afterbuild/ops
§ S-01/ai-app-rescue

AI app rescue — fix AI-built apps from Lovable, Bolt.new, and Cursor in weeks

Your Lovable rescue, Bolt.new fix, or Cursor-agent regression needs to reach production. AI app rescue audits, stabilizes, and ships AI-built apps: auth hardened, Supabase RLS on, Stripe webhooks signed, deploys reliable, code legible. Roughly half of AI-generated code is flagged by industry security benchmarks — we patch the rest in place and fix-AI-built-app blockers the first time.

price
from $299
turnaround
2–6 weeks
diagnostic
$0 · 48h
Quick verdict

AI app rescue is the end-to-end engagement for fix AI-built app blockers on Lovable, Bolt.new, Cursor, Replit, Base44, Windsurf, v0, and Claude Code. Starts with a free 24–48h rescue diagnostic, then sequences the smallest fixed-fee scopes: $299 Emergency Triage, $499 Security Audit, $799 Integration Fix, $3,999 Break-the-Fix-Loop, $7,499 Finish My MVP, or $3,499/mo Retainer. Industry benchmarks flag roughly half of AI-generated code for vulnerabilities — a Lovable rescue or Bolt.new fix is how the rest ships to production.

§ 01/diagnostic matrix

Symptoms AI app rescue resolves on Lovable and Bolt.new

Seven recurring rescue shapes across 70+ Lovable rescues, Bolt.new fixes, and Cursor-agent regression loops. The symptom column is what founders say on the intake call; the root cause is what we find in the first hour of audit; the fix is what ships across the staged scopes.

seven recurring fix-AI-built-app patterns
Symptom (founder-facing)Root causeWhat AI app rescue ships
Auth leaking rows across tenantsSupabase RLS never enabled; service-role key shipped to the browserRLS policies written + tested, service-role moved server-side, session guard on every route
Deploys succeed in Lovable preview, 500 on VercelEnv vars never propagated, WebContainer-specific bindings brokenVercel/Netlify env wired, CORS allowlist, build-time config, preview/prod parity
Stripe Checkout completes, subscription never activatesWebhook handler skips stripe.webhooks.constructEvent signature verifySigned webhook + idempotency lookup + full lifecycle sync (paid/failed/cancelled/refunded)
Schema is a crime scene — no migrations, no indexesAI builders edit the schema live without recording a migrationMigrations checked in, cascade-deletes reviewed, indexes on the queries that matter
App melts past 100 concurrent usersN+1 queries, unbounded loops, zero caching — classic Lovable rescue shapeQuery plan audit, targeted caching, connection pool, Sentry performance budget
Nobody can read the codebase, new dev cannot onboardNo types, duplicated components, inconsistent folder structureProp types added, components deduped, handoff runbook, architecture overview
Cursor agent regresses a working feature every weekNo integration tests; the agent silently drops guards and early returnsIntegration tests on revenue paths, test-before-agent workflow, CI gate on PRs
§ 02/rescue schedule

6-week Lovable rescue + Bolt.new fix schedule

Most rescues finish in 4 weeks; Finish-My-MVP-scope runs closer to 6. The diagnostic is always first and always free. Every week has a keyword-rich deliverable and nothing ships to production until the staged environment is green.

  1. D124–48h

    Free rescue diagnostic + rescue-vs-rewrite verdict

    48-hour async audit: we read the repo, map every blocker — auth gaps, RLS disabled, broken Stripe webhooks, env var drift. You get a written rescue-vs-rewrite recommendation and a fixed-fee proposal. No credit card.

  2. W1Week 1–2

    Stabilize: fix AI-built app blockers

    Fix the critical blockers first: Lovable rescue patterns — auth hardening, Supabase RLS, Stripe webhook signatures, env var propagation, OAuth redirect URIs. App stops crashing. Real users can sign up, log in, and pay.

  3. W2Week 2–4

    Productionize: CI, tests, monitoring

    CI/CD with preview environments, integration tests on revenue paths, rollback plan, monitoring and alerting. Stripe flows verified end-to-end. Deploy pipeline is reliable. Code becomes legible to a new developer.

  4. W4Week 4–6

    Ship: custom domain, handoff runbook

    Launch to production: custom domain, SSL, CDN config, database backups, runbooks. Handoff documentation so you or your next hire can maintain the Lovable/Bolt/Cursor codebase independently without re-hiring us.

  5. W6Week 6+

    Retainer or complete handoff

    Optional transition to Retainer Support ($3,499/mo, 40h engineering) for ongoing Cursor-agent reviews and vendor incident response, or a clean handoff to your in-house team with architecture overview, env setup, and rotation runbooks.

