SUI Deployer

Staged deployment orchestration for SUI Move packages.

Overview

This skill provides comprehensive deployment management:

• •Multi-stage deployment (devnet → testnet → mainnet)
• •Contract verification
• •Upgrade management
• •Post-deployment monitoring

Quick Start

# Deploy to devnet
sui-deployer deploy --network devnet

# Deploy to testnet with verification
sui-deployer deploy --network testnet --verify

# Deploy to mainnet (requires confirmation)
sui-deployer deploy --network mainnet

SUI v1.65 Deployment Updates (Protocol 110)

RPC Migration (CRITICAL):

• •JSON-RPC is deprecated — will be removed April 2026
• •gRPC is now GA — use gRPC endpoints for deployment verification and monitoring
• •If using custom RPC endpoints, ensure they expose gRPC (port 8443 TLS / 8080 plaintext)
• •sui client CLI already uses gRPC internally — no changes needed for CLI workflows

gRPC Endpoints:

CLI changes (v1.64-v1.65):

• •publish/upgrade flag fix: Fixed sui client publish | upgrade handling of flags like --dry-run. Use flags correctly now.
• •--no-tree-shaking flag: New flag for --dump-bytecode-as-base64. Keeps all dependencies in the JSON output regardless of usage. By default, unused dependencies are removed on publication/upgrade.
• •Compatibility verification: Now enabled by default (was opt-in). Your deployments will automatically verify compatibility.
• •Protocol Version 110 is current on testnet.

# Publish with dry-run (now works correctly)
sui client publish --dry-run --gas-budget 100000000

# Preserve all dependencies in bytecode dump
sui client publish --dump-bytecode-as-base64 --no-tree-shaking

Deployment Stages

Stage 1: Devnet Deployment

• •Quick deployment for testing
• •No verification required
• •Automated deployment

Stage 2: Testnet Deployment

• •Public testing
• •Optional verification
• •Bug bounty preparation

Stage 3: Mainnet Deployment

• •Security audit required
• •Multi-sig control
• •Gradual rollout

Core Features

1. Package Publishing

# Build and publish
sui client publish --gas-budget 100000000

2. Upgrade Management

# Create upgrade capability
# Publish new version
# Execute upgrade

3. Verification

Verifies:

• •Source code matches on-chain bytecode
• •All tests passing
• •Security audit completed (mainnet)

Configuration

.sui-deployer.json:

{
  "networks": {
    "devnet": { "auto_deploy": true },
    "testnet": { "require_tests": true },
    "mainnet": { "require_audit": true, "require_multisig": true }
  }
}

Common Mistakes

❌ Deploying to mainnet without testnet verification

• •Problem: Critical bugs discovered in production, funds at risk
• •Fix: Always deploy and test on testnet for 48+ hours before mainnet

❌ Not saving deployment artifacts

• •Problem: Cannot verify on-chain code, lost package IDs
• •Fix: Save published package ID, upgrade cap ID, and deployment receipt

❌ Forgetting to transfer UpgradeCap

• •Problem: Upgrade capability stuck in deployer address, cannot upgrade
• •Fix: Transfer UpgradeCap to multisig or admin address immediately

❌ No rollback plan

• •Problem: Bad deployment breaks production, no recovery path
• •Fix: Keep previous package ID, implement emergency pause mechanism

❌ Deploying with insufficient gas

• •Problem: Transaction fails halfway, wasted gas, incomplete deployment
• •Fix: Estimate gas with --dry-run, add 20% buffer

❌ Not updating frontend package IDs

• •Problem: Frontend calls old package, transactions fail
• •Fix: Automate package ID updates in .env files post-deployment

❌ Skipping post-deployment smoke tests

• •Problem: Deployment succeeds but contract is broken
• •Fix: Run automated smoke tests (create listing, purchase, etc.) after deploy

See reference.md for complete deployment process and examples.md for deployment scripts.