Security Checklist Before You Deploy With Claude Code
Published Aug 5, 2026
The permission model catches a lot in the moment, action by action — this is the final pass before something actually ships, looking at the deploy as a whole instead of one change at a time.
Secrets & Credentials
The single most common real security incident, and the easiest to catch before it happens.
No API keys, tokens, or passwords committed anywhere in the deployed files
Environment variables used for anything sensitive, not hardcoded values
A quick search for common secret patterns run across the codebase before shipping
Destructive Actions, Reviewed
Not every diff needs a full audit — but these categories always do.
Every file deletion in the session actually reviewed, not just accepted
Database schema or data changes read in full, not skimmed
Any change to authentication or access-control logic reviewed line by line
Dependencies & Licensing
Easy to skip, expensive to discover after the fact.
New dependencies added during the session are ones you recognize or vetted
License terms checked for anything pulled in for a commercial project
Production Safeguards
The items that matter once real users or real data are involved.
A rollback path exists and was actually tested, not just assumed to work
Rate limiting or abuse protection in place on any new public-facing endpoint
Error messages don't leak internal details (stack traces, file paths) to end users
Backups confirmed current before a change that touches real data
Printable — use your browser's print dialog for a clean copy without the navigation.
New to the Permission Model? Start Here
The free guide covers what's already protected by default and what still depends entirely on you.
It covers a lot of it by gating risky actions in the moment, but it doesn't replace a final review pass before something goes live — the permission model protects each individual action, this checklist protects the deploy as a whole.
Is this only for production deploys?
The secrets and destructive-action items matter even for a personal project. The production-safeguards section matters most once real users or real data are involved.
Do I need security expertise to use this?
No — every item here is something you can check by reading, searching, or asking Claude Code directly, not something that requires a security background.