The hardest part of working with an agency is not the build. It is what happens after the build. You launch, the team celebrates, invoices get paid — and then something breaks at 2 AM and nobody responds.

At CODERCOPS, post-launch support is not an afterthought. It is a structured 90-day process that we run for every project. This post documents exactly what happens in those 90 days, because we believe clients should know what they are paying for before they sign.

Post-deployment monitoring The first 90 days after launch determine whether a product thrives or decays

Why 90 Days

We chose 90 days because our data shows that most production issues surface within three distinct windows:

Window Timeline What Breaks
Immediate Days 1-7 Deployment issues, environment misconfigs, DNS propagation, SSL certificates, third-party API keys
Early usage Days 8-30 Edge cases from real users, performance under actual load, mobile device quirks, browser compatibility
Steady state Days 31-90 Scaling issues, data growth problems, API rate limits, cost overruns, feature gaps discovered through usage

Bugs found on day 60 are fundamentally different from bugs found on day 2. The 90-day window catches all three categories.

The Playbook: Day by Day

Days 1-3: Hypercare

The first 72 hours after launch are what we call "hypercare." The development team is on high alert.

What we monitor:

Metric Tool Alert Threshold
Uptime Vercel / UptimeRobot Any downtime
Response time Vercel Analytics > 3 seconds
Error rate Application logs > 1% of requests
Core Web Vitals Google Search Console LCP > 2.5s, CLS > 0.1
API costs (AI features) Provider dashboards > 150% of projected daily spend
Form submissions Airtable / email alerts Zero submissions (indicates a problem)

Response times during hypercare:

Severity Description Response Time
Critical Site down, data loss, security breach 1 hour
High Core feature broken, payment failure 4 hours
Medium Non-critical bug, UI issue 24 hours
Low Minor cosmetic issue, copy change 48 hours

During hypercare, the lead developer who built the project is personally available via Slack and WhatsApp. No ticket system, no queue — direct communication.

Days 4-7: Stabilization

By day 4, the immediate fires are handled. We shift to stabilization:

Daily checklist:

  • Review error logs for new patterns
  • Check analytics for unusual traffic patterns
  • Verify all third-party integrations are functioning (payment, email, APIs)
  • Monitor AI API costs against projections
  • Review user feedback channels for reported issues
  • Confirm automated backups are running

Common issues in this window:

  1. Email deliverability. Contact forms work in testing but emails land in spam for certain providers. Fix: verify SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records; warm up the sending domain.

  2. Mobile-specific bugs. The site works perfectly in Chrome DevTools mobile emulation but breaks on actual iOS Safari. Fix: test on real devices; we maintain a device lab with iPhone, Android, and iPad.

  3. Third-party API rate limits. Development API keys often have lower rate limits than production keys. Fix: upgrade API plans and configure rate limiting in the application.

Days 8-14: First Real Data

Two weeks of real traffic produces actual usage data. This is when we do the first performance review.

Week 2 review meeting agenda:

  1. Traffic analysis. How many users? Where are they coming from? Which pages get the most traffic?
  2. Conversion funnel. For sites with forms or CTAs, what is the conversion rate? Where do users drop off?
  3. Performance metrics. Real-user Core Web Vitals vs. lab data. Mobile vs. desktop performance.
  4. Error patterns. Any recurring errors? Any user-reported issues?
  5. AI feature performance (if applicable). Response quality, latency, cost per interaction.
  6. Action items. Prioritized list of fixes and optimizations.

This meeting produces a written report that we share with the client. Here is a simplified example:

Week 2 Performance Report — [Project Name]
==========================================

Traffic: 2,847 unique visitors (1,923 mobile, 924 desktop)
Top pages: / (100%), /services (34%), /contact (18%)
Conversion rate: 4.2% (contact form submissions / visitors)
Avg response time: 1.8s (desktop), 2.4s (mobile)
Error rate: 0.3% (8 errors / 2,847 visitors)
AI API cost: $47.30 (projected: $40-60/month)

Issues found:
1. [HIGH] Contact form timeout on slow connections — fix deployed
2. [MEDIUM] Image lazy loading not working on Safari 17 — fix in progress
3. [LOW] Footer alignment off on iPad landscape — scheduled

Recommendations:
1. Add structured data for FAQ section (SEO improvement)
2. Consider adding WhatsApp as alternative contact method
3. Optimize hero image — currently 340KB, can reduce to 120KB

Days 15-30: Optimization

With two weeks of data, we optimize:

Performance optimization:

  • Image compression and format conversion (WebP, AVIF)
  • JavaScript bundle analysis and code splitting
  • Font subsetting and loading optimization
  • Cache header configuration
  • CDN configuration review

SEO baseline:

  • Verify Google Search Console indexing
  • Check for crawl errors
  • Review meta descriptions and title tags against actual search queries
  • Submit sitemap if not already indexed
  • Verify Open Graph tags render correctly on social platforms

AI feature optimization (if applicable):

  • Analyze prompt performance with real user queries
  • Identify common failure patterns and add handling
  • Optimize token usage (prompt compression, caching)
  • Review and adjust fallback behaviors
  • Update knowledge base with new information

Days 31-60: Monitoring Mode

After the first month, we shift to monitoring mode. The daily checks become weekly:

Weekly monitoring checklist:

  • Review uptime report (target: 99.9%)
  • Check error rate trends (should be decreasing)
  • Review analytics for traffic trends
  • Monitor API costs against budget
  • Check for security advisories on dependencies
  • Review and respond to any support requests

Monthly tasks:

  • Dependency security audit (npm audit or equivalent)
  • SSL certificate expiration check
  • Backup verification (restore test)
  • Performance regression check (Lighthouse)
  • Cost review (hosting, APIs, third-party services)

During this phase, we handle:

  • Bug fixes for issues discovered through real usage
  • Minor adjustments based on client feedback
  • Performance optimizations based on accumulated data
  • Security patches for dependencies

What we do NOT handle during post-launch support (these are separate engagements):

  • New feature development
  • Major design changes
  • Migration to different infrastructure
  • Additional integrations not in the original scope

Days 61-90: Handoff Preparation

The final month is about ensuring the client can maintain the product independently — or with minimal ongoing support.

