AMPLE

DEPLOYMENT AGENTS

What is a deployment agent?

Learn how a coding agent can inspect, plan, deploy, diagnose, and redeploy an app through a CLI with stable contracts.

By Ample ComputerUpdated July 30, 2026

DIRECT ANSWER

The short version

A deployment agent is a coding agent that can carry an application from local source to a live release using a deployment tool with machine-readable commands and results. With Ample, the agent can inspect the repo, resolve a plan, deploy services and data resources, read logs, and reuse the same workflow for later changes.

WHO THIS IS FOR

Before you start

This guide is for builders evaluating how AI coding agents can handle deployment work while keeping the source and infrastructure plan visible.

STEP BY STEP

How to do it

  1. 1

    Give the agent a scoped setup path

    The Ample homepage creates a one-use onboarding secret and a snippet that installs the CLI, authenticates it, and establishes Ample as the repo's deploy tool.

  2. 2

    Plan from repository evidence

    The agent runs Ample's repo inspection. Open questions include evidence, options, a safe default, and a named answer path.

    ample plan
  3. 3

    Record the infrastructure contract

    Writing ample.toml makes services, databases, volumes, links, domains, and non-secret configuration reviewable in the repo.

    ample plan --write
  4. 4

    Apply and diagnose

    The agent runs the synchronous deploy once, reads the final result, and uses build or runtime logs if the release fails.

    ample up
  5. 5

    Reuse the workflow

    On later changes, the agent uses the existing plan and content-addressed deploy behavior instead of inventing a new release process.

FIT CHECK

What this supports

Good fit

  • Stable JSON output and exit codes
  • Evidence-backed planning questions
  • Version-matched agent documentation
  • Scoped tokens and budget controls

Know the limits

  • The agent still acts with the permissions granted to its token
  • Missing secret values require a human or external secret source
  • Deployment automation does not make untested application code correct

TROUBLESHOOTING

Common failure modes

The agent polls a synchronous deploy

Run the deploy once and read its live, failed, or blocked result.

The agent guesses through a plan question

Use the supplied evidence, options, safe default, and answer path.

The agent commits a secret

Declare the key as secret and pass its value with encrypted environment input.

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