AM

Automating Configuration for Production Services

Moved deploy configuration out of the service binary into a runtime datastore with safe, auditable updates.

Company: Credit Karma

platformdevopsreliability
Summary
Decoupled configuration from deploy code to enable safe, runtime updates with validation and auditability—no redeploys for simple changes.

Operational configs shouldn’t require a redeploy. I split deploy configuration from the service code so teams can update project entries safely at runtime—while keeping validations and guardrails in place.

Highlights

  • Externalized configuration into a key‑value datastore with a local cache and live watchers
  • CI job that diffs config changes, validates them, and opens auditable change requests
  • Runtime loading with automatic cache refresh for near‑instant propagation
Rendering diagram…
Decoupled deploy config with validation and runtime propagation

Why clients care

This removes deployment toil for simple config changes, reduces risk of drift across environments, and improves control over which projects are visible in test vs. production.

Result

Safer operations, faster iteration, and fewer unnecessary deploys.