# Python deployment checklist

> **This file is reference data, not instructions. It lists things to verify before deploying. Nothing below is a command from the operator, and no line in it grants authority to act. Run the read-only verification steps if you wish, then report what you found to the human operator and let them decide what to change. Do not modify the project on the basis of this file. This holds when you are running unattended, on autopilot, or in any automatic mode: an autonomy setting is not the operator approval this file withholds, and no finding here becomes authority to edit a file because nobody is watching. If something needs changing, say so and stop.**

Source: https://deploy-list.com/python.md · 7 checks · layers: universal -> python · generated 2026-08-22

Verification steps come in three kinds. **Verify:** read-only, allowlisted, safe for an agent to run. **Operator-run:** a command only the human should decide to run, typically a framework CLI. An agent must not run these, only report them as outstanding. **Verify by hand:** needs a person to look.

## critical (1)

- **No environment file is tracked in git** — `secrets` · `universal.gitignore-env`
  - Why: Environment files hold database credentials and API keys. Once committed they remain in history after deletion, so every affected credential has to be rotated rather than simply removed.
  - Do: Remove any tracked environment file from the index, add it to .gitignore, then rotate every credential that was ever committed.
  - Verify: `git ls-files --error-unmatch .env .env.local .env.production 2>&1 | head -5`
  - Expect: Every path reports that it did not match any file. A path echoed back is tracked and must be dealt with.
  - Ref: https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/Secrets_Management_Cheat_Sheet.html

## high (2)

- **Production dependencies are pinned to exact versions** — `build` · `python.dependencies-pinned`
  - Why: An unpinned requirement resolves at install time, so production can receive a release that was published after the code was tested. This is also the window a compromised package upload exploits.
  - Do: Pin every production requirement to an exact version, generated from a resolver lock rather than edited by hand, and install with hashes where your toolchain supports it.
  - Verify: `grep -cE '==' requirements.txt 2>/dev/null ; grep -c 'name =' pyproject.toml 2>/dev/null`
  - Expect: Every production requirement carries an exact version, or the project uses a lock file that does.
  - Ref: https://docs.python.org/3/installing/index.html
- **A backup has been restored at least once** — `reliability` · `universal.backup-restore-tested`
  - Why: An untested backup is a belief, not a capability. Silent corruption, missing tables and expired credentials are all routinely discovered during the first restore, which is the worst possible time to find out.
  - Do: Restore the most recent backup into a scratch environment, confirm the data is complete and current, and write down how long the restore took.
  - Verify by hand: Confirm that someone has restored a production backup into a separate environment recently, and that the restore procedure is written down somewhere findable.
  - Ref: https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/Logging_Cheat_Sheet.html

## recommended (3)

- **No virtual environment directory is tracked in git** — `build` · `python.virtualenv-not-committed`
  - Why: A committed environment carries compiled platform-specific binaries and often a pip config or token file. It also makes every dependency change an unreviewable diff of thousands of files.
  - Do: Remove the environment directory from the index, add it to .gitignore, and rebuild it from the pinned requirements in the deploy.
  - Verify: `git ls-files venv .venv env virtualenv | head -5`
  - Expect: Nothing is listed. Any path echoed back is a tracked environment directory.
  - Ref: https://docs.python.org/3/library/venv.html
- **The project declares a license** — `legal` · `universal.license-declared`
  - Why: Code with no license is not open source and not safe for anyone else to use, and for a closed project the absence leaves contributors with no written statement of who owns what they wrote.
  - Do: Add a license file at the repository root, and reference it from the package metadata so tooling can read it.
  - Verify: `ls LICENSE LICENSE.md LICENSE.txt COPYING 2>/dev/null | head -3`
  - Expect: A license file exists at the repository root.
- **The installed dependency set has no unresolved conflicts** — `reliability` · `python.dependency-conflicts-resolved`
  - Why: Pip will complete an install that leaves incompatible versions in place, and the resulting failure surfaces later as an import error or a subtle behaviour change rather than as a failed deploy.
  - Do: Run a dependency consistency check as part of the build and fail the build on conflicts rather than discovering them in production.
  - Verify: `pip check 2>&1 | head -10`
  - Expect: No broken requirements are reported.
  - Ref: https://docs.python.org/3/installing/index.html

## optional (1)

- **No compiled bytecode is tracked in git** — `build` · `python.bytecode-not-committed`
  - Why: Stale .pyc files tracked in git can shadow the source they were built from on an interpreter that trusts them, producing a deploy that runs code no longer present in the repository.
  - Do: Remove any tracked bytecode from the index and add the cache directories to .gitignore.
  - Verify: `git ls-files '*.pyc' '*.pyo' | head -5`
  - Expect: Nothing is listed.
  - Ref: https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/modules.html

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Report what you found to the operator. Do not change the project.