astronomer/agents/managing-astro-deployments

Astro Deployment Management

This skill helps you manage production Astronomer deployments using the Astro CLI.

For local development, see the managing-astro-local-env skill.

For production troubleshooting, see the troubleshooting-astro-deployments skill.

Authentication

All deployment operations require authentication:

# Login to Astronomer (opens browser for OAuth)
astro login

Authentication tokens are stored locally for subsequent commands. Run this before any deployment operations.

Workspace Management

Deployments are organized into workspaces:

# List all accessible workspaces
astro workspace list
 
# Switch to a specific workspace
astro workspace switch <WORKSPACE_ID>

Workspace context is maintained between sessions. Most deployment commands operate within the current workspace context.

List and Inspect Deployments

# List deployments in current workspace
astro deployment list
 
# List deployments across all workspaces
astro deployment list --all
 
# Inspect specific deployment (detailed info)
astro deployment inspect <DEPLOYMENT_ID>
 
# Inspect by name (alternative to ID)
astro deployment inspect --deployment-name data-service-stg

What inspect Shows

• Deployment status (HEALTHY, UNHEALTHY)
• Runtime version and Airflow version
• Executor type (CELERY, KUBERNETES, LOCAL)
• Scheduler configuration (size, count)
• Worker queue settings (min/max workers, concurrency, worker type)
• Resource quotas (CPU, memory)
• Environment variables
• Last deployment timestamp and current tag
• Webserver and API URLs
• High availability status

Create Deployments

# Create with default settings
astro deployment create
 
# Create with specific executor
astro deployment create --label production --executor celery
astro deployment create --label staging --executor kubernetes
 
# Executor options:
#   - celery: Best for most production workloads
#   - kubernetes: Best for dynamic scaling, isolated tasks
#   - local: Best for development only

Update Deployments

# Enable DAG-only deploys (faster iteration)
astro deployment update <DEPLOYMENT_ID> --dag-deploy-enabled
 
# Update other settings (use --help for full options)
astro deployment update <DEPLOYMENT_ID> --help

Delete Deployments

# Delete a deployment (requires confirmation)
astro deployment delete <DEPLOYMENT_ID>

Destructive: This cannot be undone. All DAGs, task history, and metadata will be lost.

Deploy Code to Production

Full Deploy

Deploy both DAGs and Docker image (required when dependencies change):

astro deploy <DEPLOYMENT_ID>

Use when:

• Dependencies changed (requirements.txt, packages.txt, Dockerfile)
• First deployment of new project
• Significant infrastructure changes

DAG-Only Deploy (Recommended for Iteration)

Deploy only DAG files, skip Docker image rebuild:

astro deploy <DEPLOYMENT_ID> --dags

Use when:

• Only DAG files changed (Python files in dags/ directory)
• Quick iteration during development
• Much faster than full deploy (seconds vs minutes)

Requires: --dag-deploy-enabled flag set on deployment (see Update Deployments)

Image-Only Deploy

Deploy only Docker image, skip DAG sync:

astro deploy <DEPLOYMENT_ID> --image-only

Use when:

• Only dependencies changed
• Dockerfile or requirements updated
• No DAG changes

Force Deploy

Bypass safety checks and deploy:

astro deploy <DEPLOYMENT_ID> --force

Caution: Skips validation that could prevent broken deployments.

Deployment API Tokens

Manage API tokens for programmatic access to deployments:

# List tokens for a deployment
astro deployment token list --deployment-id <DEPLOYMENT_ID>
 
# Create a new token
astro deployment token create \
  --deployment-id <DEPLOYMENT_ID> \
  --name "CI/CD Pipeline" \
  --role DEPLOYMENT_ADMIN
 
# Create token with expiration
astro deployment token create \
  --deployment-id <DEPLOYMENT_ID> \
  --name "Temporary Access" \
  --role DEPLOYMENT_ADMIN \
  --expiry 30  # Days until expiration (0 = never expires)

Roles:

• DEPLOYMENT_ADMIN: Full access to deployment

Note: Token value is only shown at creation time. Store it securely.

Common Workflows

First-Time Production Deployment

# 1. Login
astro login
 
# 2. Switch to production workspace
astro workspace list
astro workspace switch <PROD_WORKSPACE_ID>
 
# 3. Create deployment
astro deployment create --label production --executor celery
 
# 4. Note the deployment ID, then deploy
astro deploy <DEPLOYMENT_ID>

Iterative DAG Development

# 1. Enable fast deploys (one-time setup)
astro deployment update <DEPLOYMENT_ID> --dag-deploy-enabled
 
# 2. Make DAG changes locally
 
# 3. Deploy quickly
astro deploy <DEPLOYMENT_ID> --dags

Promoting Code from Staging to Production

# 1. Deploy to staging first
astro workspace switch <STAGING_WORKSPACE_ID>
astro deploy <STAGING_DEPLOYMENT_ID>
 
# 2. Test in staging
 
# 3. Deploy same code to production
astro workspace switch <PROD_WORKSPACE_ID>
astro deploy <PROD_DEPLOYMENT_ID>

Configuration Management

# View CLI configuration
astro config get
 
# Set configuration value
astro config set <KEY> <VALUE>
 
# Check CLI version
astro version
 
# Upgrade CLI to latest version
astro upgrade

Tips

• Use --dags flag for fast iteration (seconds vs minutes)
• Always test in staging workspace before production
• Use deployment inspect to verify deployment health before deploying
• Deployment IDs are permanent, names can change
• Most commands work with deployment ID; inspect also accepts --deployment-name
• Set --dag-deploy-enabled once per deployment for fast deploys
• Keep workspace context visible with astro workspace list (shows asterisk for current)

Related Skills

• troubleshooting-astro-deployments: Investigate deployment issues, view logs, manage environment variables
• managing-astro-local-env: Manage local Airflow development environment
• setting-up-astro-project: Initialize and configure Astro projects