> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vendo.run/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Production checklist

> The eight things that must be true before your users meet Vendo in production, and the command that checks your wiring.

Eight things must be true before your users meet Vendo in production.

## What must be true

Work top to bottom. Each row links to the page that covers it in depth.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Your Cloud key is set, so every turn has a model.">
    If not: every message fails before it reaches your API.

    [Model credentials](/production/model-credentials)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Every request resolves to one stable user id.">
    If not: threads, approvals, and audit rows land on the wrong user.

    [Auth](/production/auth)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Your Cloud store is on, so threads outlive a restart.">
    If not: threads, apps, and audit rows vanish when the process restarts.

    [Persistence](/production/persistence)
  </Step>

  <Step title="The handler sits at one base path, with streaming intact.">
    If not: replies arrive in one lump at the end, or not at all.

    [Handler options](/reference/handler-options)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Risky tools ask a human before they run.">
    If not: every call runs on its own, including the ones that move money.

    [In-client venue and approvals](/generated/in-client-venue)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Something calls /tick on a clock.">
    If not: apps that declare `vendo.json` schedules never run their functions.

    [Automations](/capabilities/automations)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Every webhook source is registered and verified.">
    If not: anyone who finds the URL can start a run in your product.

    [Automations](/capabilities/automations)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Apps that need a server have a sandbox to run in.">
    If not: those apps stay stuck at the preview and never boot.

    [Vendo Cloud](/production/vendo-cloud)
  </Step>
</Steps>

Checks 1, 3, 6, and 8 come with your Cloud key. The other four are yours to wire.

<Note>
  Every automation runs in **your** process. Check 6 comes with the key because a
  deployment derives the tick secret from `VENDO_API_KEY` and registers itself at
  boot, so Cloud's heartbeat knocks for you once a minute — set `VENDO_BASE_URL`
  and nothing else. Without a key, set `VENDO_TICK_SECRET` and run your own cron;
  both credentials `POST /api/vendo/tick` accepts are checked against that one
  secret.
</Note>

***

## One command checks your wiring

`vendo doctor` reads your repo and your environment. It never calls the
deployed app, so run it where your source lives.

```bash Terminal highlight={1} theme={null}
$ npx vendo doctor

ok: createVendo server wiring found
ok: a visible agent surface is mounted (<VendoOverlay /> or an equivalent)
ok: model credential: VENDO_API_KEY (Vendo Cloud)
ok: the OpenAPI server mount and VENDO_BASE_URL agree on "/api/vendo"
ok: catalog: all 34 tools graded
ok: Vendo Cloud key present and well-formed
```

Exit 0 means every check passed. A check that fails prints `broken:` instead,
and a soft one prints `warning:`.

Add `--json` and doctor prints one object with a `checks` array. Each entry
carries a `status`, and a failing one also carries its `error_code` and a
`fix_ref` URL, for example
[`E-WIRE-004`](/production/troubleshooting/e-wire-004).

***

## What your process prints at boot

`createVendo` announces the seams it composed, once per process. Read it as
which implementation won each slot, and what chose it.

```text vendo ready highlight={2,3,4} theme={null}
◆  vendo ready
│  ✓ sandbox   cloud    VENDO_API_KEY
│  ✓ store     cloud    VENDO_API_KEY
│  ✓ models    cloud    VENDO_API_KEY (gateway)
│  ✓ auth      clerk    auth: clerk()
```

Column two is the venue. Column three is what selected it.

***

## Where to go next

The three pages behind the rows you are most likely to touch.

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Persistence" href="/production/persistence">
    Where threads, apps, and audit rows live, and how to erase them.

    `VENDO_API_KEY → hosted store`
  </Card>

  <Card title="Auth" href="/production/auth">
    Who the agent acts as, on present calls and away runs.

    `principal.subject · actAs`
  </Card>

  <Card title="Telemetry" href="/production/telemetry">
    What Vendo collects, what it never sends, and every way to opt out.

    `VENDO_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1`
  </Card>
</CardGroup>