Deployment Availability

# Control Exactly When Deploys  
Can — And Cannot — Happen

Block deployments per project or across your entire account during incidents, change freezes, and planned maintenance. No surprise deploys when the stakes are highest.

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Per-project and account-wide rules

Audit log of every block

Enforced across UI, API, and CLI

Last updated on 22nd June 2026

Availability Rules

Friday Change Freeze

Active · Project

Black Friday Window

Active · Account

On-call hours (Mon–Fri 18:00–08:00)

Scheduled

Deploy to production

Blocked

Deployment Availability lets you define windows when deployments are blocked — at the project level for individual teams, or account-wide for company-spanning rules. Every attempt to deploy during a block is rejected and logged, so change freezes, incident response, and compliance windows are enforced automatically across the UI, API, and CLI.

## The Problem with Honor-System Deploy Freezes

Slack announcements and calendar invites don't stop someone from pushing during a freeze, an incident, or a peak-traffic event.

CHANGE FREEZESlack: "no deploys today"Calendar: Black FridayNo technical enforcement⚠ Someone pushesPRODUCTION❌ Surprise deploy❌ Outage at peak❌ Failed auditPolicy without enforcement is a liability, not a safeguard

Freezes communicated only in chat or calendars get bypassed at the worst possible moments — exactly when an unexpected deploy can cause the most damage.

## Deployment Availability — Enforced at the Platform Layer

Define rules in DeployHQ and every deploy attempt is checked against them — from any interface, by any team member.

DEPLOY ATTEMPTSWeb UIAPICLIAuto-deploy webhookAVAILABILITY RULESProject: Friday freezeAccount: Black FridayAccount: On-call hours⚡ Enforced + loggedOUTCOME✓ Deploy blocked✓ Reason shown✓ Audit trail✓ Compliance pass

## How It Works

Two scopes, one consistent enforcement model.

1

 ![Text icon](/assets/icons/text-4e556c28179c8aa2c87cbad966a3805f4b07a7d82b1a71b129247d19c3c6d5e0.svg)

### Define the Window

Pick a start and end time, recurrence, and a reason. Rules can be one-off, weekly, or open-ended for incident response.

2

 ![Server icon](/assets/icons/server-3dea9382c13b5eb86283b34dac5391d37d7daab491d2ab3b3f48fb6c03df33de.svg)

### Choose the Scope

Apply per project for team-specific freezes, or account-wide so compliance and ops can lock the whole estate.

3

 ![Shield icon](/assets/icons/shield-check-a41a13fb7948321ec9c27cc6c623578153c9caa1fc75851bcd93afbe7dbe79f1.svg)

### Enforce Automatically

Every deploy attempt — from UI, API, CLI, or auto-deploy webhook — is checked against the rules and rejected if blocked.

4

 ![Check icon](/assets/icons/check-a44bf1dbe680e7b7d11c6ba4f27febd17fde07a1f0bab9f93608e0e1d9acee9b.svg)

### Audit and Review

Every blocked attempt is logged with the rule that triggered it, who tried, when, and why — ready for audit and post-incident review.

## Why Use Deployment Availability?

Stop relying on chat announcements and good intentions to keep production stable during the riskiest windows.

 ![Shield icon](/assets/icons/shield-check-a41a13fb7948321ec9c27cc6c623578153c9caa1fc75851bcd93afbe7dbe79f1.svg)

### Compliance Without Friction

Encode change-management windows as rules instead of policies. SOC 2, ISO 27001, and PCI auditors get a clean log of every deploy attempt and every block.

 ![Server icon](/assets/icons/server-3dea9382c13b5eb86283b34dac5391d37d7daab491d2ab3b3f48fb6c03df33de.svg)

### Two Scopes, One Model

Project owners can freeze their own service. Account admins can freeze everything at once. Both run through the same enforcement layer.

 ![Check icon](/assets/icons/check-a44bf1dbe680e7b7d11c6ba4f27febd17fde07a1f0bab9f93608e0e1d9acee9b.svg)

### No Bypass Surface

The same rules apply to deploys triggered by the API, the CLI, scheduled jobs, and Git webhooks. There's no back door to forget.

 ![Zap icon](/assets/icons/zap-17eaa1be55c76d539c8ab6b4c667d86fc6478529af6fc62d282cf996beda3fe0.svg)

### Pairs with Scheduled Deploys

Combine with Scheduled Deployments to queue work for the next open window. Engineers don't have to babysit the clock.

Getting Started

## Set up availability rules in minutes

 ![Check mark](/assets/icons/tick-01ba7f4740d492a18fbdf4424bf7446c87ddfccbc0157214ad536b11512e914d.svg)

### Open Availability Settings

Account-wide rules live under Account Settings → Availability. Project-scoped rules sit under each project's Settings tab.

 ![Check mark](/assets/icons/tick-01ba7f4740d492a18fbdf4424bf7446c87ddfccbc0157214ad536b11512e914d.svg)

### Add a Rule

Set a window, recurrence, and reason. Rules apply immediately — no redeploy needed.

 ![Check mark](/assets/icons/tick-01ba7f4740d492a18fbdf4424bf7446c87ddfccbc0157214ad536b11512e914d.svg)

### Review the Audit Log

Every block is recorded. Filter by rule, project, or person for incident reviews and compliance reports.

[Read the documentation →](https://www.deployhq.com/support/managing-your-account/account-configuration/deployment-availability)

AVAILABILITY RULEScope:Account-wide · all projectsWindow:Nov 28 00:00 → Dec 02 23:59 UTCReason:Black Friday — peak trafficStatus:Active

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How is this different from Deployment Checks?

[Deployment Checks](/features/deployment-checks) validate a single deploy — running SSH commands, HTTP probes, or vulnerability scans before or after the deploy runs. Availability rules sit one layer earlier: they decide whether the deploy is even allowed to start, based on time-based and scope-based policy.

### Can I override a block in an emergency?

Account admins can disable or edit any rule. Every override is logged with the user, timestamp, and reason — so emergency deploys are still fully traceable for post-incident review and audit.

### Does the block apply to API and CLI deploys too?

Yes. Availability rules are enforced at the deployment service level, so every entry point — web UI, REST API, CLI, scheduled deploys, and Git webhooks — is subject to the same check. There's no bypass surface.

### Can finance or compliance staff set account-wide rules without project access?

Yes. Account-wide availability is a separate permission. You can grant compliance or operations staff the ability to manage account rules without giving them deploy or project permissions.

### Does this work with Scheduled Deployments?

It pairs naturally. Queue a deploy with [Scheduled Deployments](/features/scheduled-deployments), and Availability rules will reject the execution if it falls inside a blocked window — letting you batch deploys safely for the next open window.

## Stop surprise deploys before they happen

Encode change freezes and peak-traffic windows as enforced rules — not chat messages.

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Discover all the tools that make DeployHQ the easiest way to deploy your code.

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