Course 4.8 · Curriculum 2026.1
Deploying agents, and the footguns that cost three weeks
Four deployment failures, each of which cost real downtime, and the practice that prevents each one. Named after the incidents that produced them.
- Estimated effort
- 4 hr
- Lessons
- 34
- Modules
- 6
- Material
- 4 hr
Estimated effort is the sum of the lesson and lab times in the course outline, for this version of the course.
This course is planned and not on sale. The curriculum below is the plan, and it may change before the course opens.
See the courses on sale01What you will learn
7 capabilities, stated as things you can do
Each one is what you should be able to do at the end, not what the course covers. If an outcome is not testable, it is not an outcome.
- Keep a model name out of a serialized object, so a runtime variable can actually change it.
- Pin a framework version to match the local environment exactly, and explain why drift is silent.
- Sanction one redeploy path, and say what the other one mints that nothing points at.
- Restore a credential that gets blanked when redeployed from source control.
- Build a heartbeat and an alert on absence before the first production run.
- Write a runbook that a person who did not build the system can follow at 2am.
- Roll back an agent deployment without losing the conversation history.
02Curriculum
6 modules, 34 lessons
Every lesson shows its length and its type, from the course outline.
6 modules · 34 lessons · 4 hr of material
Serialized at deploy time, so a runtime variable cannot fix it. The agent kept answering, with a model that no longer existed.
- VideoThe model name baked into a serialized objectPreview8 min
- VideoSerialized at deploy time, so a runtime variable cannot fix it7 min
- ReadingThe agent that kept answering with a model that no longer existed5 min
- VideoWhy nothing errored loudly, so nothing alerted, so nobody looked6 min
- LabLab: find where a deploy-time value got baked into a serialized object10 min
- QuizCheck: the model name that was baked in8 min
One sanctioned path, documented. The other creates a fresh instance, leaves the old one serving traffic, and looks like success.
- VideoThe framework version that must match the local environment exactly7 min
- VideoWhy drift between versions is silent until it is not6 min
- VideoThe redeploy path that mints a new instance nothing points atOne sanctioned path, documented. The other creates a fresh instance, leaves the old one serving traffic, and looks like success.7 min
- ReadingOne sanctioned path, documented, and the other one that looks like success5 min
- LabLab: trace a version mismatch to the deploy that caused it9 min
- QuizCheck: version drift and the redeploy path8 min
Each agent needs its own staging directory, and one authorisation binds to exactly one agent. Sharing either is how the other footguns get in.
- VideoEach agent needing its own staging directory7 min
- VideoWhat happens when two agents share one staging directory6 min
- VideoOne authorisation binds to exactly one agent6 min
- ReadingNaming the binding so the next person does not guess5 min
- LabLab: set up separate staging for two agents9 min
- QuizCheck: staging and authorisation8 min
Redeploying a named credential from source control blanks its password and silently breaks the AI layer. The warning is written into the file itself.
- VideoThe credential blanked by a deploy from source control7 min
- VideoWhy a redeploy from source control blanks the password silently6 min
- ReadingThe warning written into the file itself5 min
- VideoRestoring a credential without breaking the AI layer twice6 min
- LabLab: restore a blanked credential and verify the AI layer9 min
- QuizCheck: the credential blanked by a deploy8 min
The client secret never passes through the shell and never touches disk, whichever of the two sanctioned paths reads it.
- VideoReading a secret from a file path created in a GUI editor, so it never touches the shell7 min
- VideoDeleting the file immediately, and the hidden-prompt alternative6 min
- ReadingUnset right after use, never echoed, never written to disk5 min
- LabLab: rewrite a provisioning script so the secret never touches the shell10 min
- QuizCheck: secret handling8 min
Heartbeats, alerts on absence, and a runbook written for someone who did not build the thing.
- VideoThe heartbeat, and alerting on absence rather than error7 min
- VideoA runbook a stranger can follow at 2am6 min
- VideoRolling back without losing conversation history6 min
- LabLab: build the heartbeat and trigger the alert9 min
- QuizCheck: deploying agents8 min
04Before you start
What you need first
Assumed knowledge and setup
- Course 4.6, or production experience operating an agent.
- A deployed agent, or the sample project provided.
- Access to whatever deploys your agent today.
Before this course
05Who teaches it
Elliot Saha
Co-founder, Chief Technology Officer
Platform architecture, custom Apex and Lightning Web Components, AI systems, and the Academy platform itself.
06Reviews
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This course has not been taken by enough people to publish an honest rating, and we will not print invented quotes on a page that sells verification discipline. Here is what we can evidence instead.
- Assessment
- Lesson checks onlyThis course carries lesson checks and issues no certificate.
- Curriculum version
- 2026.1You enrol into a version. Content changes do not move you mid-course, and your required-lesson count is snapshotted at enrollment.
- Refunds
- 14 daysAn individual purchase can be refunded within 14 days if you have completed less than 20% of the lessons. Team seats are refundable before they are assigned. From the Academy terms.
Start 4.8
This course is in development and not yet open for enrolment. The courses open now are listed in the catalogue.
- 4 hr estimated effort, labs included
- A ShareCo certificate is not a Salesforce certification