Handover
Transferring a product from one team to another, covering code, accounts, keys, documents and the state of every open item, so the new team can carry on without guessing.
Updated October 2026 · with examples from our own builds
What does handover mean in practice?
A handover is more than giving someone the repository. The new team needs the accounts that run the product, the signing material for the apps, the environment settings for each service, the steps to deploy and roll back, and an honest list of what is unfinished and who owns it.
A good one is what keeps you independent of any single vendor. Ask for it in the contract, and ask for it in writing: a record of each system's state is worth more than a call.
The common gaps are the invisible ones: store accounts in a developer's name, keys on one laptop, and cloud setup steps done by hand and never written down.
Handover at a glance
- Must include
- Accounts, keys, environment settings and runbooks
- Often missed
- Store accounts and manual cloud setup
- Best evidence
- A written record of each system and its open items
Where has handover come up in our builds?
On 13 August 2026 the platform passed to Trainr's incoming developer with accounts, signing material, deploy and rollback runbooks, environment templates for all four repositories, a full export of the media bucket and a written record of every open item and whose court each sits in.
We handed over four codebases in July 2026, after 13 months of work, with the AWS setup for the video pipeline documented step by step for the client. The store listing has been updated since, so the current store build may include changes made after our handover.
Common questions about handover
What should I ask for at the end of a software contract?
The code in your own repositories, every account in your company's name, signing keys and store access, environment templates, deploy and rollback steps, and a written list of what is unfinished.
How long should a handover take?
Long enough for the new team to deploy and roll back once on their own while the old team is still reachable. A handover that is only a call and a zip file usually costs more later.
Related terms
Planning a product and not sure where handover fits? Ask us, or browse all 116 terms in the glossary.