Who we are
We pick up where they left off
HQ is a design, development and AI studio in Ogden, Utah, founded in 2012, with 250+ products launched. We take over apps another developer or agency built, keep them running for the people who depend on them, then improve them. In December 2025 we took over Attunement's live clinical app and kept it running for the clinics on it.
Many of our clients come to us after a bad experience with a previous agency or hire. Often there's a live app nobody on their side can change. The first job is to understand what's running and stop it from getting worse.
- Dec 2025
- When we took over Attunement's live clinical app, with clinics already on it
- 388
- Passing tests in Attunement's rebuild by February 19, 2026
- 1,409
- Tests across Perfect Feast's rebuilt order system by mid-October 2026
- 250+
- Products HQ has launched since 2012
Apps we've taken over
Attunement
A live clinical app, kept running, then rebuilt
Attunement's app was already in use by neuropsychology clinics when we picked it up. We fixed what clinic staff relied on first, from the shared patient tab to password reset. We signed a business associate agreement the same month. Then we rebuilt it in Attunement's own GitHub organization. The first production deploy went out in March 2026.
Read the project story →
EDGEhomes
A prior team's app, replaced in the same listings
EDGEhomes already had a homebuyer app, published by a prior team. We rebuilt it from scratch on React Native and Expo, and the new version replaced the old one in the same App Store and Google Play listings. We watched the first few dozen recordings of buyers upgrading to make sure nothing had to be re-linked.
Read the case study →
Perfect Feast
Moving a business off MongoDB
Perfect Feast's back office ran on MongoDB, with every certificate's images stored inside the records as text, about 8 GB of it. We moved the business onto PostgreSQL with a migration we could rerun and dry-run, and rebuilt certificate generation to handle orders of 18,400 and 60,000.
Read the project story →How we take one over
Audit it, keep it running, then improve it
This page is for apps a person or an agency wrote. If yours was built with an AI coding tool like Lovable or Cursor, the problems tend to be different, and we have a separate page for that.
Code, hosting, domains, app store accounts, third-party services and whoever holds the passwords to them. On Attunement, the rebuild moved into Attunement's own GitHub organization, so the code belongs to them from the first commit.
Before any rewrite, the things users are hitting right now. Attunement's password reset wasn't sending its link because the app was still on its provider's development-only email service. We traced it and fixed it before the rebuild began.
We read the code and the data and run it. Then we write down what we find, including what nobody documented. Perfect Feast's addresses spelled the country field two different ways, and about 39% used a capital C. The migration had to handle both.
Tests first, then changes small enough to review. Attunement's rebuild had 388 passing tests by February 19, 2026, and its browser tests run in three browsers.
More on custom development
If the app came out of Lovable, Bolt, Replit, Cursor or Claude Code, start with our page on finishing vibe-coded apps.
Finish a vibe-coded appWhat a first project looks like
The first weeks of a takeover
A short call Tell us what the app does, who uses it and what happened with the last team. Send whatever access and documentation you have, even if it's thin.
Access and an estimate We get into the code and the hosting, look at what's there and send an estimate for keeping it running and for the first improvements. Kickoff can be as soon as a week after the contract is signed.
Stabilize The urgent fixes first, in production. We took over Attunement in December 2025 and fixed the broken patient tab, document download and password reset for the clinics already using it.
Rebuild or improve Then the bigger work, with tests around it. Attunement's rebuild started in January 2026 and its first production deploy went out March 3 to 5. Perfect Feast's move to PostgreSQL ran as a migration we could rerun safely.
Hand off, or keep going Some clients take it back. Attunement's own engineer took on the last integration layer of the document review flow. Others keep us on for years, and we'll leave you with documentation either way.
What we won't do
We won't tell you the last team's code is all bad to win the project. Honestly, most inherited apps have parts worth keeping, and a full rewrite is the most expensive way to find out which ones. We'll show you what we found and you can get a second opinion.
That said, not everything is finished when we say it's better. On Attunement, pinning each patient's session to the form version they started on was still a draft in late May 2026, and the project story says so.
Questions about taking over an app
HQ takes over apps other teams built. It is a design, development and AI studio founded in Ogden, Utah, in 2012, with 250+ products launched. In December 2025 it took over Attunement's live clinical app for neuropsychology clinics, which had a Python backend and a React front end, and fixed what clinic staff relied on. It signed a business associate agreement the same month and then rebuilt the app in Attunement's own GitHub organization. For EDGEhomes, a Utah homebuilder, HQ replaced a homebuyer app a prior team had published, in the same App Store and Google Play listings. HQ works with clients in Utah and elsewhere.
Start by collecting access to everything: the code repository, hosting, domains, app store accounts and third-party services. Then talk to a team that has taken over live software before. HQ's process is to stabilize first, fixing what users are hitting, and to improve the app in tested pieces after that. On Attunement the urgent fixes came first. The rebuild started in January 2026 and the first production deploy followed in March. Many of HQ's clients come to it after a bad experience with a previous agency or hire.
Only when what we find says it's the better deal, and we'll show you the reasons. Some takeovers do end in a rebuild. EDGEhomes' buyers kept using the old homebuyer app until HQ's React Native rebuild replaced it in the same store listings, and Attunement's clinics kept using the original app while HQ rebuilt it.
Yes. Perfect Feast's back office ran on MongoDB, with every certificate's logo and design images stored inside the records as text, about 8 GB of it through January 1, 2025. HQ moved the business onto PostgreSQL with a migration that reads the old exports directly. It can be dry-run first, and rerun safely because every moved record is tagged with its old ID. HQ rebuilt certificate generation to handle orders of 18,400 and 60,000, and the system is in use for the 2026 holiday season.
Probably not. This page covers apps written by another developer or agency. Apps built with Lovable, Bolt, Replit, Cursor or Claude Code tend to have different problems, and HQ has a separate page for finishing vibe-coded apps at /services/ai/finish-vibe-coded-apps.
Yes. HQ can work in your own GitHub organization from the start, the way it rebuilt Attunement's app inside Attunement's organization. You own the IP HQ creates once invoices are paid. If you hire your own engineers later, HQ trains them and transfers accounts and documentation. On Attunement, the client's own engineer took on the last integration layer of the document review flow.
Inherited an app? We'll take a look.
Send us a few lines about the app and what happened with the last team. We'll set up a short call and tell you honestly what we think we'd find.
Book a short call