Going to Production

A comprehensive checklist for deploying your Avatarium integration to production.

⚠️

Don't skip the checklist! Production issues are 10x harder to fix than pre-launch issues.

Pre-Launch Checklist

Configuration

API Key: Using live key (av_live_*), not test key
Environment Variables: All secrets in secure environment vars
BYOK Keys: Production provider keys configured
Domain Allowlist: Production domain added in dashboard

Security

API Key Protection: Key not exposed in client-side code
CORS: Configured for production domain only
Rate Limiting: Client-side throttling implemented
Input Validation: User inputs sanitized

Performance

CDN: Avatar assets served from CDN
Lazy Loading: Avatar loads on demand, not on page load
Error Boundaries: Graceful degradation on failures
Streaming: Enabled for faster perceived response

Content

System Prompt: Finalized and tested
Knowledge Base: Uploaded and verified
Fallback Responses: Defined for unknown questions
Escalation Path: Human handoff configured

Monitoring

Analytics: Dashboard tracking enabled
Alerts: Budget alerts configured
Error Tracking: Logging in place
Uptime Monitoring: Health checks configured

Step-by-Step Launch Guide

Finalize Configuration

Ensure your production settings are locked in:

// production.config.ts
export const avatarConfig = {
  apiKey: process.env.AVATARIUM_API_KEY,
  avatarId: 'your-avatar-id',
  environment: 'production',
 
  // BYOK for cost control
  byokAI: {
    provider: 'groq',
    apiKey: process.env.GROQ_API_KEY,
    model: 'llama-3.1-70b-versatile',
  },
 
  // Production TTS
  byokTTS: {
    provider: 'google',
    apiKey: process.env.GOOGLE_TTS_KEY,
  },
 
  // Analytics enabled
  analytics: {
    enabled: true,
    trackConversations: true,
  },
};

Set Up Error Handling

Implement comprehensive error handling:

import { Avatar } from '@avatarium/react';
 
function ProductionAvatar() {
  const [error, setError] = useState<Error | null>(null);
 
  if (error) {
    return <FallbackChat error={error} />;
  }
 
  return (
    <ErrorBoundary
      fallback={<FallbackChat />}
      onError={(error) => {
        reportError(error); // Send to logging service
        setError(error);
      }}
    >
      <Avatar
        {...avatarConfig}
        onError={(error) => {
          if (error.code === 'RATE_LIMIT') {
            showMessage('Please wait a moment before sending more messages.');
          } else if (error.code === 'BUDGET_EXCEEDED') {
            showContactSupport();
          } else {
            setError(error);
          }
        }}
      />
    </ErrorBoundary>
  );
}

Configure Monitoring

Set up production monitoring:

// monitoring.ts
import { initAvatariumAnalytics } from '@avatarium/analytics';
 
initAvatariumAnalytics({
  // Send events to your analytics service
  onEvent: (event) => {
    analytics.track(event.name, event.properties);
  },
 
  // Monitor performance
  onPerformance: (metrics) => {
    if (metrics.responseTime > 5000) {
      alertOps('Slow avatar response', metrics);
    }
  },
 
  // Track errors
  onError: (error) => {
    errorTracking.capture(error);
  },
});

Test in Staging

Before going live, test in a staging environment:

# Deploy to staging
npm run deploy:staging
 
# Run automated tests
npm run test:e2e
 
# Smoke test manually
# - Load avatar
# - Send test messages
# - Verify responses
# - Check analytics

Staged Rollout

Roll out gradually to catch issues early:

// feature-flags.ts
const ROLLOUT_PERCENTAGE = 10; // Start with 10%
 
function shouldShowAvatar(userId: string): boolean {
  const hash = hashUserId(userId);
  return (hash % 100) < ROLLOUT_PERCENTAGE;
}
 
// In your component
function App() {
  const { userId } = useUser();
 
  if (!shouldShowAvatar(userId)) {
    return <LegacyChat />;
  }
 
  return <Avatar {...config} />;
}

Monitor Launch

Watch key metrics during the first 24-48 hours:

Metric	Target	Alert If
Error rate	<1%	>5%
Response time	<3s	>10s
User satisfaction	>4.0	<3.0
Session completion	>80%	<50%

Scaling Considerations

Traffic Planning

Expected Sessions	Tier	Recommendation
<1,000/month	Free or Infrastructure	Start here
1,000-10,000/month	Professional	Good balance
10,000-50,000/month	Business	Volume discounts
50,000+/month	Enterprise	Contact sales

Performance at Scale

// Implement connection pooling for high traffic
const avatarPool = createAvatarPool({
  maxConnections: 100,
  idleTimeout: 60000,
});
 
// Use session affinity for better caching
const session = await avatarPool.getSession(userId);

Global Deployment

For international users, consider:

Region	Recommendation
North America	Primary Avatarium region
Europe	Deploy on edge nodes closest to your users
Asia-Pacific	Consider edge caching

Production Support

Support Escalation

Issue Type	Response Time	Contact
P1 - Service Down	<1 hour	Emergency support
P2 - Degraded	<4 hours	Priority support
P3 - Bug	<24 hours	Standard support
P4 - Question	<48 hours	Standard support

Getting Help

Community & Email Support

Discord community for peer support
Email: support@avatarium.ai
Response within 48 hours

Included in: Free, Infrastructure

Backup & Recovery

What to Back Up

Item	Frequency	Storage
System prompts	Every change	Version control
Knowledge base	Weekly	Cloud storage
Configuration	Every change	Version control
Analytics export	Monthly	Data warehouse

Disaster Recovery

// Implement graceful fallback
const FALLBACK_RESPONSES = {
  default: "I'm having trouble right now. Please try again or contact support.",
  maintenance: "We're doing scheduled maintenance. Back in 30 minutes!",
  overload: "High demand right now. Please wait a moment and try again.",
};
 
function handleAvatarFailure(error: Error): string {
  switch (error.code) {
    case 'SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE':
      return FALLBACK_RESPONSES.maintenance;
    case 'RATE_LIMIT':
      return FALLBACK_RESPONSES.overload;
    default:
      return FALLBACK_RESPONSES.default;
  }
}

Post-Launch Operations

Daily Monitoring

Check error rates
Review user feedback
Monitor response times
Verify budget status

Weekly Tasks

Review analytics dashboard
Analyze top unanswered questions
Update knowledge base if needed
Check for product updates

Monthly Tasks

Review and optimize system prompt
Analyze cost efficiency
Plan capacity for next month
Team review of performance

Compliance & Privacy

Data Handling

Data Type	Retention	Notes
Conversations	30 days default	Configurable
Analytics	90 days	Aggregated
User PII	As configured	See privacy policy

Privacy Configuration

<Avatar
  privacy={{
    // Don't store conversation content
    storeConversations: false,
 
    // Anonymize analytics
    anonymizeAnalytics: true,
 
    // Require consent before starting
    requireConsent: true,
  }}
  onConsentRequired={(accept) => {
    showConsentModal(accept);
  }}
/>