gps-denied-desktop/_docs/00_templates/environment_strategy.md

Environment Strategy Template

Overview

Define the environment strategy for the project, including configuration, access, and deployment procedures for each environment.

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Environments

Development (dev)

Purpose: Local development and feature testing

Aspect	Configuration
Branch	dev, feature branches
Database	Local or shared dev instance
External Services	Mock/sandbox endpoints
Logging Level	DEBUG
Access	All developers

Configuration:

# .env.development
ENV=development
DATABASE_URL=<dev_database_url>
API_TIMEOUT=30
LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG

Staging (stage)

Purpose: Pre-production testing, QA, UAT

Aspect	Configuration
Branch	stage
Database	Staging instance (production-like)
External Services	Sandbox/test endpoints
Logging Level	INFO
Access	Development team, QA

Configuration:

# .env.staging
ENV=staging
DATABASE_URL=<staging_database_url>
API_TIMEOUT=15
LOG_LEVEL=INFO

Deployment Trigger: Merge to stage branch

Production (prod)

Purpose: Live system serving end users

Aspect	Configuration
Branch	main
Database	Production instance
External Services	Production endpoints
Logging Level	WARN
Access	Restricted (ops team)

Configuration:

# .env.production
ENV=production
DATABASE_URL=<production_database_url>
API_TIMEOUT=10
LOG_LEVEL=WARN

Deployment Trigger: Manual approval after staging validation

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Secrets Management

Secret Categories

• Database credentials
• API keys (internal and external)
• Encryption keys
• Service account credentials

Storage

Environment	Secret Storage
Development	.env.local (gitignored)
Staging	CI/CD secrets / Vault
Production	CI/CD secrets / Vault

Rotation Policy

• Database passwords: Every 90 days
• API keys: Every 180 days or on compromise
• Encryption keys: Annually

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Environment Parity

Required Parity

• Same database engine and version
• Same runtime version
• Same dependency versions
• Same configuration structure

Allowed Differences

• Resource scaling (CPU, memory)
• External service endpoints (sandbox vs production)
• Logging verbosity
• Feature flags

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Access Control

Role	Dev	Staging	Production
Developer	Full	Read + Deploy	Read logs only
QA	Read	Full	Read logs only
DevOps	Full	Full	Full
Stakeholder	None	Read	Read dashboards

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Backup & Recovery

Environment	Backup Frequency	Retention	RTO	RPO
Development	None	N/A	N/A	N/A
Staging	Daily	7 days	4 hours	24 hours
Production	Hourly	30 days	1 hour	1 hour

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Notes

• Never copy production data to lower environments without anonymization
• All environment-specific values must be externalized (no hardcoding)
• Document any environment-specific behaviors in code comments