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When your developer is gone and the project isn't done.

We take over software projects left behind by a departed developer or agency, and we fix the production bugs nobody has managed to pin down. First you get a plain answer on where things stand, then we get it moving.

Book a call Report a production bug

Taking over a project

The first two weeks of a takeover follow the same order every time, because access and facts come before opinions.

  1. Secure access

    Repositories, hosting, domains, app store accounts, keys and third-party services moved into accounts your company controls.

  2. Inventory

    What exists, where it runs, what it depends on, and what it costs each month.

  3. Code review

    A plain-English report on code quality, security risks and anything about to break.

  4. Priority list

    The fixes and next features in order, each with an estimate. Then we start on the top of the list.

Hard production bugs

A hard bug has often been "fixed" more than once before anyone finds the cause. We work it until we can explain it.

  • Intermittent failures in background jobs, integrations, payments and deploys.
  • Slow pages and timeouts, traced to the query, the code or the hosting.
  • Numbers that don't add up between systems, reports or invoices.
  • Crashes that only happen in production, where the developer's machine can't reproduce them.
  • A written cause and fix for every bug, so it stays fixed.

What you can count on

No reflexive rewrite

Most inherited code can be fixed and extended. If we recommend a rewrite, we explain why in writing.

No blame, just facts

You get an honest account of the code, not a critique of whoever wrote it.

Everything in your name

Code, domains and accounts end up owned by your company, so this never happens again.

Worth reading first

Our post on the real cost of cheap development walks through how a $15,000 build ended up costing $115,000, and the red flags to watch for when you hire the next developer.

Takeover and bug questions

Can you take over a project another developer started?
Yes. We start by getting the code, hosting, domains and accounts into your control, then review the code and tell you plainly what shape it is in before recommending what to do next.
Will you insist on rewriting everything?
No. Most inherited code can be fixed and extended. We recommend a rewrite only when the existing code cannot reasonably be moved forward, and we explain why in writing.
What if we don't have the source code or passwords?
That is common. We help you recover access through your hosting, domain and app store accounts and through the previous developer where possible, and we tell you early if anything cannot be recovered.
How do you price a production bug?
Hourly at $100 to $125, with an agreed range and a check-in before we pass it. You get a written explanation of the cause and the fix.

Tell us what was left behind.

What the project is, who built it and what's stuck. We'll reply within one business day.

Book a call