From 91a7f65fdd096db1b92a9213ca5e9c6e70f4e025 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: edehvalentine236-jpg <edehvalentine236@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Oct 2026 02:56:02 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] docs: document deployment JSON schema and recovery

---
 docs/deployment-guide.md | 95 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 95 insertions(+)

diff --git a/docs/deployment-guide.md b/docs/deployment-guide.md
index e7c1069..8bca2e4 100644
--- a/docs/deployment-guide.md
+++ b/docs/deployment-guide.md
@@ -68,3 +68,98 @@ After initialization, verify the deployment:
 - **Insufficient Funds**: The deployment account must have enough XLM to cover transaction fees and minimum balance requirements.
 - **Missing WASM Error**: Ensure you have successfully run `cargo build --release --target wasm32-unknown-unknown`.
 - **Initialization Fails**: Ensure `deploy.sh` completed successfully and the `deployments-<network>.json` file is correctly formatted.
+ 
+## Deployment JSON Format
+
+Each deployment writes a deployments-<network>.json file at the repository root. The
+file is a map of contract names to deployment records.
+
+A record has this shape:
+
+~~~json
+{
+  "learn-token": {
+    "contract_id": "C...",
+    "wasm_hash": "hex-encoded hash",
+    "network": "testnet",
+    "deployed_at": "2026-10-22T12:00:00Z"
+  }
+}
+~~~
+
+### Fields
+
+- contract_id: the Stellar contract address beginning with C.
+- wasm_hash: the hash of the WASM artifact used for the deployment.
+- network: the target network name, such as testnet or mainnet.
+- deployed_at: the UTC timestamp recorded after deployment.
+- The contract name is the JSON property name and must match the name used by
+  the deployment and initialization scripts.
+
+The exact set of contract names can grow as new protocol modules are added, but
+each record should retain the same fields so scripts can resolve addresses and
+verify artifacts consistently.
+
+## Upgrade History
+
+When a contract is upgraded, preserve the current record and append an upgrades
+array:
+
+~~~json
+{
+  "progress-tracker": {
+    "contract_id": "C...",
+    "wasm_hash": "new-hash",
+    "network": "testnet",
+    "deployed_at": "2026-10-22T12:00:00Z",
+    "upgrades": [
+      {
+        "wasm_hash": "previous-hash",
+        "upgraded_at": "2026-10-01T12:00:00Z"
+      }
+    ]
+  }
+}
+~~~
+
+Newest deployment metadata remains at the top level. Each history entry records
+the previous artifact hash and the UTC time at which that version was replaced.
+
+## Recovery From a Corrupted File
+
+1. Stop deployment and initialization commands before editing the file.
+2. Copy the damaged file to a separate backup for incident review.
+3. Validate that the file is valid JSON and that every contract_id has the
+   expected C... format.
+4. Recover the last known-good file from version control or the deployment
+   artifact archive.
+5. Compare every contract address and WASM hash against on-chain verification
+   before running an upgrade or initialization.
+6. If no trusted backup exists, recreate the file manually from verified
+   deployment records rather than guessing an address.
+7. Run the normal verification step for the target network after recovery.
+
+Do not delete a deployment record merely because a contract is not currently
+used by the initialization script. Historical records are needed to audit
+upgrades and to prevent a later deployment from being mistaken for the original.
+
+## Manual Creation
+
+To create a deployment file manually, create an empty JSON object and add one
+verified record per contract:
+
+~~~json
+{
+  "learn-token": {
+    "contract_id": "C...",
+    "wasm_hash": "verified-artifact-hash",
+    "network": "testnet",
+    "deployed_at": "2026-10-22T12:00:00Z"
+  }
+}
+~~~
+
+Use the exact contract IDs and artifact hashes returned by the deployment
+commands. Keep the file name aligned with the network: for example,
+deployments-testnet.json and deployments-mainnet.json. Never commit secret
+keys, signing material, or full transaction envelopes to the deployment file.
\ No newline at end of file