§ 03/what the audit returns

What a real rescue audit output actually looks like

Redacted excerpt from a recent Lovable rescue audit. The file lives at docs/rescue-audit-YYYY-MM-DD.md in the repo and maps every blocker to a fixed-fee scope. Every FAIL becomes a line item in the rescue proposal; every WARN becomes a Retainer follow-up. Our 2026 vibe-coding research summarizes how much AI-generated code ships with security flaws; our audit identifies which lines it is in your repo.

docs/rescue-audit-2026-04-17.md
markdown
01# rescue-audit-2026-04-17.md02## 01 · Codebase map03- [x] Framework: Next.js 16 App Router, TS strict off04- [x] LOC: 18,432 (src/ only)05- [x] Origin: Lovable -> Cursor -> hand-merged06 07## 02 · Security audit (industry benchmark: roughly half of AI code flagged)08- [FAIL] Supabase service-role key shipped in NEXT_PUBLIC_* env09- [FAIL] RLS disabled on public.orders, public.invoices10- [FAIL] Webhook endpoint accepts unsigned Stripe events11- [FAIL] OAuth redirect URI allowlist not validated12- [WARN] No rate limit on /api/auth/login13 14## 03 · Data layer15- [FAIL] No migrations directory - schema edited live in Supabase UI16- [FAIL] orders.user_id cascades delete to auth.users (dangerous)17- [WARN] No indexes on (tenant_id, created_at) - table scan on every query18 19## 04 · Integrations20- [FAIL] Stripe webhook skips stripe.webhooks.constructEvent21- [FAIL] Idempotency not implemented - Stripe retries double-credit22- [FAIL] Password reset email uses default Supabase template, no DKIM23- [WARN] Custom domain not wired (OAuth still points at preview URL)24 25## 05 · Deploy26- [FAIL] Env vars in Vercel missing SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY27- [WARN] No preview environment - every branch hits prod database28 29## 06 · Rescue verdict30- Scope 01: Emergency triage ($299) - env var propagation, today31- Scope 02: Security audit ($499) - RLS + service-role + webhook signing32- Scope 03: Integration fix ($799) - Stripe webhook + idempotency33- Scope 04: AI-Generated Code Cleanup ($3,999) - types + tests + migrations
48-hour rescue audit output: 6 sections, every FAIL mapped to a fixed-fee scope.
§ 04/deliverable ledger

Eight deliverables every AI app rescue ships

§ 05/scope + price

Free diagnostic, then fixed-fee Lovable rescue scopes

Rescue engagements are always staged. The free 24–48h diagnostic returns a written rescue-vs-rewrite verdict and a prioritised list of fixed-fee scopes. You pick what to tackle; we execute. No hourly meter, no mystery bill, no scope creep mid-engagement.

Typical path for a Lovable rescue: diagnostic identifies three blocker classes — environment and auth (Emergency Triage $299), security and RLS (Security Audit $499), Stripe subscription sync (Integration Fix $799). Run sequentially over 3–4 weeks and the app ships. Finish My MVP ($7,499) is the 3–4 week launch-pass for apps that need all three plus a production cutover.

featured
price
from $299
turnaround
Diagnostic in 24–48h, execution 2–6 weeks
scope
Staged fixed-fee scopes, written before you commit
guarantee
Free diagnostic, fixed-fee scopes, no hourly meter
Start with free diagnostic
§ 06/vs hourly vs rewrite

AI app rescue vs hourly contractor vs full rewrite

Against a $150/hour Upwork contractor or a 12-week greenfield rewrite, fixed-fee AI app rescue preserves your Lovable or Bolt.new codebase and ships at 1/3 the cost.

vs alternatives
DimensionHourly contractorFull rewriteAI app rescue
Price for a production-ready Lovable app$15,000+ over 8 weeks$40,000+ greenfield$299–$7,499 fixed scopes
Start time2–4 weeks of bidding4–8 weeks of scopingDiagnostic in 24–48h
AI-builder-specific context (Lovable, Bolt, Cursor)UnknownIgnored — they rewrite9 builders, patterns known
Industry AI vulnerability benchmark addressedMaybeYes (by discard)Default — mandatory before relaunch
Preserves your existing Lovable/Bolt codeIf they agreeNo — throwawayYes — refactored in place
Clean handoff docs + runbooksRareUsuallyDefault on every engagement

Pick AI app rescue if…

  • You built an MVP on Lovable, Bolt.new, Cursor, or Replit and it needs to reach production.
  • Auth leaks rows, Supabase RLS never got enabled, or the Stripe webhook silently drops events.
  • Your Lovable preview works but Vercel deploys 500 on every real user — classic env-var propagation miss.
  • A Cursor agent keeps regressing working features and you need tests + a CI gate to stop the loop.
  • You want fixed-fee scopes with a written plan before you commit — not an open-ended hourly bill.

