# Category 8 — Deployment and Operations (weight 7)

> Verbatim criteria/gates from the criteria Google Doc. Fill Score/Evidence locally; **the human
> pastes**. 1–5 scale; anchors at 1/3/5.

## Scores
| # | Criterion (verbatim) | Score (1–5) | Evidence / note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Helm chart available and documented for self-hosted server deployment in Kubernetes. |  |  |
| 2 | Zero-downtime configuration updates — gateway and policy changes do not interrupt in-flight calls. |  |  |
| 3 | GitOps-compatible — gateway, server, and policy configuration is expressible as code. |  |  |
| 4 | Upgrade and rollback process is documented and tested. |  |  |
| 5 | Runbooks for common failure scenarios. |  |  |
| 6 | Vendor support model during the pilot: dedicated solutions engineer, response SLA. |  |  |
| 7 | P0/P1 escalation path after the pilot, in production. |  |  |

**Average:** ___   **Category score:** ___

## Score anchors
- **1** — No Helm chart; manual deployment only; no dedicated support
- **3** — Helm chart works with gaps; zero-downtime config updates unverified; support exists but is not dedicated
- **5** — Helm-native, GitOps-compatible, zero-downtime config, dedicated SE, documented escalation path

## Benchmark tests
| # | Test (verbatim) | Result | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Deploy a self-hosted custom server to a Kubernetes namespace via Helm chart. Measure time from clean namespace to first successful tool call. Target: under 1 day. |  |  |
| 2 | Update a gateway configuration (add a tool). Verify in-flight calls are not dropped. |  |  |
| 3 | Simulate a configuration rollback. Verify the rollback completes cleanly and the prior configuration is restored. |  |  |
| 4 | Stage a K8s namespace and confirm the Helm deployment matches the architecture recommended for production. |  |  |

## Suggested pass/fail gates
| Gate | Pass condition (verbatim) | Result | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Helm deployment | Full Kubernetes deployment via Helm chart in under 1 day |  |  |
| Config safety | Gateway configuration changes are zero-downtime |  |  |
| Rollback | Prior configuration can be restored cleanly |  |  |
| Dedicated SE | A dedicated solutions engineer is available and responsive during the pilot |  |  |

## Findings
- Note: a live deployment already exists (`k8s-backstage-v2/apps/arcade`, chart 1.8.8, Flux/GitOps) — a head start for this category's evidence.