App rescue
Stuck with a half-built or broken app? We take it over.
App rescue for a half-built or broken app, built with Lovable, Replit, Bolt, Cursor or by hand. The developer left, the AI keeps breaking things, or it’s too slow. Our senior developers take over your codebase, tell you what to keep, and finish it.
The signs
Signs your app needs rescue
The last developer is gone.
No handover, no docs, and nobody knows how it deploys.
Every fix breaks something else.
You or the AI fix one bug and two more appear.
It's too slow to use.
Pages hang, queries time out, and users leave.
First, we secure what’s yours
Your code, your accounts, before anything else.
We check you own and can reach everything: the repository, hosting, domain, database and app store accounts. Anything in someone else's name gets moved to yours. We never hold your accounts for you.
Then: keep, fix or rebuild
We tell you what’s worth keeping.
The audit shows which parts are sound and which aren't. Most of the time we keep most of it and fix the rest. If a part can't carry your product, we say so, show what rebuilding it costs, and you decide.
Finishing
Then we finish it.
P0 problems first, then the missing features, with every task and its hours agreed before we start, and every change on a preview before it goes live.
One bug, not a rescue?
If you know exactly what's broken, we can just fix that: a free scope, the hours agreed, and you pay after it works.
How you pay
You see the work. Then you pay.
- Scope
- Free, before any work. Every task, its hours and the total.
- Rate
- Your choice: $60/hr, or a fixed price per sprint.
- Invoices
- Your choice: weekly, bi-weekly or monthly.
- Upfront
- Nothing. You only pay for work you've seen.
How many invoices does a 12-week project get?
The audit invoice, then 6 bi-weekly invoices.
Questions
Before you get in touch
Can you work with code another developer wrote?
Yes. Code someone else wrote is the normal case. We read it before we promise anything.
What if it can't be saved?
Then the audit says so plainly, with what a rebuild would take, and you decide. We recommend what fits your product best, fix or rebuild.
The app is live. Will users notice?
We change it in steps and check each one on a preview first, so the live app keeps working.
What is app rescue?
App rescue means senior developers take over a stalled, broken or half-built app and gets it working. We first secure your accounts, then read the code and say what to keep, fix or rebuild. Then we finish it. It covers abandoned projects, apps that keep breaking, and apps too slow to use.
My developer disappeared. Can you take over my codebase?
Yes. First make sure you own the code and the accounts: repository, hosting, domain and database. If you have the code or a Git link, we can start. We read the codebase before promising anything, then tell you what works, what is broken, and what finishing it takes. A free scope document gives you the estimate.
My Lovable, Replit or Bolt app keeps breaking. How do I fix it?
Start with a code audit. It costs $1,000 fixed and gives a ranked list of what is wrong and whether the app can be saved. An AI tool that fixes one bug and adds two usually points to a structural problem. We fix the cause, in steps, and check each step on a preview first.
How much does an app rescue cost?
It depends on what the audit finds, so we start there: $1,000 fixed, credited in full against your first sprint. After that you choose $60 per hour with a time log, or a fixed price per sprint. We give a free scope document with an estimate before any work. Nothing is paid upfront.
Get started
Send us your app.
A repo or a live URL is enough. We reply within 24 hours with what we'd do first.
hello@theyellowlabs.com