convex-deploy-guard

Classify + announce the target Convex deployment before any deployment-affecting command; fresh explicit consent for prod actions; session read-only mode.

npx skills add https://github.com/get-convex/agent-skills --skill convex-deploy-guard

Deployment target guard

Deployments are not interchangeable, and most incidents start with a command aimed at the wrong one. Every Convex project has several (personal dev, preview, prod — often across multiple projects on one machine). This guard is the standing discipline: identify, announce, then act — and treat prod as consent-gated, per action, per session.

Workflow

  1. IDENTIFY before you act: read CONVEX_DEPLOYMENT in .env.local, convex.json, and whether CONVEX_DEPLOY_KEY is set; or call the official Convex MCP status tool. Classify the target: local-anonymous | dev | preview | prod. If two sources disagree, resolve before proceeding.
  2. ANNOUNCE in one line before any deployment-affecting command: target: dev (joyful-capybara-123, personal dev). Never run the command in the same breath as discovering the target — announce first.
  3. PROD needs a FRESH explicit yes: before npx convex deploy (when it resolves to prod), npx convex run --prod, env set on prod, snapshot import/export on prod, or starting the MCP with prod access — state exactly what will change on which deployment and get an explicit yes in THIS session. A yes given earlier, or for a different target, does not carry.
  4. MCP safety defaults: start the official MCP scoped non-prod (--deployment dev). The two prod flags are DIFFERENT risk levels — keep them split: a read-only prod audit (advisor/insights reading data/logs/insights) passes ONLY --cautiously-allow-production-pii (read tools); --dangerously-enable-production-deployments (which enables MUTATING prod tools) stays OFF unless the user explicitly asked to CHANGE prod this session. Never pair them by default — 'look at prod' must not silently grant 'mutate prod'.
  5. READ-ONLY session mode: when the user says 'read-only' / 'don't change anything', honor it absolutely for the rest of the session — no deploy, no env set/remove, no mutations via run, no imports; start the MCP with --disable-tools run,envSet,envRemove.
  6. Wrong-deployment diagnosis: when a deploy 'didn't change anything', do NOT re-deploy harder. Re-run step 1 — the deploy almost certainly landed on a different deployment than the one being observed.
  7. Ambiguity = stop: if you cannot determine which deployment a command will hit, find out (status tool; compare npx convex env list fingerprints) — never guess.

Rules

  • Classify and announce the target BEFORE every deployment-affecting command — identification and action are two separate steps.
  • Prod consent is per-action, per-target, per-session: state what changes where, get a fresh explicit yes.
  • Keep the two prod MCP flags split by risk: --cautiously-allow-production-pii (read-only) for an audit; --dangerously-enable-production-deployments (mutating) only when the user explicitly asks to change prod. Both are user-spoken-only; default every MCP start to a non-prod deployment selector.
  • Read-only mode, once requested, is absolute for the session — including 'harmless' mutations.
  • A deploy that seemed to do nothing means the WRONG deployment changed — diagnose the target, don't re-run.
  • This guard composes: ship, env, migrate, and seed run it as their step 0; it is not itself a deploy tool.

More skills from get-convex

convex-performance-audit
get-convex
Audits Convex performance for reads, subscriptions, write contention, and function limits. Use for slow features, insights findings, OCC conflicts, or read amplification.
developmentdatabasedata-analysis
convex
get-convex
Routes general Convex requests to the right project skill. Use when the user asks which Convex skill to use or gives an underspecified Convex app task.
developmentdatabase
convex-setup-auth
get-convex
Sets up Convex auth, identity mapping, and access control. Use for login, auth providers, users tables, protected functions, or roles in a Convex app.
developmentdatabaseapi
convex-quickstart
get-convex
Creates or adds Convex to an app. Use for new Convex projects, npm create convex@latest, frontend setup, env vars, or the first npx convex dev run.
developmentdatabase
convex-migration-helper
get-convex
Plans Convex schema and data migrations with widen-migrate-narrow and @convex-dev/migrations. Use for breaking schema changes, backfills, table reshaping, or zero-downtime rollouts.
developmentdatabase
convex-create-component
get-convex
Builds reusable Convex components with isolated tables and app-facing APIs. Use for new components, reusable backend modules, integrations, or component boundary work.
developmentdatabase
convex-migrate
get-convex
Migrate schema + backfill data on a deployed Convex app using @convex-dev/migrations.
developmentdatabase
convex-optimize
get-convex
Audit and optimize an existing Convex app: security, scale, upgrades, observability.