Phase 8 · Configure the app

▶Start here

You are here: Playbook → Phase 8 · Configure the app This phase is for you if: the selected non-production environment runs but the product is still empty — brand, mail, payments, plans need wiring. Not this phase? Phase 7 = hardening · Phase 9 = growth surfaces.

Turn a deployed-but-empty install into a launch-ready product. This phase covers everything that lives outside the day-one code import: brand identity, transactional mail, payment gateways, third-party integrations, and the plan/feature flags that gate what customers can do — then seeding and verifying each flow before real users arrive.

Phase 8 — configure the live product, then prove it works

Branding and core settings come first (they feed mail templates and checkout). Seed + verify is the gate: nothing ships until every flow is proven on the selected non-production environment.

Gate

The app is configured and proven. A real test payment succeeds end-to-end, a transactional email lands in the inbox with spf/dkim/dmarc=pass, plans render at /pricing with correct prices, and every reproducible setting is captured in your project context — not just in someone’s memory.

The one rule for this phase

Most CodeCanyon SaaS templates ship with an admin panel that overrides .env. Before configuring anything in code, check the admin UI and the database — settings stored there win at runtime, and editing the wrong layer silently does nothing.

Check the admin panel first

For mail, payments, plans, and email templates, look for a built-in manager (Settings → Payment, Settings → SMTP, Settings → Plans, Settings → Email Templates). If it exists, configure there — it is faster and authoritative. Only fall back to code/seeders when no admin surface exists.

Prerequisites

• Earlier phases complete — code in git, app running locally and on the selected non-production environment, security hardened, legal pages live.
• A registered domain with DNS access (needed for mail authentication and payment webhooks).
• SSH access to the server (for performance and cache verification).
• Accounts created at any payment/email providers you intend to use.

SHOULD tasks are surfaced, not skipped

Several items in this phase are SHOULD or OPTIONAL. Never silently skip them. Batch runs default to do all SHOULD work; mark true OPTIONAL work N/A only when Zaj-PROJECT.md, the provisioning table, or the operator’s earlier run-mode choice proves it is not adopted. List every N/A item at phase end with evidence and a Zaj-BACKLOG.md row when it needs a later trigger.

Step	Priority	Notes
MUST path (mail, payment, plans, seed+verify)	MUST	The launch-blocking critical path
Brand kit	SHOULD	Do before mail templates and marketing assets
Payment gateway	SHOULD	Pick at least one; Stripe + PayPal is the common pair
Transactional mail	MUST	Delivery must work before launch
Performance pass	SHOULD	.htaccess, PHP/OpCache, CDN caching
Alerts / analytics / PM	OPTIONAL	Slack alerts, privacy analytics, issue templates
Social identity / changelog	Post-launch non-blocker	Track in Zaj-BACKLOG.md unless adopted now

Pages in this phase

Two ways to run this: Whole Phase → click the button; one Part → open the Part document and click Run this Part. Skill users can run /zaj-laravel-codecanyon phase 8 instead.

