> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.mutagent.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Ship

> After the loop: ship an agent that passed its checks, then watch it after it deploys. Only you start it.

<Note>After the loop (not a sixth stage of the agentic development lifecycle) · run with `/ship`.</Note>

## What goes in, what you type, what comes out

| | |
| - | - |
| **Goes in** | An agent that passed its checks in [Evaluate](/helix/lifecycle/evaluate), with its changes on a branch in your repository. |
| **You type** | `/ship contract-reviewer`, or *"Ship the contract-reviewer agent."* |
| **Comes out** | A pull request with a changelog, merged after you confirm, CI run on it, and a watch on the agent's traces after it deploys. If the traces get worse than before the release, Ship tells you and recommends a rollback, with the trace evidence. |

**Ship** takes an agent from "passes its checks" to "running for your users". It opens the pull
request, writes the changelog, and asks you before it merges. After the merge it follows CI, and
once the agent is deployed it compares the agent's new traces with the ones from before the
release.

* **Only you can start it.** Ship never runs on its own and is never started by another step.
* **It asks before merging.** Nothing is merged without your confirmation.
* **It recommends, it never rolls back.** When the watch finds a regression, you get the evidence
  and a recommendation. Rolling back stays your decision.
* **The watch ends.** It runs for 5 minutes after the deploy by default, then stops. Set the length
  with `--watch <minutes>` (at most 30), or skip it with `--no-watch`.

## Before you start

* The latest [Evaluate](/helix/lifecycle/evaluate) verdict is `pass` (no failed critical or
  high-severity criterion), and it was run on the commit you are shipping. Otherwise `/ship` refuses;
  there is no override.
* The changes are on a branch pushed to your GitHub repository.
* The GitHub CLI is installed and signed in: `gh auth status` exits 0. Ship opens the pull request and
  follows CI with `gh`.
* CI runs on pull requests. CI must be green before Ship asks to merge.
* A trace source is configured for the agent (see
  [Supported integrations](/get-started/supported-integrations#trace-sources)), so the watch can
  compare traces.

## If it fails

| Problem | What Ship does | Fix |
| - | - | - |
| No `pass` verdict for this commit | Refuses to start. | Run `/evaluate` on the current commit, fix any failures, then `/ship` again. |
| `gh` not signed in, or GitHub unreachable | Stops and tells you; it never treats CI it cannot see as green. | Run `gh auth login`, then `/ship` again. |
| No GitHub remote for the branch | Cannot open the pull request. | Push the branch to GitHub, then `/ship` again. |
| Trace source unreachable during the watch | Stops and tells you; it never reports a clean watch on missing data. | Fix the trace source (see [Supported integrations](/get-started/supported-integrations#trace-sources)). |


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