

Before:

services:
  web:
    container_name: myapp-web  # ❌ Remove this
    image: myapp:latest

After:

services:
  web:
    # ✅ Let Docker Compose generate names
    image: myapp:latest

✅ 2. Use Environment Section (Not env_file)

Check:

grep "env_file:" docker-compose.yml

Why it fails: OtterStack passes --env-file to Docker Compose for variable substitution in the compose file itself. Variables must be in the environment: section to be injected into containers.

Fix: Move to environment: section with variable substitution.

Before:

services:
  web:
    env_file: .env  # ❌ This doesn't work with OtterStack

After:

services:
  web:
    environment:  # ✅ Use environment section
      DATABASE_URL: ${DATABASE_URL}
      SECRET_KEY: ${SECRET_KEY}
      LOG_LEVEL: ${LOG_LEVEL:-INFO}  # With default

❌ 3. No Static Traefik Priority Labels

Check:

grep "traefik.http.routers.*.priority" docker-compose.yml

Why it fails: OtterStack manages Traefik priority labels automatically for zero-downtime deployments. Static priorities conflict with this mechanism.

Fix: Remove priority labels, keep other Traefik labels.

Before:

labels:
  - "traefik.http.routers.myapp.rule=Host(`example.com`)"
  - "traefik.http.routers.myapp.priority=100"  # ❌ Remove this

After:

labels:
  - "traefik.http.routers.myapp.rule=Host(`example.com`)"
  # ✅ OtterStack manages priorities automatically

✅ 4. Health Checks Defined

Check:

grep -A5 "healthcheck:" docker-compose.yml

Why it matters: OtterStack waits for containers to be healthy before routing traffic. Without health checks, containers are immediately considered healthy (which may not be accurate).

Best practice: Define explicit health checks.

Example:

services:
  web:
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://127.0.0.1:8080/health"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 3s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 30s

Critical: Use 127.0.0.1 not localhost to avoid IPv6 issues (see Common Failures below).

✅ 5. Syntax Validation

Check:

docker compose config --quiet

If this command fails, the compose file has syntax errors that must be fixed before deployment.

Common Failure Detection

1. Native Module Bindings (Node.js)

Check:

grep -E "node-gyp|native|binding|better-sqlite3|bcrypt|sharp" package.json

Problem: Native modules compiled on your dev machine won't work in the production container due to different architectures.

Solution: Use multi-stage build and rebuild in production stage.

Example fix in Dockerfile:

# Production stage
FROM node:20-slim

# Install build tools for native modules
RUN apt-get update && \
    apt-get install -y build-essential python3 && \
    apt-get clean

# Copy node_modules from builder
COPY --from=builder /build/node_modules ./node_modules

# Rebuild native modules for production architecture
RUN npm rebuild better-sqlite3

# Rest of dockerfile...

2. Database Path Permissions

Check:

grep -A2 "volumes:" docker-compose.yml | grep -E "\.db|/data"

Problem: Container user may not have write permissions to database directory.

Solution: Use named volumes OR ensure directory ownership in Dockerfile.

Named volume approach (recommended):

volumes:
  - db-data:/app/data  # Named volume with correct permissions

volumes:
  db-data:
    name: myapp-db-data

Dockerfile ownership approach:

# Create directories with correct ownership
RUN mkdir -p /app/data && chown -R app:app /app/data

# Switch to non-root user
USER app

3. Migration File Paths

Check:

grep "COPY.*migrations\|COPY.*prisma\|COPY.*db" Dockerfile

Problem: Migration files not copied to container or copied to wrong location.

Solution: Ensure migrations are copied to where your application expects them.

Example:

# If your app looks for migrations relative to dist/index.js:
COPY src/migrations ./dist/migrations

# Not:
COPY src/migrations ./src/migrations  # ❌ Wrong location

4. IPv6/IPv4 Health Check Conflicts

Check:

grep -A3 "healthcheck:" docker-compose.yml | grep "localhost"

Problem: BusyBox wget and some curl versions try IPv6 (::1) first when resolving localhost, but app may only bind to IPv4 (0.0.0.0).