▶ Run this Phase

STEP 0 — COLD-START ORIENTATION (do this BEFORE fetching any Part document; assume you have ZERO prior context about this project): 1. Locate + identify. Run `pwd`. Read the project's `AGENTS.md` + `CLAUDE.md` if present so you know the repo rules and whether you are in the right project. Then read `Zaj-PROJECT.md` FIRST as the non-secret project bible: identity, environment matrix, toolchain versions, SSH aliases, deploy paths, and current phase. If `Zaj-PROJECT.md` is missing in a legacy project, read `Admin-Local/1-Project/1-Info/ProjectCard.md` as fallback, then create/update `Zaj-PROJECT.md`. 2. Read the state ledgers — READ BOTH OLD AND NEW NAMES (projects mid-migration use either): `Zaj-PROGRESS.md` OR `PROGRESS.md` (what earlier phases/steps already did, what's in-flight), `Zaj-BACKLOG.md` OR `BACKLOG.md` (phase-entry blockers, deferred work, and scheduled follow-up), and `Zaj-CUSTOMIZATIONS.md` OR `_CUSTOMIZATIONS.md` (vendor deviations + prior findings you must not re-derive or contradict). 3. Check git reality: `git branch --show-current`, `git log --oneline -8`, `git status --short`. - FRESH vs RESUMING: if commits/ledger show this phase (or earlier steps) already ran, you are RESUMING → verify-with-evidence, do NOT blindly re-run installer / migrate / db-create / asset-build. (This is the contract's reconcile rule.) - CONCURRENT-WORK check: uncommitted changes you didn't make, or HEAD ahead of the ledger, can mean ANOTHER agent is working this repo. Coordinate around hot files; do not commit over unrelated work. Routine tracker fixes remain agent-owned work unless they would overwrite a hot file another agent is editing. 4. Inherit rules + safety: skim `.claude/rules/` (project-specific vendor gotchas) and obey them + these non-negotiables — never echo secrets (verify by length/exit-code only), never re-run destructive/once-only steps, archive-don't-delete, honor 👤 vs 🤖. 5. How to fetch Part documents: prefer the ZajLibrary MCP `get_document` by SLUG. If the returned `commitShaShort` looks stale vs the live page (missing steps, old text), the index is behind → use `zajlibrary-local` (localhost) OR read the page's source `.mdx` directly from the ZajLibrary repo. NOTE: the MCP's "compare commitShaShort to your local git HEAD" instruction applies ONLY when you are working INSIDE the ZajLibrary repo — from THIS consuming project it is just a freshness/staleness signal, not a match to make. 6. Where to record: write current-truth facts to `Zaj-PROJECT.md`; write vendor deviations to `Zaj-CUSTOMIZATIONS.md`; write execution state to `Zaj-PROGRESS.md`; write blockers/deferred work to `Zaj-BACKLOG.md`. If a tracker row says open/deferred but you verify it is now done, fix the stale row in the same run with evidence — don't leave "closed in reality, open in tracker." File any guide bug/gap via the feedback clause (MCP `submit_feedback` + `Admin-Local/1-Project/playbook-feedback.md`) — log-then-continue, don't silently work around. Only after Step 0 is complete, begin fetching Part 1. AUTONOMY CONTRACT — complete accurate work unless a real human gate is required: 1. Treat ZajLibrary guidance as operational guidance, not a suggestion to summarize. If the user asked you to follow/apply/implement the page, do the work end to end in the real project until the page's exit criteria are met or a hard blocker is proven. 2. Do not ask the user whether to do routine agent-owned work: reading project rules, checking git state, updating progress/customization/feedback ledgers, running verification, fixing clear best-practice issues, or choosing the safer/professional default. Do it, cite evidence, and report what changed. 3. Ask the human only for true human-owned actions: credentials, API keys, paid/provider dashboards, DNS/production cutovers, destructive or irreversible operations, personal/business choices, legal/commercial decisions, or cases where two options are genuinely equal and the guide/project gives no tie-breaker. 4. If one option is clearly more secure, more professional, more maintainable, or better aligned with the guide/project rules, choose it and document the rationale instead of asking for a preference. 5. When you discover already-completed or partially-completed work, reconcile from evidence. Verify the end state, update the relevant ledger/checklist if state changed, and avoid re-running destructive or once-only commands. 6. Banned routine asks: "should I update trackers?", "should I commit?", "should I run verification?", "should I fix the stale ledger?", or "which option do you prefer?" when the guide/project makes one option clearly better. 7. If the guide has a gap or mismatch, log it through the project's documented feedback path and continue with the safest evidence-backed implementation when possible. Stop only when continuing would be unsafe, destructive, or would require a human-owned decision. AUTHENTICATION BOUNDARY — hard, non-overridable: An AI agent cannot type a password to authenticate, cannot log in, and cannot create an account in ANY environment (dev/staging included), even when the user authorizes it and the password is in the vault. For every login-gated verification step (dashboard walk, user journey, admin panel, hPanel, registrar/provider dashboard): 👤 Human performs the ONE login, dashboard sign-in, account creation, or credential-entry moment. 