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 v1.68.1 Deployment Updates (Protocol 118)

RPC Migration (CRITICAL):

• JSON-RPC is deprecated — will be removed April 2026. Quorum Driver for transaction submission is fully disabled.
• gRPC is the primary API — use gRPC endpoints for deployment verification and monitoring. Transaction submission now exclusively via Transaction Driver.
• 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:

Network	Endpoint
Mainnet	grpc.mainnet.sui.io:443
Testnet	grpc.testnet.sui.io:443
Devnet	grpc.devnet.sui.io:443

CLI changes (v1.64-v1.68):

• 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.
• sui move build --dump: Now correctly outputs with 0 address (v1.67.3+).
• Protocol Version 117 is current on testnet, 115 on mainnet.

# 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.