There is no deploy process at all
Releases are a person typing commands from memory on the server, slightly differently each time.
What it does. It reads the project and writes the deploy script, the Docker and nginx files and a CI pipeline file for it, shows you each one, and saves the script in your library so the next release is one click.
The server is brand new
There is nothing to deploy onto yet, so the first release means an afternoon of setup before any code moves.
What it does. It installs what the project needs, sets up the web server, moves the app across and issues the certificate, showing you the whole plan before step one.
Only one person can deploy
The steps live in one engineer's head, so releases queue behind whoever knows the order and the gotchas.
What it does. The steps become a script in a shared library, organised by group, with every version kept. Anyone asks in plain language, sees the plan, and watches each step run.
The deploy script failed and the output is gone
It ran, something broke, and the terminal that had the output is closed.
What it does. Output is streamed and kept, so the failure is still there to read afterwards. It reads the actual error rather than reporting that the script exited non-zero, and can fix the script with you.
It said success but the site is unchanged
The script exits zero, and yet the old version is still being served.
What it does. It confirms afterwards rather than trusting the exit code: what is actually running, whether the service restarted, and whether the site responds.
Setting up a second environment
A new environment means copying a working one and carefully changing the parts that differ, which is exactly where mistakes hide.
What it does. It copies the configuration on the server and changes only the keys that should differ, showing you a diff of each one before writing.