Code takeover
Your AI-generated code is a mess. We'll take it over.
If an AI tool — or several, or a freelancer using them — left you with a codebase that runs but that nobody can read, extend or trust, AI Cubed takes it over. We audit it in two business days, decide module by module what to keep and what to rewrite, and hand back something your next engineer can work in. Two to six weeks for most codebases.
AI Cubed
September 9, 2026
The instinct with a messy codebase is either to start again or to clean it one file at a time. Both are usually wrong. Starting again throws away the parts that work; cleaning line by line spends weeks polishing code that should be deleted. The useful move is a map.
audit: the keep / rewrite map
most takeovers
by your next engineer — the test
Sounds familiar?
- "There are four copies of the same helper with slightly different bugs."
- "One file is 3,000 lines. I'm afraid to open it."
- "It works, but every developer I show it to says they'd rather start over."
- "Half the dependencies aren't used. One of them doesn't exist on npm."
- "I can't tell which code is live and which is a leftover from an old prompt."
- "I don't need it pretty. I need to be able to change it without breaking it."
What 'a mess' actually looks like — and the fix for each
| Symptom | Why AI produces it | What we do |
|---|---|---|
| Duplication | Each prompt solved the problem fresh instead of finding the existing solution. | Find the duplicates, pick the best one, delete the rest, add a test so it stays that way. |
| Several patterns per concern | Different sessions, different defaults: three data layers, two form libraries, two ways to handle errors. | One pattern per concern, chosen for what's already most used; migrate the rest. |
| Giant files and components | Easier for the model to append than to split. | Split by responsibility; the split reveals dead code and hidden coupling. |
| Dead code | Features abandoned mid-prompt; nothing deleted. | Trace what's reachable from the routes and entry points; delete the rest. Usually 20–40% of the codebase. |
| Invented or unused dependencies | Hallucinated packages, packages installed for one line and forgotten. | Audit `package.json` against actual imports; remove, replace, pin. |
| No types, or types that lie | `any` everywhere so the build would pass. | Strict TypeScript, real types at the boundaries, type-check in CI. |
| Config and secrets sprawl | Values hard-coded where they were needed at the time. | One config module, environment-driven, secrets out of the repo. |
| No tests, no docs | The model never needed them to make the demo work. | Tests around the flows that matter; an architecture doc a new engineer can read in an hour. |
How we work on a takeover
- Audit — two business days. We map the codebase: modules, what each does, what's reachable, what's duplicated, what's risky. You get the map, a keep-vs-rewrite call per module, and a fixed quote.
- Stabilise — first week. Secrets out, lockfile in, strict types and CI on. Nothing gets worse from here.
- Consolidate — the middle weeks. Module by module: keep, refactor or rewrite, per the map. Tests go in as each module is touched, so the clean state is protected.
- Document and hand over — an architecture document, a runbook, and a codebase with one way of doing each thing. If you keep vibe coding on it, a rules file keeps the model inside the lines.
Keep, refactor or rewrite — per module
| Module state | Decision | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Works, readable, tested or easy to test | Keep | Don't spend money on code that isn't costing you anything. |
| Works, but tangled with duplicates elsewhere | Refactor | Consolidate into the best existing version; add a test. |
| Works only by accident; nobody can explain why | Rewrite | Cheaper to write it properly than to understand it. |
| Doesn't work and never did | Rewrite or delete | Decide whether the feature is still wanted first. |
| Unreachable from any route or entry point | Delete | Dead code is a cost with no benefit. |
How long and how pricing works
Two to six weeks for most codebases, with a date set at the end of the audit. The audit is fixed price. The takeover is a fixed quote based on the map — number of modules, how many are rewrites — rather than an hourly meter. Large codebases are phased so the parts that matter most are clean first.
Who this is for
Founders and businesses with an AI-built app that has real users or is about to, where the cost of not being able to change it safely has become real. If the app is a throwaway prototype, don't pay to clean it — rebuild it when you know what you want. We'll say so on the call.
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