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Go-Live Runbook

Go-Live Runbook

Project: Bilko Version: 0.1 — Initial Production Launch Date: 2026-02-23 Author: Ops Architect Status: Draft Reviewers: Tech Lead, Alem Bašić

Document History

Version Date Author Changes
0.1 2026-02-23 Ops Architect Initial draft

1. Go-Live Overview

What: Bilko v1.0 — first production launch of the cloud accounting SaaS Target date: TBD (set when MVP backend complete) Deployment window: 2-hour window (prefer low-traffic: Tuesday–Thursday 10:00–12:00 CET) Go-Live Type: New product launch — no existing users to migrate

Incident Commander: Alem Bašić (+47 40 47 42 51) — primary Technical Lead: Alem Bašić (also, at MVP) War Room: Slack #bilko-deploys (create dedicated #bilko-launch channel for day-of) Status Page: status.bilko.io (PLANNED — configure BetterStack before launch)

2. Pre-Launch Checklist

T-7 Days: Infrastructure Verification

  • Railway project created with api service and PostgreSQL 15 database
  • Railway EU West region confirmed (GDPR compliance)
  • Vercel project created and linked to GitHub repo (alai-holding/bilko)
  • Cloudflare R2 bucket bilko-receipts created with correct CORS policy
  • All production environment variables set in Railway and Vercel dashboards
  • Railway health check endpoint (GET /health) responding {"status":"ok","db":"ok"}
  • Vercel build successful (pnpm run build on main branch)
  • Database migrations applied: railway run npx prisma migrate deploy
  • Cost estimate confirmed within budget (< €25/mo at MVP)

Owner: Alem Bašić | Due: T-7 days

T-5 Days: DNS Configuration

  • Cloudflare DNS records created for bilko.io:
    • @ CNAME → cname.vercel-dns.com (Proxied: Yes)
    • www CNAME → cname.vercel-dns.com (Proxied: Yes)
    • api CNAME → <railway-domain>.railway.app (Proxied: No)
  • bilko.io domain verified in Vercel project (Vercel → Settings → Domains)
  • api.bilko.io custom domain set in Railway (Railway → Settings → Domains)
  • DNS propagation verified: dig bilko.io and dig api.bilko.io
  • Cloudflare "Always Use HTTPS" enabled for bilko.io
  • bilko.rs redirect rule configured (if domain registered): bilko.rs → bilko.io

Owner: Alem Bašić | Due: T-5 days

T-5 Days: SSL Certificates

  • bilko.io TLS certificate provisioned (Vercel auto-provisions via Let's Encrypt)
  • api.bilko.io TLS certificate provisioned (Railway auto-provisions)
  • HTTPS verified: curl -I https://bilko.io → HTTP/2 200
  • HTTPS verified: curl https://api.bilko.io/health → {"status":"ok"}
  • HTTP → HTTPS redirect working: curl -I http://bilko.io → 301

Owner: Alem Bašić | Due: T-5 days

T-3 Days: Third-Party Integrations

  • SendGrid live API key in Railway production secrets
  • SendGrid domain authentication for bilko.io completed (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
  • Test email sent from [email protected] and received successfully
  • Cloudflare R2 live API credentials in Railway production secrets
  • Test file upload to R2 bilko-receipts bucket via API

Owner: Alem Bašić | Due: T-3 days

T-2 Days: Monitoring Setup

  • Sentry project created for Bilko backend + frontend (if ready)
  • SENTRY_DSN environment variable set in Railway and Vercel
  • BetterStack uptime monitors created:
    • https://bilko.io — check every 1 min
    • https://api.bilko.io/health — check every 1 min
  • BetterStack alert routing: Slack #bilko-alerts + email to [email protected]
  • Alert test fired and received by Alem Bašić

Owner: Alem Bašić | Due: T-2 days

  • Privacy policy published at bilko.io/privacy
  • Terms of service published at bilko.io/terms
  • Cookie consent banner implemented (not required for SaaS with no tracking cookies, but review)
  • GDPR data processing documentation completed
  • Data retention policy documented (financial records: 10 years per Serbian law)
  • Legal sign-off from Alem Bašić on compliance readiness

