Documentation & System Handover
Good documentation outlives any single developer. For the systems I build and modernise, I provide clear, usable documentation so your web app, APIs, database and (where relevant) Android app can be understood and maintained in future — whether by me, your internal team, or another supplier.
The aim isn’t “lots of pages”. It’s a practical handover pack that answers the questions people ask when they need to support, change, or extend the system.
Architecture
What exists, how it fits together, and where the “moving parts” are.
Data model
Key tables, relationships, migrations and critical queries/procs.
Integrations
Email/SMS, payments, external APIs — and what to check when they fail.
Runbooks
Step-by-step “how to operate this” guidance for day-to-day support.
What I document
- Key tables, relationships and the “source of truth” for important fields
- Important stored procedures/views/queries and what they’re used for
- Data retention considerations and archive approaches where relevant
- Backup/restore notes (and any special steps for large databases)
- API endpoints and authentication approach (internal + external)
- Integrations (email, SMS, payments, accounting, identity providers, etc.)
- What data is shared, and where failures tend to show up
- How to rotate keys and update credentials safely
- Where the system is hosted and what services it depends on
- How deployments are performed and rolled back
- Background jobs, schedulers and automated processes (email queues, imports, reports)
- Certificates, DNS, and other “invisible” but critical configuration
Handover and continuity
Handover should be a supported transition — not “here’s a zip file, good luck”. I tailor the approach depending on whether you’re handing to an internal team, an MSP, or another development supplier.
Walkthrough sessions
- Structured handover sessions covering architecture, deployment and operational “gotchas”
- Guided tour of the codebase and the key modules that tend to change
- Q&A with your team (or supplier) so nothing critical is missed
- Optional recordings of walkthroughs for future reference
Early-life support
- Support during early weeks after go-live or major changes
- A clear “how to get help” path and response expectations
- Quick fixes for small issues that always appear once real users hit the system
- Recommendations for monitoring/alerting so problems are seen early
Android & mobile handover (if applicable)
Mobile handover often fails on the “account ownership” details. If your system includes an Android app, the handover pack covers the build/release pipeline and what you need to keep control of future updates.
Build & release essentials
- Build requirements and how to produce a release build
- Environment configuration and API endpoints (dev/staging/prod)
- Play Store account ownership guidance (organisation-owned where possible)
- Signing approach documented safely (without exposing private keys)
App ↔ API dependency clarity
- Versioning strategy and how changes are rolled out safely
- Known breaking changes and deprecation approach
- Offline mode / sync behaviour documented where relevant
- Support notes for device rollout and updates
Optional: reduce key-person dependency even further
For business-critical systems, you may also want source code escrow and a continuity plan. This provides additional reassurance for directors, investors, auditors and tenders.
Need your current system documented?
If you already rely on a bespoke system that isn’t well documented, I can reverse-engineer the essentials and produce practical documentation and runbooks to reduce risk and make future changes safer.