Solution: Use 127.0.0.1 instead of localhost in health checks.

Before:

healthcheck:
  test: ["CMD", "wget", "--spider", "http://localhost:80/health"]  # ❌

After:

healthcheck:
  test: ["CMD", "wget", "--spider", "http://127.0.0.1:80/health"]  # ✅

5. Missing Build Context

Check:

grep -A2 "build:" docker-compose.yml | grep -v "context:"

Problem: Build may fail or use wrong directory if context not explicit.

Solution: Always specify context: and dockerfile:.

Before:

build: .  # ❌ Implicit context

After:

build:  # ✅ Explicit context
  context: .
  dockerfile: Dockerfile

6. Missing Network Definition

Check:

# Check if networks are defined
grep "^networks:" docker-compose.yml

# Check if services specify network
grep -A 2 "services:" docker-compose.yml | grep "networks:"

Problem: Services on different networks (or default networks) may have connectivity issues in complex deployments. OtterStack needs to know which network containers communicate on.

Solution: Define an explicit network and use variable substitution for flexibility.

Before:

services:
  web:
    image: myapp:latest
    # No network specified - uses auto-generated default

After:

services:
  web:
    image: myapp:latest
    networks:
      - ${NETWORK_NAME:-app-network}

networks:
  app-network:
    name: ${NETWORK_NAME:-app-network}
    external: false

Traefik Exposure Detection

For services that need to be publicly accessible, detect existing Traefik configuration and prepare for enhanced labels:

Scan for Traefik Labels

Check for Traefik-enabled services:

grep -B 5 "traefik.enable" docker-compose.yml | grep -E "^  [a-z].*:" | sed 's/:$//'

Extract router names:

grep "traefik.http.routers" docker-compose.yml | sed -E 's/.*traefik\.http\.routers\.([^.]+)\..*/\1/' | sort -u

Identify exposed services: For each service with Traefik labels:

1. Extract service name from docker-compose.yml structure
2. Extract router name from labels
3. Check if domain variable is used (e.g., ${API_DOMAIN})
4. Note the exposed port from loadbalancer configuration

Required Traefik Configuration

Services exposed via Traefik should have these labels at minimum:

labels:
  - "traefik.enable=true"
  # Routing
  - "traefik.http.routers.{service}.rule=Host(`${SERVICE_DOMAIN}`)"
  - "traefik.http.routers.{service}.entrypoints=web,websecure"
  # TLS
  - "traefik.http.routers.{service}.tls=true"
  - "traefik.http.routers.{service}.tls.certresolver=myresolver"
  # Load balancer
  - "traefik.http.services.{service}.loadbalancer.server.port={PORT}"
  # CrowdSec middleware (security)
  - "traefik.http.routers.{service}.middlewares=crowdsec-{service}@docker"
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.crowdsec-{service}.plugin.crowdsec-bouncer.enabled=true"
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.crowdsec-{service}.plugin.crowdsec-bouncer.crowdseclapikey=${CROWDSEC_API_KEY}"

Environment Variables for Exposure

For each exposed service, these environment variables are required:

1. ${SERVICE}_DOMAIN - The domain name for the service (e.g., API_DOMAIN=api.example.com)

   • Type: String (domain format)
   • Validation: Must be a valid domain without protocol
   • Example: aperture.example.com, api.myapp.io

2. CROWDSEC_API_KEY - CrowdSec bouncer API key for security middleware

   • Type: String (sensitive)
   • Validation: Non-empty string
   • Shared across all exposed services
   • Obtain from: CrowdSec dashboard → Bouncers → Add bouncer

3. NETWORK_NAME - The Docker network name for Traefik communication

   • Type: String
   • Default: Detected from compose file or app-network
   • Traefik must be on the same network to route traffic

Output Format

Generate a readiness report following this template:

