diff --git a/usr/local/bin/deploy b/usr/local/bin/deploy
index 9eed384..7a48c94 100755
--- a/usr/local/bin/deploy
+++ b/usr/local/bin/deploy
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 readonly ARGS="$@"
+readonly DEPLOY_USER="www-data"
 
 clone_repo_at_tag() {
   local repo="$1"
@@ -9,12 +10,23 @@ clone_repo_at_tag() {
 
   echo ">>> cloning $tag..."
   git clone --depth 1 -b $tag https://github.com/$repo.git $repo_dirname &> /dev/null
+  if [ $? -ne 0 ]
+  then
+    echo "*** clone failed"
+    exit 1
+  fi
   build $repo_dirname
 }
 
 diff_deps() {
+  echo ">>> diffing dependencies"
   local repo_dirname="$1"
   diff -B <(cat jsbin/package.json | json dependencies) <(cat $repo_dirname/package.json | json dependencies)
+  if [ $? -ne 0 ]
+  then
+    echo "*** package diff failed"
+    exit 1
+  fi
 }
 
 build() {
@@ -26,15 +38,34 @@ build() {
   echo ">>> copying node modules from v$(json -f ../jsbin/package.json version)..."
   cp -R ../jsbin/node_modules .
 
+  if [ $? -ne 0 ]
+  then
+    echo "*** copy previous version of modules failed"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
   if [ -z "$d" ]; then
     echo ">>> no update required"
   else
     echo ">>> updating npm modules"
     npm install &> /dev/null
+
+    if [ $? -ne 0 ]
+    then
+      echo "*** npm install failed"
+      exit 1
+    fi
   fi
 
+
   echo ">>> running build..."
   grunt build &> /dev/null
+
+  if [ $? -ne 0 ]
+  then
+    echo "*** grunt build failed"
+    exit 1
+  fi
 }
 
 symlink_repo_to_name() {
@@ -42,7 +73,7 @@ symlink_repo_to_name() {
   local project_name="$2"
 
   echo ">>> symlinking $repodir"
-  ln -nfs $repodir $project_name
+  ln -nfs /WWW/$repodir /WWW/$project_name
 }
 
 get_latest_tag() {
@@ -50,10 +81,15 @@ get_latest_tag() {
   curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/$repo/tags | json 0.name
 }
 
-main() {
+restart_jsbin() {
+  echo ">>> restarting..."
+  sudo restart jsbin
+}
+
+update_repo_and_symlinks() {
   local cwd=$(pwd)
   local args="$@"
-  
+
   cd /WWW/
   local current_version=$(json -f jsbin/package.json version)
   # read the arg first, or get it from the environment value
@@ -65,25 +101,29 @@ main() {
   cd $cwd
 
   symlink_repo_to_name "$project_name-$tag" $project_name
-  echo ">>> deploy complete"
 }
 
-restart() {
-  echo ">>> restarting..."
-  sudo restart jsbin
+run_as_deploy_user() {
+  echo "*** launching deploy as $DEPLOY_USER"
+  sudo -Hu "$DEPLOY_USER" -- sh -c "$0 $ARGS"
+  if [ $? -ne 0 ]
+  then
+    echo "*** deploy failed"
+    exit 1
+  fi
 }
 
-if [ "$USER" != "www-data" ]
-then
-  echo "*** launching deploy as www-data"
-  sudo -u www-data -- sh -c "/usr/local/bin/deploy $ARGS"
-  if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
-    echo "*** deploy failed"
-    exit 1;
+main() {
+  if [ "$USER" != $DEPLOY_USER ]
+  then
+    run_as_deploy_user
+    restart_jsbin
+    echo ">>> deploy complete"
+    exit 0
   else
-    restart
+    update_repo_and_symlinks $ARGS
+    exit 0
   fi
-else
-  main $ARGS
-  echo "*** exiting from www-data"
-fi
+}
+
+main $ARGS