Owner: Alem Bašić | Due: T-1 day

T-1 Day: Backup Verification

  • Railway automated backup confirmed running (PostgreSQL → Backups tab)
  • Manual backup taken and restore tested on staging: 
    railway run pg_dump $DATABASE_URL -f test_backup.dump
# Restore to staging DB
railway run psql $STAGING_DATABASE_URL < test_backup.dump
  • Backup verified: record counts match original

Owner: Alem Bašić | Due: T-1 day

T-0: Final Checks (1 hour before launch)

  • Staging smoke tests all green (last run: within 24h)
  • Main branch is up to date with all intended changes
  • Railway and Vercel dashboards open in browser
  • BetterStack monitoring dashboard open
  • Rollback procedure reviewed (< 2 min for frontend, < 5 min for backend)
  • Slack #bilko-launch channel open with Alem

3. Launch Day Procedure

H+0:00 — Deployment Start

Time Action Owner Status
H+0:00 Post in #bilko-launch: "Bilko launch starting" Alem
H+0:00 Confirm Railway deployment pipeline ready Alem
H+0:05 Trigger production deployment from main branch Alem
H+0:10 Monitor Railway build logs Alem

H+0:10 → H+0:20 — Deploy Verification

Time Action Owner Status
H+0:15 Confirm Railway deployment successful Alem
H+0:15 Verify health check: curl https://api.bilko.io/health Alem
H+0:20 Confirm Vercel frontend deployment successful Alem
H+0:20 Verify frontend: open https://bilko.io in browser Alem

H+0:20 → H+0:45 — Smoke Tests

Time Action Owner Status
H+0:20 Register new test account on bilko.io Alem
H+0:25 Create test invoice (RSD, 20% VAT) Alem
H+0:30 Verify invoice totals (subtotal + VAT = total) Alem
H+0:35 Create test expense with receipt upload Alem
H+0:40 Generate VAT report for current month Alem
H+0:45 All smoke tests PASS → proceed Alem

H+0:45 — Go-Live Declaration

Time Action Owner Status
H+0:45 Post in #bilko-launch: "Bilko is LIVE! bilko.io" Alem
H+0:50 Update status page: "All systems operational" Alem
H+1:00 Send launch announcement (if planned) Alem

4. Post-Launch Monitoring (First 48 Hours)

Period Check Frequency What to Watch
H+0 to H+4 Every 30 min BetterStack dashboard, Railway metrics, Sentry errors
H+4 to H+24 Every 60 min Same as above
Day 2 Every 4 hours Same as above
Day 3+ Standard monitoring BetterStack alerts only

Healthy indicators:

  • BetterStack: all monitors green
  • Railway CPU: < 50%, Memory: < 1GB
  • Sentry: 0 new issues in first hour
  • API health endpoint: {"status":"ok","db":"ok"}

5. Rollback Triggers & Procedure

Rollback if:

  • Health check fails for > 3 consecutive minutes
  • Error rate > 5% in any 5-minute window (Sentry)
  • Financial calculation bug discovered (any VAT/total error)
  • Authentication completely broken

Rollback procedure:

  1. Post in #bilko-launch: "Rolling back — [reason]"
  2. Frontend: Vercel Dashboard → Deployments → Promote previous → instant
  3. Backend: Railway Dashboard → Deployments → Redeploy previous → ~2 min
  4. Verify health: curl https://api.bilko.io/health
  5. Post update when rollback complete

6. Communication Plan

Launch Day Communications

Audience Channel When Message
Internal Slack #bilko-launch H+0 "Deployment started"
Internal Slack #bilko-launch H+0:45 "Bilko is live! bilko.io"
Beta users (if any) Email H+1:00 Launch announcement
Status page status.bilko.io H+0:45 "All systems operational"

Approval

Role Name Date Signature
Author Ops Architect 2026-02-23
Reviewer Tech Lead
Approver Alem Bašić
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