## OtterStack Readiness Report for [Project Name]

### ✅ Compatible Checks
- Docker Compose syntax validation passed
- Health checks defined for all services
- Uses environment: section for variables
- No hardcoded container names

### 🌐 Networks Detected

**Default network:** `app-network`

**All networks:**
- `app-network` (default)
- `traefik-network` (external, for Traefik communication)

**Service attachments:**
- `web` → app-network, traefik-network
- `api` → app-network, traefik-network
- `db` → app-network (internal only)

**Recommendations:**
- Add `NETWORK_NAME` environment variable for flexibility
- Ensure Traefik is on `traefik-network` for routing

### 🔒 Traefik Exposure

**Exposed services:**

1. **API Service** (`api`)
   - Router: `aperture-api`
   - Port: 8080
   - Domain variable: `API_DOMAIN`
   - CrowdSec: Enabled

2. **Web Service** (`web`)
   - Router: `aperture-web`
   - Port: 3000
   - Domain variable: `WEB_DOMAIN`
   - CrowdSec: Enabled

**Required for exposure:**
- `API_DOMAIN` - Domain for API service (e.g., api.example.com)
- `WEB_DOMAIN` - Domain for web service (e.g., app.example.com)
- `CROWDSEC_API_KEY` - CrowdSec bouncer key (shared)
- `NETWORK_NAME` - Network for Traefik communication

**Traefik configuration:**
- TLS enabled with Let's Encrypt (certresolver: myresolver)
- HTTP and HTTPS entrypoints
- CrowdSec bouncer middleware for DDoS protection

### ⚠️  Issues Found

1. **Container name conflict** (docker-compose.yml:15)
   - Found: `container_name: myapp-web`
   - Fix: Remove this line

2. **Health check IPv6 issue** (docker-compose.yml:23)
   - Found: `test: ["CMD", "curl", "http://localhost:8080/health"]`
   - Fix: Change to `http://127.0.0.1:8080/health`

3. **Native module needs rebuild** (package.json)
   - Found: better-sqlite3 in dependencies
   - Fix: Add `RUN npm rebuild better-sqlite3` to Dockerfile

### Environment Variables

**Required (no defaults):**
- `DATABASE_URL` - PostgreSQL connection string
- `SECRET_KEY` - Application secret for sessions
- `API_TOKEN` - External service authentication

**Optional (with defaults):**
- `LOG_LEVEL` - Logging level (default: INFO)
- `PORT` - Application port (default: 8080)
- `NODE_ENV` - Environment mode (default: production)

**Sensitive (never commit):**
- `DATABASE_URL` contains password
- `SECRET_KEY` is cryptographic secret
- `API_TOKEN` is authentication credential

### Recommended Fixes

#### 1. Update docker-compose.yml

```yaml
# Remove line 15:
- container_name: myapp-web

# Update health check (line 23):
healthcheck:
  test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://127.0.0.1:8080/health"]
  interval: 10s
  start_period: 30s

2. Update Dockerfile

Add after installing dependencies:

# Rebuild native modules for production container
RUN npm rebuild better-sqlite3

3. Set Environment Variables

On OtterStack server:

otterstack env set myapp DATABASE_URL "postgresql://user:pass@host/db"
otterstack env set myapp SECRET_KEY "your-secret-key-here"
otterstack env set myapp API_TOKEN "your-api-token"

Next Steps

1. Apply fixes above to docker-compose.yml and Dockerfile
2. Commit and push changes to git repository
3. Set environment variables on OtterStack server
4. Deploy: otterstack deploy myapp

Ready to Deploy?

• [ ] All issues fixed
• [ ] Changes committed and pushed
• [ ] Environment variables set on server
• [ ] Docker Compose validation passes locally

Once all boxes are checked, proceed with deployment.

## Success Criteria

You're ready to deploy when:

✅ **Compose file passes all checks:**
- No `container_name:` directives
- Uses `environment:` section (not `env_file:`)
- No static Traefik priorities
- Health checks use `127.0.0.1` not `localhost`
- `docker compose config --quiet` succeeds

✅ **Common failures addressed:**
- Native modules have rebuild step in Dockerfile
- Migration files copied to correct paths
- Database directories have proper permissions

✅ **Environment variables documented:**
- All required variables identified
- Sensitive variables flagged
- Default values noted

✅ **Fixes committed:**
- Changes pushed to git repository
- Ready for OtterStack to pull latest commit

## Example: Preparing Aperture

**Scan Results:**
```bash
# Environment variables found
grep -rE '\$\{[A-Z_]+\}' docker-compose.yml
# Found: DATABASE_URL, SECRET_KEY, API_TOKEN, LOG_LEVEL, PORT

