Your first deploy script

Let's say you have a Laravel application running on a server at deployer@your-server.com. The app lives at /var/www/my-app. Right now you deploy by SSH'ing in, running git pull, some artisan commands, and restarting the queue. Let's automate that with Scotty.

##Start with the basics

Create a Scotty.sh file in your project root:

#!/usr/bin/env scotty

# @servers remote=deployer@your-server.com

That's enough to connect. You can already test your SSH connection:

scotty doctor

If the connection check passes, you're good to go.

##Pull the latest code

Add your first task. This is what you'd normally type after SSH'ing in:

# @task on:remote
pullCode() {
    cd /var/www/my-app
    git pull origin main
}

Run it:

scotty run pullCode

Scotty connects, runs the commands, and shows you the output. You've just replaced your first manual SSH step.

##Add the rest of your deploy

Think about what else you do after pulling code. Probably install dependencies, run migrations, clear caches, and restart workers. Each of those becomes a task:

# @task on:remote
runComposer() {
    cd /var/www/my-app
    composer install --no-interaction --prefer-dist --optimize-autoloader --no-dev
}

# @task on:remote
runMigrations() {
    cd /var/www/my-app
    php artisan migrate --force
}

# @task on:remote
clearCaches() {
    cd /var/www/my-app
    php artisan config:cache
    php artisan route:cache
    php artisan view:cache
    php artisan event:cache
}

# @task on:remote
restartWorkers() {
    cd /var/www/my-app
    php artisan horizon:terminate
}

You could run each task individually, but that's not much better than doing it by hand.

##Wire them together with a macro

A macro runs tasks in sequence. Add this near the top of your file, right after the # @servers line:

# @macro deploy pullCode runComposer runMigrations clearCaches restartWorkers

Now one command does everything:

scotty run deploy

Scotty runs each task in order. If something fails (say composer install hits an error), it stops right there so you can investigate. At the end, you get a summary table showing how long each step took.

##Clean up the repetition

Every task starts with cd /var/www/my-app. You can define a variable after the servers and macro lines to avoid repeating the path. Variables are plain bash, available in all tasks:

APP_DIR="/var/www/my-app"

# @task on:remote
pullCode() {
    cd $APP_DIR
    git pull origin main
}

##Make the branch configurable

Sometimes you want to deploy a different branch. Instead of editing the file each time, pass it from the command line:

scotty run deploy --branch=develop

Command line options are available as uppercased variables. Use a default so it works without the flag too:

BRANCH="${BRANCH:-main}"

# @task on:remote
pullCode() {
    cd $APP_DIR
    git pull origin $BRANCH
}

##Add a safety net

Before deploying to production for the first time, add a confirmation prompt:

# @task on:remote confirm="Deploy to production?"
pullCode() {
    cd $APP_DIR
    git pull origin $BRANCH
}

Only the first task needs the confirmation. Once you confirm, the rest of the macro runs normally.

##The complete script

Here's everything together:

#!/usr/bin/env scotty

# @servers remote=deployer@your-server.com
# @macro deploy pullCode runComposer runMigrations clearCaches restartWorkers

APP_DIR="/var/www/my-app"
BRANCH="${BRANCH:-main}"

# @task on:remote confirm="Deploy to production?"
pullCode() {
    cd $APP_DIR
    git pull origin $BRANCH
}

# @task on:remote
runComposer() {
    cd $APP_DIR
    composer install --no-interaction --prefer-dist --optimize-autoloader --no-dev
}

# @task on:remote
runMigrations() {
    cd $APP_DIR
    php artisan migrate --force
}

# @task on:remote
clearCaches() {
    cd $APP_DIR
    php artisan config:cache
    php artisan route:cache
    php artisan view:cache
    php artisan event:cache
}

# @task on:remote
restartWorkers() {
    cd $APP_DIR
    php artisan horizon:terminate
}

Deploy with:

scotty run deploy

Or deploy a specific branch:

scotty run deploy --branch=feature/new-checkout

That's it. You went from manually SSH'ing in and running commands to a single scotty run deploy. The script lives in your repo, so your whole team can use it.