---
title: "Local Development, Operations, and Releases | Agent Barn"
canonical: "https://agentbarn.dev/guides/local-development-and-operations"
pubDate: "2026-08-25T00:00:00.000Z"
updatedDate: "2026-08-29T16:41:32.000Z"
author: Agent Barn
description: "Install dependencies, run services, migrate data, deploy safely, operate staging, send email, and monitor the stack."
tags: [Engineering guide, Contributors and operators, Agent Barn]
categories: [Guides]
---

# Local Development, Operations, and Releases

Prefer repository Make targets and the existing deployment workflow. Treat keys and migrations as operational contracts, keep staging namespace isolation intact, and version Helm charts only for packaging changes.

## Guide details

- Reference: GD-16
- Type: Engineering guide
- Audience: Contributors and operators

## Local workflow and migrations

Install API dependencies with `uv` and UI dependencies with `pnpm`. Use Make targets for PostgreSQL, API, UI, the full Docker stack, logs, restart, and cleanup. Create and review `Alembic` migrations for schema changes before applying them.

## Staging isolation

Staging uses the `agent-farm-staging` namespace and staging-suffixed images. Per-environment secrets use `STAGING_` values, while selected shared accounts and keys remain common. The API `K8S_NAMESPACE` value must come from the release namespace or staging could create Agent resources in production.

## Email operations

Transactional email uses Cloudflare Email Sending through one infrastructure adapter. Each environment sends from its own verified mail subdomain, while the account and API token are shared. Delivery is disabled when required configuration is absent, and the account-wide daily quota is shared by staging and production.

## Versioning and deployment

API and UI image tags are explicit deployment inputs. Main uses `latest` and staging uses `latest-staging`. Chart version is a packaging version and changes only when chart templates or values change; documentation-only changes do not require an image or chart bump.

## Monitoring and safety

The monitoring chart stays namespace-scoped and creates no RBAC. Run the monitoring check after alert or dashboard changes. Treat signing and encryption key rotation as migrations, preserve LiteLLM quota-aware rollout behavior, and use the deployment workflow instead of manually publishing mutable production tags.