# Compatibility checks
grep "container_name:" docker-compose.yml
# Found: container_name: aperture-gateway (line 12)
# Found: container_name: aperture-web (line 45)

grep "env_file:" docker-compose.yml
# No issues - uses environment: section ✅

# Common failures
grep -E "better-sqlite3" package.json
# Found: better-sqlite3 in dependencies

grep "COPY.*migrations" Dockerfile
# Found: COPY src/migrations ./src/migrations
# Issue: App looks in ./dist/migrations at runtime

Fixes Applied:

1. Removed both container_name: directives
2. Added RUN npm rebuild better-sqlite3 to Dockerfile
3. Changed migrations path to COPY src/migrations ./dist/migrations
4. Updated health check to use 127.0.0.1 instead of localhost

Result: Successful deployment after applying these fixes.

Integration with /deploy-otterstack

This skill is automatically invoked during Phase 2: Preparation of the /deploy-otterstack command.

Integration Points

When invoked from the deployment orchestration command, this skill:

• Performs comprehensive readiness analysis of the project
• Identifies blocking issues that must be fixed before deployment
• Scans for all required and optional environment variables
• Detects common failure patterns proactively
• Outputs a structured readiness report for the command to parse

Context Passing

The orchestration command uses the following outputs from this skill:

Blocking Issues:

• Critical OtterStack compatibility problems (container names, env_file usage, etc.)
• Required environment variables that are missing
• Common failure patterns detected (native modules, permissions, migrations, etc.)

Environment Variables:

• Required - Variables without defaults that must be set
• Optional - Variables with defaults in the compose file
• Detected - Variables already found in codebase or .env files
• Sensitive - Variables containing secrets (passwords, keys, tokens)

Readiness Status:

• ready: true/false - Whether project can proceed to deployment
• blocking_issue_count - Number of critical issues found
• warning_count - Number of non-critical warnings

Workflow in Orchestration

/deploy-otterstack invoked
    ↓
Invoke prepare-otterstack-deployment skill
    ↓
Generate readiness report
    ↓
If blocking issues found:
  - Show user the issues and fixes
  - Prompt: Review / Continue anyway / Cancel
  - If Cancel: Exit deployment
  - If Continue: Proceed with warnings
    ↓
Pass required_env_vars[] to Setup phase
    ↓
Setup phase uses this to configure environment

Output Format for Orchestration

The command parses these sections from the skill's output:

1. Compatible Checks - What passed validation
2. Issues Found - Blocking problems with file locations and fixes
3. Environment Variables - Required/optional/sensitive vars
4. Recommended Fixes - Step-by-step fix instructions
5. Next Steps - What to do before deployment

Auto-Fix Capabilities

Some issues can be automatically identified and fixed by the orchestration command:

| Issue Type | Auto-Fixable | Action | |------------|--------------|--------| | Missing env vars | Partial | Prompt user during env scan | | container_name present | No | User must edit compose file | | env_file present | No | User must migrate to environment: section | | Static Traefik priorities | No | User must remove priority labels | | Health check uses localhost | No | User must change to 127.0.0.1 | | Native modules need rebuild | No | User must update Dockerfile | | IPv6/IPv4 conflicts | No | User must update health checks |

Related Commands

• /deploy-otterstack - Full orchestration command that uses this skill in Phase 2