Documentation deliverables:

Document Contents
Architecture overview System diagram, tech stack decisions, data flow
Deployment guide Step-by-step deployment process, environment variables, rollback procedure
Content management guide How to add/edit blog posts, update pages, manage media
Monitoring guide What to monitor, where to check, alert configuration
Troubleshooting guide Common issues and their solutions
API documentation Endpoints, authentication, rate limits, error codes
Vendor accounts List of all third-party services, credentials (in password manager), billing contacts

Knowledge transfer sessions:

We schedule 2-3 video calls dedicated to knowledge transfer:

  1. Technical walkthrough (60 min). Architecture, codebase structure, key files, how to make common changes.
  2. Operations walkthrough (45 min). Deployment, monitoring, backup, incident response.
  3. Content walkthrough (30 min). How to manage content, update pages, add blog posts.

These sessions are recorded and shared with the client.

Day 90: The Handoff Meeting

The final meeting covers:

  1. 90-day report. Complete performance summary with trends.
  2. Open issues. Any remaining items and their priority.
  3. Recommendations. Suggested improvements for the next quarter.
  4. Support options. What ongoing support looks like if the client wants it.
  5. Access verification. Confirm the client has access to everything: source code, hosting, domains, APIs, analytics.

After this meeting, the client owns everything. Full IP transfer, full access, full control.

What "30 Days Post-Launch Support" Actually Means

Several of our service tiers include "30 days post-launch support." Here is exactly what that covers:

Included Not Included
Bug fixes for issues in the original scope New features
Performance optimization Major redesigns
Security patches Additional pages or sections
Configuration adjustments Third-party integration changes
Monitoring and alerting setup Ongoing content creation
One performance review meeting Weekly strategy calls
Documentation delivery Training for new team members

The 30-day support is the "hypercare + stabilization + first optimization" phase. For clients who want the full 90-day playbook, we offer extended support as an add-on.

Extended Support Pricing

Plan Coverage Monthly Cost
Basic Bug fixes, security patches, monthly check-in $200-400
Standard Basic + performance monitoring, bi-weekly check-in, priority response $400-800
Premium Standard + feature updates (up to 10 hours/month), weekly check-in, same-day response $800-1,500

Most clients start with Standard for months 2-3, then move to Basic or no support once the product is stable.

Real Examples from Our Projects

The Venting Spot (Healthcare)

Post-launch, we discovered that the AI emotion matching feature had higher latency during peak Indian evening hours (8-11 PM IST). The cause was not our code — it was OpenAI API congestion during US business hours (which overlaps with Indian evening). Our fix: implement response caching for common emotional patterns and add a loading state that shows an empathetic message while the AI processes.

Colleatz (Food Delivery)

The real-time order tracking WebSocket connections worked perfectly in testing with 50 concurrent users. At 500 concurrent users on launch day, the connection pool exhausted. We scaled the WebSocket server, implemented connection pooling, and added a polling fallback for when WebSocket connections failed.

QueryLytic (Database Analytics)

The NLP-to-SQL feature produced correct queries 94% of the time in testing. With real user queries (including typos, ambiguous column references, and queries mixing natural language with SQL syntax), accuracy dropped to 78%. We spent the first two weeks post-launch adding query validation, user feedback mechanisms, and prompt improvements that brought accuracy back to 91%.

The Anti-Pattern: What Bad Post-Launch Looks Like

We have inherited projects from other agencies where post-launch was handled poorly. Common patterns:

  1. The Ghost. Agency delivers the project, sends the final invoice, and stops responding. Client discovers a bug, emails go unanswered, Slack goes silent.

  2. The Nickle-and-Dimer. Every post-launch fix requires a new quote. A 5-minute CSS fix comes with a $200 invoice and a 3-day turnaround.

  3. The Hostage. Agency controls the hosting, domain, and deployment pipeline. Client cannot make changes or switch providers without the agency's cooperation.

  4. The Black Box. No documentation, no knowledge transfer. The client has source code but no understanding of how it works. They are dependent on the original agency for any changes.

Our post-launch process is specifically designed to avoid all four patterns. At the end of 90 days, the client has everything they need to maintain the product independently.

Checklist for Clients

Before your project launches, confirm these with your development team:

Pre-launch:

  • Do you have access to the source code repository?
  • Do you have credentials for all third-party services?
  • Is there a staging environment for testing changes?
  • Is the deployment process documented?
  • Are automated backups configured?

Post-launch (Week 1):

  • Is monitoring configured and alerting to the right people?
  • Has the team verified the site works on real mobile devices?
  • Are all forms and integrations tested with real data?
  • Is there a clear communication channel for reporting issues?

Post-launch (Month 1):

  • Have you received a performance report?
  • Are there any open issues, and are they prioritized?
  • Is the documentation complete and accessible?

Handoff (Month 3):

  • Do you have full access to everything (code, hosting, domains, analytics)?
  • Has knowledge transfer been completed?
  • Do you have a maintenance plan (internal or outsourced)?
  • Are there documented recommendations for future improvements?

If your current agency cannot check every box, that is a conversation worth having before launch — not after.

Launching a product and want post-launch support that actually works? Our projects include 30 days of post-launch support, with extended plans available. Start a conversation.

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