Added new staging/prod deployment workflow including database testing

.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/config.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+blank_issues_enabled: false
+contact_links: []

.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/release-request.yml

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+name: "Release Request"
+description: "Request a deployment by specifying the evaluation function, changes, target commit/branch, and test confirmation."
+title: "Release Request"
+labels:
+  - release
+  - deployment
+assignees: []
+body:
+  - type: textarea
+    id: description_of_changes
+    attributes:
+      label: Description of changes
+      description: "Summarize what is changing and why. Include links to PRs, issues, or changelogs."
+      placeholder: |
+        - What changed:
+        - Why:
+        - Related PRs/Issues: #123, #456
+      render: markdown
+    validations:
+      required: true
+
+  - type: input
+    id: branch_to_deploy
+    attributes:
+      label: Branch to deploy
+      description: |
+        Specify Branch name to deploy.
+      placeholder: "e.g., release/2025-09-29"
+    validations:
+      required: true
+
+  - type: dropdown
+    id: version-bump
+    attributes:
+      label: "🚀 What kind of update is this?"
+      description: "Tell us how significant this change is. This helps us set the correct new version number."
+      options:
+        - "Patch: A small fix for a bug. It won't break anything for existing users. (e.g., 1.2.3 ➔ 1.2.4)"
+        - "Minor: Adds a new feature, but doesn't change how existing ones work. A safe update. (e.g., 1.2.3 ➔ 1.3.0)"
+        - "Major: A big change that alters existing features. Users may need to update their work to adapt. (e.g., 1.2.3 ➔ 2.0.0)"
+      default: 0
+    validations:
+      required: true
+
+  - type: markdown
+    attributes:
+      value: |
+        ---
+        ### ⚡ Click the Link Below to Run the Workflow
+        
+        Clicking the link will take you to the Actions page. You will need to click the **"Run workflow"** button there to start the process.
+        
+        ## [➡️ Go to Workflow Run Page](../actions/workflows/production-deploy.yml)

.github/workflows/production-deploy.yml

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+name: Deploy to Production
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      version-bump:
+        description: 'Version bump type'
+        required: true
+        type: choice
+        options:
+          - patch
+          - minor
+          - major
+        default: patch
+      branch:
+        description: 'Branch to release from'
+        required: true
+        type: string
+        default: 'main'
+jobs:
+  deploy:
+    uses: lambda-feedback/evaluation-function-workflows/.github/workflows/deploy.yml@deploy-request
+    with:
+      template-repository-name: 'lambda-feedback/evaluation-function-boilerplate-python'
+      build-file: "app/Dockerfile"
+      build-context: "./app"
+      environment: "production"
+      version-bump: ${{ inputs.version-bump }}
+      branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
+      run-tests: true
+
+    secrets:
+      aws-key-id: ${{ secrets.LAMBDA_CONTAINER_PIPELINE_AWS_ID }}
+      aws-secret-key: ${{ secrets.LAMBDA_CONTAINER_PIPELINE_AWS_SECRET}}
+      function-admin-api-key: ${{ secrets.FUNCTION_ADMIN_API_KEY}}
+      gcp_credentials: ${{ secrets.GCP_DEPLOY }}
+      TEST_API_ENDPOINT: ${{ secrets.TEST_API_ENDPOINT }}
+      DB_USER: ${{ secrets.DB_USER }}
+      DB_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.DB_PASSWORD }}
+      DB_HOST: ${{ secrets.DB_HOST }}
+      DB_PORT: ${{ secrets.DB_PORT }}
+      DB_NAME: ${{ secrets.DB_NAME }}
+      GCP_DB_CREDS: ${{ secrets.GCP_DB_CREDS }}
+      GCP_PROJECT_ID: ${{ secrets.GCP_PROJECT_ID }}

.github/workflows/staging-deploy.yml

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+name: Deploy to Staging
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+  pull_request:
+    branches:
+      - main
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+jobs:
+  test:
+    name: Test
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      actions: read
+      checks: write
+      pull-requests: write
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        python-version: ["3.8"]
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
+        id: python-setup
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
+
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        run: |
+          python -m venv .venv
+          .venv/bin/pip install pytest
+          .venv/bin/pip install -r app/requirements.txt
+
+      # TODO: add linting / black / flake8
+      # - name: Lint with flake8
+      #   run: |
+      #     source .venv/bin/activate
+      #     # stop the build if there are Python syntax errors or undefined names
+      #     flake8 ./evaluation_function --count --select=E9,F63,F7,F82 --show-source --statistics
+      #     # exit-zero treats all errors as warnings. The GitHub editor is 127 chars wide
+      #     flake8 ./evaluation_function --count --exit-zero --max-complexity=10 --max-line-length=127 --statistics
+
+      - name: Run tests
+        if: always()
+        run: |
+          source .venv/bin/activate
+          pytest --junit-xml=./reports/pytest.xml --tb=auto -v
+
+      - name: Upload test results
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        if: always()
+        with:
+          name: test-results-${{ matrix.python-version }}
+          path: ./reports/pytest.xml
+          if-no-files-found: warn
+  deploy:
+    needs: test
+    uses: lambda-feedback/evaluation-function-workflows/.github/workflows/deploy.yml@deploy-request
+    with:
+      template-repository-name: "lambda-feedback/evaluation-function-boilerplate-python"
+      build-file: "app/Dockerfile"
+      build-context: "./app"
+      build-platforms: "aws"
+      environment: "staging"
+      lfs: false
+    secrets:
+      aws-key-id: ${{ secrets.LAMBDA_CONTAINER_PIPELINE_AWS_ID }}
+      aws-secret-key: ${{ secrets.LAMBDA_CONTAINER_PIPELINE_AWS_SECRET}}
+      function-admin-api-key: ${{ secrets.FUNCTION_ADMIN_API_KEY}}
+      gcp_credentials: ${{ secrets.GCP_DEPLOY }}

README.md

@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ For more information, look at the docs [here](https://lambda-feedback.github.io/
 
 This version is specifically for python, however the ultimate goal is to make similar boilerplate repositories in any language, allowing tutors the freedom to code in what they feel most comfortable with.
 
+## Deployment
+[![Create Release Request](https://img.shields.io/badge/Create%20Release%20Request-blue?style=for-the-badge)](https://github.com/lambda-feedback/compareExpressions/issues/new?template=release-request.yml)
+
+
 ### Getting Started
 
 1. Clone this repository