Switchblade Documentation
Kubernetes operator overview and deployment planning for declarative infrastructure automation, GitOps workflows and operational ownership.
Before you deploy
Define a small, measurable workflow for the first evaluation. Record the systems involved, the current manual steps and the outcome that would make the evaluation successful. Identify a non-production environment where changes can be observed and reversed without interrupting customers.
Inventory the target platform, identity provider, network access, integration endpoints and operational constraints. Confirm supported versions and installation instructions with the product team before applying a manifest or configuring a connector. Keep secrets in your existing secret-management system and use access scoped to the evaluation.
Validate the workflow
Run the proposed workflow with representative test inputs. Check the expected result, the time it takes, the logs it produces and the behavior when an upstream system is unavailable. Include a permission failure and an invalid input in the evaluation so the team understands how errors are surfaced and who responds.
Compare the observed behavior with the baseline you recorded. Document any manual steps that remain, and confirm that retrying or rolling back the workflow does not introduce unintended changes. The evaluation should establish both the value of automation and the controls needed to operate it.
Prepare for production
Assign an owner for configuration, release changes, monitoring and incident response. Agree on maintenance windows, backup and recovery expectations, and a rollback procedure. Review access permissions and the data that travels through each integration. Record acceptance evidence in the same change process used for your other production systems.
Installation commands and supported configuration depend on the product version and deployment arrangement. Request the applicable runbook from the product team, review it in your test environment and retain the tested configuration with your release record. These planning notes do not replace that version-specific guidance.