Fix revenue-critical paths fast. Untangle old code, reduce risk, and keep the business running while you figure out what's next.
You inherited a codebase. Maybe you acquired a company. Maybe the original developer left. Maybe it's your own code from three years ago (we don't judge). Either way, it's keeping the lights on—but touching it feels dangerous.
Legacy stabilization is about making old code safe to work with again. Not a rewrite. Not a migration. Just enough changes to stop the bleeding and let you move forward.
The real problem with legacy code
It's rarely about the technology being "old." We've seen ancient PHP codebases that run like clockwork and modern TypeScript apps that are unmaintainable nightmares. The problem is usually:
The good news? You don't need to fix everything. You need to fix the parts that matter.
What we actually do
1. Map the critical paths
First, we figure out what actually matters. In most legacy systems, 80% of the value comes from 20% of the code:
2. Add safety nets first
Before changing anything, we add tests around the critical paths. Not for coverage metrics—for confidence:
3. Document the weird stuff
Every legacy codebase has "magic" that nobody understands. We find it and document it:
4. Strangler fig for the scariest parts
When code is truly untouchable, we wrap it rather than modify it:
We don't advocate for rewrites
Full rewrites almost never work. They take longer than estimated, introduce new bugs, and often fail to capture the implicit business logic that's baked into the old code. Instead, we stabilize what exists and incrementally improve it.
The process
What you get
At the end of a legacy stabilization engagement:
Critical path documentation — Maps of what matters, what's risky, and what can be safely ignored
Test coverage where it counts — Not 100% coverage everywhere, but 100% coverage on the parts that could cost you money
Monitoring & alerts — Visibility into the parts that used to be black boxes
Runbooks — Step-by-step guides for when things go wrong (because they will)
Confidence — The ability to make changes without wondering if you just broke production
This isn't about making it pretty
We're not here to refactor your code into something that wins architecture awards. We're here to make it safe to work with. Sometimes that means leaving ugly code ugly—but documented and tested.
The goal is simple: when something needs to change, you can change it without fear.
Pricing
Scoped engagements based on codebase complexity. We assess first, then quote.
Targeted Stabilization
For codebases where you know what's broken and need specific areas made safe to work with.
This is actually our specialty. We use a combination of code archaeology, runtime analysis, and stakeholder interviews to piece together how things work. We document behavior as we discover it, including the 'bugs that are now features' that users depend on.
No. We work on live systems using techniques like strangler fig patterns and feature flags. Changes are rolled out gradually with monitoring. We never do big-bang deployments on legacy systems—that's how outages happen.
We've worked with PHP, Ruby, Python, Java, .NET, and more. Legacy stabilization is more about patterns and practices than specific languages. If it's something truly exotic, we'll let you know upfront.
Almost never. Rewrites take longer than expected, introduce new bugs, and often fail to capture the implicit business logic baked into the old code. We'll stabilize what exists and help you modernize incrementally. If a rewrite truly makes sense, we'll tell you—but it's rarely the answer.
We focus on revenue-critical paths and high-risk areas first. The checkout flow that processes payments? That gets tests before the admin dashboard that three people use. We'll map out the critical paths with you in week one.
Production readiness is about hardening a system that's fundamentally sound but needs polish—better monitoring, CI/CD, error handling. Legacy stabilization is about making scary, undocumented code safe to work with. Sometimes there's overlap, and we'll recommend the right approach for your situation.