# How Rock8Cloud Works (/docs/how-deployments-work)



Rock8Cloud connects to your GitHub repository and reacts to events - pushes, pull requests, merges. Each event triggers a **workflow** that runs a sequence of actions automatically. You control what happens and when.

## The Big Picture [#the-big-picture]

```
GitHub event (push, PR, merge)
        │
        ▼
Workflow is triggered
        │
        ▼
Actions run in sequence
  ┌─────────────────────────────┐
  │ Build → Deploy → Analyze    │
  │ Review → Comment on PR      │
  │ Generate changelog          │
  └─────────────────────────────┘
        │
        ▼
You're notified (Slack, GitHub, webhooks)
```

Every service comes with pre-configured workflows. Enable the ones you need, disable the rest - or create your own from templates.

***

## When You Push Code [#when-you-push-code]

The **Deploy on Push** workflow runs automatically when you push to your default branch:

1. **Build** - Rock8Cloud builds a Docker image from your `Dockerfile`. Build caches speed up subsequent builds.
2. **Deploy** - The image is deployed to your stable environment. Rock8Cloud handles the rollout.
3. **Health check** - Your app is verified as running. If it fails, the previous version stays live - no downtime.
4. **Analyze** *(optional)* - AI scans your project and updates documentation and agent instructions.

Your app is live at `https://your-service.rock8cloud.app` within minutes. Apps created before this address shipped keep their `<service>-<org-slug>.apps.rock8.cloud` address.

***

## When You Open a PR [#when-you-open-a-pr]

Pull requests can trigger multiple workflows at once:

**Preview Deployments** - Each PR gets its own environment with a unique URL. Push more commits and the preview updates automatically. Close or merge the PR and the preview is cleaned up.

**AI Code Review** - An AI reviews the diff and posts findings directly on the PR as a GitHub comment.

Both workflows run in parallel, so you get a live preview and a code review without waiting.

***

## When a PR Is Merged [#when-a-pr-is-merged]

**Changelog** - Rock8Cloud generates a changelog entry from the merged PR, keeping your release notes up to date automatically.

The merge also triggers a push to your default branch, which kicks off the Deploy on Push workflow - so your changes go live immediately.

***

## After a Successful Deploy [#after-a-successful-deploy]

**AI Project Scan** - After a stable deployment succeeds, Rock8Cloud can run an AI analysis of your codebase. This generates a project overview and agent instructions that help AI coding tools understand your project.

***

## Customizing Workflows [#customizing-workflows]

Every service has a **Workflows** tab where you can:

* **Enable or disable** any workflow with a toggle
* **Configure triggers** - which branches, which PR events, which environments
* **Add workflows** from a template gallery
* **Toggle notifications** per workflow

Three workflows are enabled by default: **Deploy on Push**, **Manual Deploy**, and **Preview Deployments**. AI workflows start disabled until your organization enables AI features.

See the [Workflows guide](/docs/guides/workflows) for the full configuration reference.

***

## Manual Deploys [#manual-deploys]

Don't want to push code? On any service's **Deployments** tab, click **Manual Deploy** to trigger a build and deploy of the latest commit on demand. This uses the **Manual Deploy** workflow - always available, no configuration needed.

You can also **rollback** to any previous deployment instantly, or **rebuild** from a specific commit.

***

## Tracking Everything [#tracking-everything]

| Where             | What You See                                            |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Dashboard**     | Real-time deployment status, build logs, container logs |
| **GitHub Checks** | Build and deploy status on every commit and PR          |
| **Slack**         | Threaded notifications with success/failure reactions   |
| **Webhooks**      | JSON payloads for custom integrations                   |
| **Jobs tab**      | All background jobs with logs, retry, and cancel        |

***

## What's Next? [#whats-next]

* **[Your First Deployment](/docs/first-deployment)** - Get up and running in minutes
* **[Workflows](/docs/guides/workflows)** - Full configuration reference
* **[Notifications](/docs/guides/notifications)** - Set up Slack and webhook alerts
* **[Rollback Deployments](/docs/guides/rollback-deployments)** - Restore a previous version