From Prototype to Production: The LLM Gateway Launch Checklist

The first LLM feature often starts as one file and one provider key. That is fine. The path to production requires more structure. Before the feature handles real users, the team needs to answer questions about keys, routing, cost, fallbacks, observability, and failure behavior.

1. Put a stable API in front of providers

Use one gateway contract for application code. Keep provider-specific request mapping inside adapters. The application should not need to know every upstream model ID, streaming event name, or provider error shape.

2. Separate environments and keys

Development, staging, and production should not share casual secrets. Use dedicated API keys, clear org boundaries, and BYOK storage where customers bring provider credentials. Rotate keys without changing application code when possible.

3. Define routing policy before launch

Decide whether the workload uses an explicit model or a meta-route. Document allowed providers, blocked providers, fallback behavior, and cost limits. If the route can fall back, confirm the fallback candidates are capability-compatible.

4. Record request details

Every production request should create enough data to debug it later: model, provider, status, latency, time to first byte, input tokens, output tokens, cost, error code, source key, and timestamp.

5. Keep deployment scoped

The deploy process should rebuild and restart only the services it owns. If one instance hosts multiple projects, use a dedicated compose project name, loopback ports, and a repeatable deploy script so updates do not become risky manual work.