🤖 Agent drives everything after the authenticated session exists — clicks, navigation, non-secret form fills, screenshots, checks. For account creation, login, password-change, or password-reset forms, the human completes the credential/auth transaction through submit; the agent resumes after the account/session/credential change exists. Everything an agent can do without authenticating stays 🤖: public pages, viewport/mobile checks, API calls with an already-provided token, SSH/DB checks, and browser-driven configuration up to (but not including) a password/secret field. Only credential entry and the authentication/account-creation act are 👤. Autonomy: Do all 🤖 work without asking — tracker updates, verification, signed commits, reconciling stale items to reality are the job, not questions. Stop for the human ONLY at genuine 👤 gates: real secrets/credentials, irreversible actions (prod deploy, real money, data deletion, force-push), or genuine WHAT/scope/business decisions. Full ≠ optional: Autonomy does not mean minimal. Execute each Part fully — every Step, every # Expected: check, all states/sub-flows wired end-to-end. Never ship a happy-path subset as "done." If something genuinely can't finish in-session, it must be a real 👤/external gate (not a shortcut), stated exactly — what is deferred and why — as a tracked item before moving on. When the user says "do fully," honor it to completion. EXECUTION CONTRACT — full coverage, no silent skips: 1. Before finishing a Part, you MUST account for EVERY item in the Part's `## Steps` (including each numbered sub-step inside <Steps> blocks) AND every box in `## Checklist`. Nothing is implicitly done. 2. Scope labels are not skip permission. `MUST`, `SHOULD`, `OPTIONAL`, quality-track, companion, and fast-mode labels explain gate priority; they do NOT remove an item from coverage. Default to FULL execution. Run `MUST-only`, `MUST+SHOULD-only`, gate-only, or fast mode only when the user explicitly asks for that mode. Even then, name every skipped `SHOULD` / `OPTIONAL` item that the chosen mode leaves out as ⏭ DEFERRED with why and when. 3. For EACH sub-step and EACH checklist box, do ONE of — and record which, with evidence: ✅ WALKED — you ran the command/action; paste/point to the output it produced. 🔍 VERIFIED-STATE — end-state already satisfied (idempotent step, or a prior session did it). Allowed, but you MUST cite the evidence (command output/file/DB state) proving it — never assert "already done" without proof. ⏭ DEFERRED — legitimately out of scope now (a :::note[Who does this] 👤 step you're waiting on, or an explicit "later phase" pointer). State why + to when. ◐ PARTIAL — some sub-parts done, some deferred; list exactly which and why. 4. Honor every `# Expected:` / ✅ bullet — compare actual output. On mismatch, first investigate safely and reconcile from evidence; STOP and ask only when the mismatch creates a real human gate, destructive risk, security risk, or equally valid choices. Honor :::caution/:::danger as hard gates. Honor 👤 vs 🤖. 5. Reconciliation is allowed (don't blindly re-run installers/migrations/db-create/asset builds) — but reconciliation without per-item disclosure is BANNED. 6. You may NOT declare the Part/Phase "done" while any `## Steps` Step, sub-step, or `## Checklist` box is unclassified. Silent omission = incomplete. 7. Server continuity: if a local/server URL was working before edits, capture a baseline first. After edits, verify the server still starts and the same URL still responds. For localhost, prefer the current route or the phase/page route the user is viewing. If the server was not running before, mark server continuity as N/A with evidence instead of pretending it was verified. 8. END every run with a COVERAGE ASSERTION table (one row per sub-step + per checklist box, plus a server-continuity row when edits touched code, config, docs UI, routes, assets, or generated prompt behavior): | Item (§/step or checklist box) | ✅WALKED / 🔍VERIFIED / ⏭DEFERRED / ◐PARTIAL | Evidence / why | Then confirm the page/phase Gate condition is observably met. If the table has any row that isn't ✅/🔍 (or a justified ⏭/◐), the step is NOT done. 9. Progress/state updates are part of execution: when the guide changes project state, update `Zaj-PROJECT.md`, `Zaj-PROGRESS.md`, `Zaj-BACKLOG.md`, `Zaj-CUSTOMIZATIONS.md`, and/or `playbook-feedback.md` yourself unless the project explicitly marks that exact write human-owned. Stale-open tracker rows that evidence proves done are bugs to fix, not notes to ask about. 10. Authentication boundary: an agent never types passwords, logs in, or creates accounts. Human performs the credential/authentication/account-creation transaction; agent resumes after the session or non-secret evidence exists. 11. Secrets: never put keys/passwords/.env values in code, commits, or chat; verify by length/exit-code only.

1 · MUST path The launch-blocking spine: brand & settings, mail, payment gateway, webhook verification, plans & flags, seed + verify every flow.

2 · Brand kit Name, logo set, WCAG-checked palette, bilingual typography, committed reference files, design tools, marketing assets.

3 · Payments & billing Gateway decision matrix (Stripe built-in vs from-scratch, PayPal, Tap for MENA, LemonSqueezy MoR), plans, webhooks, tax, dunning, lifecycle.

4 · Email Confirm + test delivery, provider deliverability matrix, the six core templates, optional drip campaigns and newsletter.

5 · Performance Lighthouse baseline, .htaccess caching + gzip, PHP/OpCache, Redis, Cloudflare, quick wins — realistic targets.

6 · Integrations Slack notifications, GitHub project management (labels/forms/board/PR template), Rybbit privacy analytics.

7 · Post-launch Claim social handles early; wire the dual (internal + public) changelog so every release ships an announcement.

Start with the MUST path.