Your app is built.
Now make it safe to launch.
A plain-English go-live checklist for everything that happens after the code is done: deploying, locking down security, and keeping your site healthy once real customers arrive. Built for founders, not just engineers. Print it, tick the boxes, sleep better at night.
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What's inside the go-live checklist
Six sections, 29 checkboxes, three pages. The unglamorous work that protects your launch.
Before you press deploy
Environments, secrets, backups you have actually restored, and a rollback plan.
Deploying safely
Automated releases, HTTPS everywhere, debug modes off, a friendly error page.
Locking down security
Security headers, two-factor on the accounts that matter, updates on a schedule.
Logging & knowing what is happening
Searchable logs, alerts before customers notice, nothing sensitive recorded.
Domains & certificates
Auto-renewal on the things that expire on weekends, email reputation protected.
Ongoing health checks
A light weekly/monthly/quarterly rhythm so launched does not become neglected.
A sample from the checklist
Confirm a backup exists, and test restoring it.
A backup you have never restored is just a hope, not a safety net.
Force HTTPS everywhere.
Visitors typing the plain address should land on the secure version automatically.
Get alerted when errors spike.
You should hear about problems before your customers tweet about them.
Know who owns the domain.
Your company account, not a developer’s personal one.
Plus the two-minute test: "if our site went down right now, how would we find out?"
Why a go-live checklist?
Building the app is the fun part. Launching it is where things quietly go wrong: the backup nobody ever restored, the debug mode left on, the domain registered under a developer's personal account, the TLS certificate that expires on a Saturday. A go-live checklist turns that list of "things you find out the hard way" into boxes you tick once, before real customers arrive.
The checklist condenses what I cover in depth on the blog, from setting up proper logging to protecting your email reputation and cutting over DNS without downtime. You do not need to read any of that to use it: every check is written in plain English with a one-line reason why it matters.
Who it's for
Founders and makers who shipped something (or had AI help ship it) and want to launch like a grown-up company. Nothing in it requires you to be technical: tick each box yourself, or hand it to whoever builds your software and ask "are we doing these?"
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