AI-built app launch security checklist

Start with the public surface

The fastest useful launch review starts from the same place as a stranger on the internet: the public URL. You do not need internal access to find missing headers, public debug files, exposed source maps, permissive CORS, or framework hints that make probing easier.

For AI-built apps, this matters because the first launch often happens before the builder has hardened the deployment. The app may work well enough for a demo while still exposing details that should have been private.

• Open the production URL in a clean browser session.
• Check common public files and generated assets.
• Review response headers on the home page and key app routes.
• Look for source maps and build artifacts that reveal code structure.

Check auth paths and rate limits early

Login, magic-link, invite, passwordless, and payment entry points deserve a separate pass. These routes often sit outside the happy path a builder tests manually, but they are exactly where abuse starts.

A good launch baseline does not need to prove every auth edge is perfect. It should confirm that sensitive endpoints avoid obvious enumeration, repeated request abuse, and cache mistakes.

• Confirm auth responses do not reveal more account state than needed.
• Make repeated request behavior visible before launch traffic arrives.
• Set no-store cache behavior for authenticated and token-based responses.

Treat security headers as launch infrastructure

Security headers are not cosmetic. They shape how browsers handle framing, MIME sniffing, referrers, permissions, cross-origin behavior, and script execution.

AI-built apps often inherit framework defaults that are good for local development but incomplete for production. The launch bar is simple: make the browser work for you before the URL spreads.

• Add a production Content Security Policy that fits the app.
• Block framing unless framing is a deliberate product requirement.
• Set nosniff, referrer policy, and permissions policy deliberately.

Look for exposed build context

Public source maps, generated route manifests, environment mistakes, and verbose errors can turn a small launch into a much easier target. The issue is not that every source map is automatically catastrophic. The issue is what it reveals in context.

If source maps expose internal API paths, feature flags, admin route names, or secret-handling code, fix that before a launch campaign drives attention to the app.

• Check whether production JavaScript references public source maps.
• Review public environment variables for accidental private values.
• Turn off verbose errors and debug output on production routes.

Run a final external pass

The last step is a clean external scan from outside your local environment. That gives you the view a real visitor, crawler, or attacker gets.

Use the result to decide whether to launch, fix a small set of issues, or postpone the public push. The value is not a perfect certificate. The value is reducing obvious launch-day risk.