Deployment

When your flow is ready, deploy it to receive real USSD traffic.

Prerequisites

Before deploying, ensure you have:

• A tested, validated flow
• A USSD shortcode from a supported provider
• Provider API credentials

Deployment Steps

Step 1: Validate Your Flow

Click Validate in the toolbar. Fix any errors:

Step 2: Create an Instance

Flows can have multiple instances (e.g., staging, production):

1. Click Deploy in the toolbar
2. Click New Instance
3. Enter a name (e.g., "Production")
4. Select environment type

Step 3: Configure Provider

Select your USSD provider and enter credentials:

Step 4: Set the Callback URL

Copy the generated callback URL and configure it in your provider's dashboard:

https://api.starhash.dev/hooks/{provider}/{instance_id}

Example for Africa's Talking:

https://api.starhash.dev/hooks/africas_talking/inst_abc123

Step 5: Deploy

Click Publish to deploy your flow.

Instance Management

Viewing Instances

See all instances in the Instances tab:

Instance Actions

Updating a Deployment

When you update your flow:

1. Make changes in the editor
2. Click Deploy → Select instance
3. Click Update
4. Confirm the update

Rollback

If something goes wrong:

1. Go to instance Settings → Versions
2. Find the previous working version
3. Click Rollback

Version history is retained for 30 days.

Environment Variables

Configure per-instance variables:

1. Go to instance Settings → Variables
2. Add key-value pairs:

API_URL = https://api.myservice.com
API_KEY = sk_live_xxx
DEBUG = false

Access in flows as ${env.API_URL}.

Custom Domains

Use your own domain for callbacks:

1. Go to Settings → Domains
2. Add your domain (e.g., ussd.myapp.com)
3. Configure DNS:

Type: CNAME
Name: ussd
Value: hooks.starhash.dev

4. Verify and activate

Your callback URL becomes:

https://ussd.myapp.com/hooks/{provider}/{instance_id}

Monitoring

Real-time Dashboard

Monitor active sessions:

• Current active sessions
• Requests per minute
• Error rate
• Average session duration

Alerts

Set up alerts for:

Configure in Settings → Alerts.

Production Checklist

Before going live:

• Flow tested thoroughly
• All API endpoints are production URLs
• Error handling covers all cases
• Provider credentials are for production
• Callback URL configured correctly
• Alerts set up
• Team notified

Next Steps