Deployments

A deployment is one build-and-release of a service. Every deploy produces a build, starts new replicas in fresh micro-VMs, and shifts traffic once they’re healthy.

How a deploy happens

A deployment is triggered by any of:

A git push to the tracked branch (for github-source services).
lizard redeploy — rebuild from the latest commit (git) or last upload, with current variables.
lizard up — upload the current directory and deploy it.
A service set that changes a build-affecting field.

lizard redeploy --service api      # rebuild + redeploy from current source
lizard up                          # upload cwd and deploy

Lifecycle

Build — the platform runs your build (see Build Pipeline).
Pre-deploy — if preDeployCommand is set, it runs once (e.g. migrations).
Start — new replicas boot in fresh Firecracker VMs.
Health check — the platform verifies the app’s port is reachable (skipped for workers).
Route — traffic shifts to the new replicas.

Streaming output

When you run a non-detached lizard up (or redeploy), build logs stream live. With --json, you get one JSON event per line:

{ "event": "log", "line": "..." }
{ "event": "deployed", "status": "...", "url": "https://..." }

terminating in deployed, failed, or deploying. Use --detach to start the deploy and return immediately without streaming.

Inspecting history

lizard events                  # deploy history + per-replica status
lizard events --limit 25       # show more
lizard ps                      # current services, status, and URLs

In the dashboard, the Deployments view shows the full timeline, per-deploy build logs, and a detail drawer for each release.

Restarts vs. redeploys

Command	What it does
`lizard restart --service <svc>`	Rolling restart of the current build — no rebuild
`lizard redeploy --service <svc>`	Fresh build from latest commit/upload, then release

Use restart to recycle replicas (e.g. to pick up a runtime secret that didn’t hot-reload); use redeploy when you need a new build.

Recovering from a crash

Inspect the most recent crash or restart’s logs:

lizard logs --restart latest       # log tail around the latest restart
lizard logs --restart <id>         # a specific restart
lizard events                      # see replica status

Live config changes (no rebuild)

Most environment variable and secret changes are pushed live to the running VM (via SIGUSR1) without a rebuild. Build-time values (VITE_*, NEXT_PUBLIC_*) and build-field changes do force a rebuild — see the rebuild triggers table.

Build Pipeline Overview