Add staging environment and automated deployment workflow

[nanaf6203-bit]

Area: Deployment
Priority: P2 — Medium

Description

We need a staging environment that mirrors production for QA and pre-release testing. Without staging, releases go straight to production, increasing risk.

Acceptance Criteria

• Add .github/workflows/deploy-staging.yml triggered on push to main
• Staging uses separate DB (stellartip_staging) and Horizon testnet URL
• Deployment target documented in docs/DEPLOYMENT.md (Render, Fly.io, Railway, AWS — team to pick)
• Auto-deploys on successful CI run (lint + typecheck + tests pass)
• Run database migrations on deploy
• Smoke test after deploy: scripts/smoke.sh hits /health, /profiles, /tips and asserts 200
• Document staging URLs and credentials in docs/OPERATIONS.md
• Add staging link to /api/docs as Try-it URL

Technical Notes

• Use GitHub Environments for staging secrets
• Deploy via Docker image pushed to GHCR / Docker Hub
• Rollback strategy: redeploy previous successful SHA

[Menjay7]

Hi! I came across this issue and would love to work on it. I have experience with similar tasks and I'm confident I can investigate, implement a clean solution, and thoroughly test it before submitting a PR. If the issue is still open, I would appreciate it if you could assign it to me. Thank you!

[awwalmust]

Hi maintainer
I have reviewed this issue and would love to work on it, PR 2days
Thanks

[Stanley-Owoh]

Good day, I would like to work on this issue. I have experience with CI/CD pipelines, Docker deployments, GitHub Actions, and staging environments. I will set up the staging deployment workflow, configure automated deployments with migration and smoke-test checks, and document the deployment and rollback process. Please assign this issue to me, Thank you.

[grantfox-oss]

🦊 GrantFox — @Stanley-Owoh has been assigned to this issue as part of the Official Campaign campaign!

Next steps:

1. Open a Pull Request referencing this issue (e.g., Closes #75)
2. Your PR will be reviewed by the StellarTips maintainers

Good luck! Track your progress on GrantFox.