Most common now
The prototype outgrew itself.
An AI-assisted build proved the idea, which is what it was for. Real customers are arriving and the foundations weren't laid for them.
Rescue & Modernisation
When the build goes sideways.
A stalled vendor relationship, a fixed deadline, and code nobody on your side can read. Some of our best work starts with someone else's code.
The Assessment
Fixed price · Two weeks · One codebase
Credited in full against your first month if you continue with us. Larger estates quoted separately.
What you get
- A keep, fix, or cut assessment per area, with the reasoning attached
- A prioritised risk list
- An honest read on whether a rewrite is warranted
- A plan with a real estimate
How you got here
Second most common
The vendor exited.
An agency or freelancer went quiet, wound down, or moved on. You have a codebase, partial access, and a deadline.
Most underrated
Nobody can change it safely.
No tests, no documentation, and whoever held the architecture in their head has left.
Usually fixable
Quality collapsed under real use.
It demoed fine. Under load, it doesn't.
More common than you'd think
The handover never happened.
No documentation, sometimes no full source access, occasionally no clarity on who owns the accounts.
What we read
Yours to keep, whatever you decide next — continue with us, take it to another team, or do nothing. The assessment stays accurate either way.
Whether the code can be changed safely.
The decisive question. Everything else is downstream.
Whether the data model is sound.
Cheapest problem to catch early, most expensive to catch late.
What the commit history says.
Often more honest than the documentation.
How releases actually work.
Usually where the fastest wins are.
What you actually hold.
Repositories, accounts, domains, IP. The most common unpleasant surprise.
How it runs
Trace the real architecture
A short kickoff, then we get the project running from a clean machine and trace the real architecture. What doesn't work is as informative as what does.
The written memo
Findings become the written memo. We walk you through it rather than emailing a PDF.
Your call
If you continue: one month stabilising the launch-blockers and the infrastructure that wakes you at 3am, then the same engineers stay on the code.
No. It's better if they are. It's rarely the case.