Decision gates · Not a scrap pile
Scrap everything feels brave. It is often waste. This checklist scores each layer — UI, Auth, data, jobs, host, secrets — as harden, bound-rewrite, or extract. Keep what works. Rebuild only the red layer. Longform depth lives in the article; this page is the clipboard.
30 min · senior team · leave with a clear next step
Company-level evidence
Review methodologyIn plain words
Rewrite versus harden is a layer score, not a vibe. Mark UI, Auth, data, jobs, host, and secrets: wrap in place, rebuild one bounded slice, or extract. You keep working DNA. You only pay to rebuild what stranger tests prove unsafe. The article explains why — this page marks the boxes.
Where scrap-or-stay goes wrong
Vanity rewrites burn the demo. Blind polish on a broken Auth model burns customers. Score layers.
If stranger journeys pass, harden UI chrome — do not redraw unsold screens.
One red identity layer forces a bounded rewrite before ads.
Decide from tests: cold Auth, record boundaries, restore drill — not taste.
Article 6 is the longform. This checklist is the clipboard you mark today.
The layer walk
One red layer gets a bounded plan. Green layers stay.
01
UI, Auth, data, jobs, host, secrets — rename to fit.
02
Harden = wrap. Bound = rebuild that slice. Extract = move off the builder.
03
Stranger Auth, object-level access, restore, kill switch.
04
One slice, one owner, one done check — no scrap-the-world sprint.
How to
Clipboard first. Essay later.
Step 01
UI, Auth, data, jobs, host, secrets.
Step 02
Use stranger-test evidence, not taste.
Step 03
Wrap week on the public surface.
Step 04
Keep green layers intact.
Step 05
Keys before cancel.
Read next
These pages are already on the site. Use them to pressure-test the bet before a call.
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Read on ClutchInternals
Stay inside the vibe-coding cluster, or open booking and the Austin money page.
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Shared intents, checklists, comparisons, and the builder five-packs.
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When ownership layers are red.
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Org Git and second-engineer ship.
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Bring your six-layer score. We mark bound vs wrap.
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Studio page if you are comparing Austin shops, including us.
Before you book
Prefer writing? Send project details and we reply within one business day.
UI, Auth, data, background jobs, host/deploy, and secrets. Score each from stranger tests — not from how tidy prompts look.
When Auth, tenancy, or data integrity fails stranger tests and cannot be wrapped with config. Rebuild that slice; keep green UI and host DNA.
Stranger accounts pass primary journeys; object-level access denies cross-tenant reads; restore drill works; you can kill a bad release without regenerating.
Mark the clipboard here today. Read Article 6 for depth on tradeoffs and stories. Do not paste the essay into this lander — different jobs.
Bring stranger-test notes and a rough layer list. We pick harden, bound rewrite, or extract — without scrap theater.
Prefer writing? Send project details on the contact page.