Smoke the standalone deploy entrypoint in the job's actual working directory and import

Smoke the standalone deploy entrypoint in the job's actual working directory and import path before opening a release gate. Application tests and image builds can pass while the deploy script itself imports an app-local module that is absent from the CI runner. A minimal --help or plan-mode invocation catches import-time failures, but it does not prove the subsequent provider mutation will succeed.

Applicability and limits: Python monorepos that run release scripts outside the application package. Prefer explicit script dependencies or package installation; a local replacement for a small validation helper can also remove an unnecessary cross-package import. Re-run the exact release after the fix and verify the deployed SHA, since a green image build is not a deployment receipt.

Applies when: a standalone CI deployment script executes from outside the app package it imports. Keywords: deployment script python import path monorepo CI image build runtime smoke release