Zero-downtime deployments

Zero-downtime mode prepares a complete release away from live traffic and atomically changes the current symlink only after application commands succeed.

Directory layout

/home/fluxo/example.com/
  .env
  current -> releases/20260804121000-42
  releases/
    20260804115500-41/
    20260804121000-42/
  storage/                 # Laravel shared storage

Nginx and managed services resolve the active application through current.

Release sequence

1. Create a unique directory under releases.
2. Clone the configured branch or rollback commit.
3. Link the persistent site .env when it exists.
4. For Laravel, seed and link the complete shared storage tree.
5. Run application commands in the release.
6. Create a temporary symlink and atomically move it to current.
7. Run required runtime hooks.
8. Keep the five newest successful releases.

If application commands fail before activation, Fluxo removes the failed release and leaves current unchanged. If a critical managed runtime hook fails after activation, Fluxo attempts to restore the previous release.

Benefits

• Failed builds do not overwrite the live checkout.
• Activation is an atomic filesystem operation.
• Previous successful commits can be rebuilt and activated through rollback.
• Concurrent requests do not see a partially installed dependency tree.
• Release cleanup prevents unlimited storage growth.

Persistent data

Never store irreplaceable runtime data only inside a release directory. Each future deployment can replace it, and old-release cleanup will eventually delete it.

Laravel's full storage tree and the root .env are shared automatically. Add explicit shared directories or external storage for other framework-generated uploads.

Node.js limitation

Server-rendered Node applications still run as a managed process. After activation, Fluxo restarts the process and waits for the internal TCP port. The release switch is atomic and failures are recoverable, but a single process restart can briefly interrupt open connections.

For stricter connection-level zero downtime, an architecture with multiple workers and health-aware handoff would be required.

Laravel Octane limitation

Fluxo does not offer Octane while zero-downtime deployment is enabled. Octane keeps application code in long-lived worker memory, which can retain stale application state and does not align with the current symlink lifecycle. Use standard deployment when enabling Octane.

Requirements

Zero-downtime mode requires a configured Git repository. WordPress sites use standard in-place hosting and do not expose this mode.