Tutorial2 min read
Software Handover Checklist: What You Must Receive
A handover is only complete when someone who was not on the project could run, change and deploy it. Use this checklist before the final payment, with any vendor, including us.
TrueCodeAI Engineering
Agents, Voice & ML practice
- Published
HandoverOutsourcingProcess
Code and infrastructure
- All repositories under your organisation, with full history.
- Infrastructure as code or a written record of every cloud resource.
- Environment variables documented (values transferred securely, not in docs).
- CI/CD pipelines running under your accounts.
Access and credentials
- Admin access to cloud, domains, app stores, email, analytics and third-party APIs.
- Vendor access reduced or removed on your schedule.
- Secrets rotated after the vendor’s access is removed.
Documentation
- How to run it locally in under an hour.
- Architecture overview: components, data flow, integrations.
- Deployment and rollback steps.
- Runbook for common incidents.
- List of dependencies and licences.
Quality assets
- Automated tests, passing in CI.
- For AI features: the eval suite, datasets, latest results and how to re-run them.
- Monitoring dashboards and alert configuration.
The walkthrough
A recorded session where the vendor walks your team through the codebase, deploys a small change and answers questions. It is the cheapest insurance you will ever buy.
Frequently asked questions
When should handover planning start?
On day one — accounts in your name and documentation as you go make the final handover a formality.
What if the vendor refuses some items?
Check the contract. Code and credentials for work you paid for should be yours.
Do you offer support after handover?
Yes, optionally — a retainer or ad-hoc support while your team settles in.