Don't pick AI app rescue if…

  • One specific bug is broken right now — book Emergency Triage ($299, 48h) instead.
  • You need one integration wired end-to-end — book Integration Fix ($799, 5 days).
  • You want us to write a greenfield MVP from a Figma file — rescue is for existing AI-built codebases.
  • You want someone to 'look at it for a few hours' — rescue is staged fixed-fee, not hourly.
  • The app never worked in preview — rescue starts when there is working code to audit. Otherwise, Finish My MVP.
§ 07/specialists

Rescue specialists who run the AI app rescue

Rescue engagements scope around the specific failure modes AI builders ship with. These three specialists lead most rescues; the diagnostic routes the engagement to the right one.

FAQ
What AI builders does AI app rescue cover — is there a Lovable rescue and a Bolt.new fix path?
Yes. We run AI app rescue against Lovable, Bolt.new, Replit Agent, Cursor, Base44, Windsurf (Cascade), v0, Claude Code, and Tempo. The Lovable rescue pattern is a specific shape — env var propagation, Supabase RLS, OAuth redirect drift. The Bolt.new fix pattern is preview-vs-production divergence. We know both and ship the fix accordingly. If your app is JavaScript, TypeScript, or Python, we can work with it regardless of which AI tool wrote the first draft.
Will an AI app rescue throw away our Lovable or Cursor code?
Almost never. We preserve what works and refactor incrementally. Full rewrites are a last resort and we tell you up front in the free diagnostic if a greenfield build is actually cheaper than a rescue. Typical rescue keeps 80%+ of the Lovable/Bolt-generated code and replaces only the layers that fail in production — auth, webhooks, RLS, deploys. Industry benchmarks flag roughly half of AI-generated code for security issues (see our 2026 research), but 'flagged' does not mean 'unsalvageable'.
How fast can an AI app rescue start?
The free Rescue Diagnostic usually starts within one business day and returns a written rescue-vs-rewrite recommendation in 24 to 48 hours. For true emergencies — your AI app broken in production right now — the $299 Emergency Triage fixes one production blocker in 48 hours and you can decide whether to scale to a full rescue afterward.
How are fix-AI-built-app engagements priced?
Start with the free Rescue Diagnostic. Then pick the smallest fixed scope that solves the blocker: $299 Emergency Triage (48h, one bug), $499 Security Audit (Supabase RLS + secrets + webhook signing), $799 Integration Fix (one integration end-to-end), $3,999 Break-the-Fix-Loop (refactor + tests + CI), $7,499 Finish My MVP (3–4 week launch pass), or $3,499/mo Retainer Support for ongoing Cursor-agent reviews and vendor incident response. Fixed fee, written scope before you commit.
Can AI app rescue work alongside our in-house engineers who are still prompting in Lovable?
Yes. Many clients keep their team prompting in Lovable or Cursor while we handle the production concerns — RLS, Stripe edges, deploys, tests, monitoring. We pair with in-house engineers, do code reviews, and coach on directing AI tools for production-grade output. Clean handoff is built into every rescue engagement so your team can extend the code without re-hiring us.
What if the Lovable rescue audit reveals more broken than I thought?
The audit fee is flat (or free for the diagnostic). If the fix scope grows, you get a clear written plan and decide what to tackle. No surprise bills, no scope creep. Typical path: diagnostic identifies three scopes in priority order — Emergency Triage this week for the bleeding, Security Audit next week for the Veracode exposure, Integration Fix the week after for the Stripe subscription sync. Sequential, fixed-fee, paid as scoped.
What's the difference between the free diagnostic and a full AI app rescue?
The free 24–48h diagnostic returns a written rescue-vs-rewrite recommendation and a prioritized list of the smallest fixed-fee scopes that unblock you. A full rescue is the execution of that plan — could be one scope ($299 triage), could be three scopes in sequence (triage + security audit + integration fix), could be Finish My MVP ($7,499) if the app is nearly shippable. The diagnostic is always free; the execution is always fixed-fee.
§ 08/related fixes
Next step

Start your AI app rescue with a free 48h diagnostic.

Send the repo URL and a one-paragraph description of what is broken. We return a written rescue-vs-rewrite recommendation and a prioritized list of fixed-fee scopes in 24–48 hours. No credit card, no hourly meter.

Book free diagnostic →