READINESS CYCLE

Six gaps between "it works" and "production-ready."

Services that work in development often have missing observability, absent error handling, and no documented deployment procedure. Wakalix closes each gap as a work item — not a post-launch TODO.

Review a service for readiness

Observability

Structured JSON logs with request IDs. Health and readiness endpoints. Prometheus-format metrics. Enough signal to diagnose a live incident without guessing.

/healthz · /readyz
structured logs
request_id propagation

Error handling

Consistent error responses with status codes and message shapes. Panic recovery. No 500s with empty bodies that leave clients guessing.

error envelope
panic recovery
consistent HTTP codes

Resilience

Timeout configuration on every outbound call. Retry policy with backoff. Graceful shutdown that drains in-flight requests before stopping.

per-call timeouts
retry + backoff
graceful shutdown

Security

Auth middleware on every protected route. No secrets in environment logs or default configurations. TLS-only transport where required.

auth middleware
no secrets in logs
TLS enforcement

Release checks

Dockerfile lint passing. Container runs as non-root user. Healthcheck directive present. Deploy procedure documented. Rollback path identified.

non-root container
HEALTHCHECK directive
rollback documented

Testing

Unit tests covering critical paths. Integration tests running against actual infra in CI. Smoke probe confirming the live endpoint responds correctly.

integration tests
infra in CI
smoke probe

Before score

Gap inventory first

Cycle starts with an audit of which checks are absent. You see the gap before any code is written — and decide the priority order.

Work items per check

Each gap is a reviewable PR

Every missing check becomes a work item. Each lands as a PR your engineers review before the next begins. No bulk drops.

After score

Verified, not claimed

Smoke probe confirms the live endpoint after changes merge. Cycle closes with a before/after readiness score, not a list of intentions.

In wakalix, production readiness is not a launch checklist — it's a cycle of concrete deliverables. Each gap turns into a scoped deliverable: the healthcheck gets a HEALTHCHECK directive and a test; the error handling gets a middleware and a spec for the error envelope; the logs get structured format and request ID propagation. By cycle close, every check has a commit, a test, and a reviewer PASS. Not a checkbox — a merged, verified change.

Get one service production-ready.

We'll audit the six checks, scope the gaps, and close each one as a reviewable work item.

Start here