Lightweight checklist for deploying, managing, and operating apps (frontend, backend, DB, Redis, etc.) as a solo developer.
- Check error logs (app, DB, Redis)
- Verify uptime monitor (UptimeRobot / BetterStack)
- Look at key metrics (requests/sec, DB connections, error rates)
💡 Automate alerts → Slack/Discord/email. Don’t rely on manual checks.
- Review slow DB queries (use EXPLAIN or monitoring tool)
- Scan logs for warnings (not just errors)
- Confirm monitoring + alerts are still working
- Check SSL certs are valid (if not auto-renewed)
- Test backup + restore (DB + Redis snapshot)
- Apply system & library security patches
- Review infra costs (shut down unused services)
- Check resource usage (CPU, memory, disk)
- Rotate sensitive secrets / API keys
- Audit access (SSH keys, API tokens, DB users)
- Run security scans (npm audit, Snyk, etc.)
- Perform light load test (simulate higher traffic)
- Review architecture → does it still fit current scale?
- Do a "fire drill" (kill DB or server, test recovery process)
- Review vendor lock-in risks (migration feasibility)
- Clean up old code, services, infra not in use
- Monitoring: BetterStack, UptimeRobot
- Logging: Logtail, Axiom, Datadog
- Backups: Cloud provider snapshots, DB-native backups (cron/managed)
- CI/CD: GitHub Actions → auto-deploy (Vercel/Render/Fly.io)
- Security: Dependabot, Snyk
- ❌ No restore testing (backups unverified)
- ❌ Cost creep from unused infra
- ❌ Manual deploys → human error
- ❌ Overbuilding infra too early (K8s, multi-VPS, service mesh)
- ❌ No monitoring (finding out from users when app is down)
✅ Stick to this playbook → you’ll cover 90% of what full SRE teams do, solo.