Rails Rescue, Upgrades, and Maintenance.
Does your business run on a Ruby on Rails application that its original developers or offshore team left behind? Bracken East takes it over, makes it safe to change, brings Ruby and Rails up to supported versions, and keeps it healthy. We also build new Rails applications from the ground up.
Led by Jason Daly, Managing Partner: more than two decades building software and growing engineering teams. Based in southwest Connecticut, serving businesses nationwide.
Did the People Who Built Your App Move On?
Sometimes the team that built the application is gone. Sometimes an offshore development arrangement ends and leaves a codebase that no one on your side can confidently change. Common signs:
- Nobody on your side can confidently change or deploy the code.
- It runs on Ruby 3.2 or older, or Rails 7.2 or older, and none of those receive security fixes anymore.
- Running bundle update feels too risky to try.
- Deployments are manual, undocumented, or depend on one person's machine.
- Background jobs fail quietly, and nobody is sure which ones the business depends on.
- The offshore team, agency, or freelancer is gone and the handover was thin.
You do not need to know every technical detail before getting help.
Not sure what your application is built with? Check it with our free stack detector, or just tell us what you know on the call.
We work with you and your codebase to build a stable foundation, make dependency upgrades and new features routine again, and give you peace of mind about the application your business runs on.
Ruby on Rails Services
Rails Application Takeover and Rescue
Take over an inherited Rails app without starting over.
We start read-only: secure access to the repository, hosting, and third-party services, get the app running outside production, and map what is actually live, including scheduled tasks and background jobs. Then we stabilize the critical paths, add tests where a break would hurt most, and make deployments repeatable.
Ruby and Rails Version Upgrades
Move to supported versions one step at a time.
We upgrade Ruby, Rails, and your gems one version at a time, clear deprecation warnings as we go, and release each step on its own, so the business keeps running while the platform catches up.
Ongoing Rails Maintenance
Keep it healthy after the rescue.
Security patches, gem updates, monitoring, tested backups, and the small changes your business asks for, from the people who know the code. Maintenance is scoped to your application once we understand its condition.
Custom Application Development With Rails
Design and build a Rails application that holds up in production.
We design the architecture, build integrations, write tests, and establish the deployment path. You work directly with the person responsible for technical decisions and the production release.
Tooling and Infrastructure
Make the path from change request to release shorter and more reliable.
We improve the systems around the application: tests, continuous integration, background job queues, deployments, monitoring, and cloud infrastructure on AWS or Cloudflare. The result is less release friction and a codebase that is easier to change over time.
How a Rails Takeover Works
Free Discovery Call
In 45 minutes, we talk through the application, what it does for the business, and what has stopped moving. We don't need code access for this conversation.
Read-Only Assessment
With your permission, we review the repository, hosting, gems, and deployment before changing anything, then tell you plainly what's risky, what's fine, and what we'd do first. Scope and price are agreed in writing before any work starts.
Stabilize
Access documented and in your name, a build anyone can reproduce, tests around the critical paths, and a deployment you can repeat and roll back.
Upgrade and Improve
Supported Ruby and Rails versions, one step at a time, alongside the fixes and features the business is waiting on. Each step ships on its own.
Maintain or Hand Off
We keep the application healthy, or hand it to your own team with documentation. Either way, the code and accounts stay yours.
Who Does the Work
You work directly with Jason Daly, our Managing Partner, a hands-on full-stack engineer with more than two decades of experience building software. Every engagement starts with the same read-only assessment, so you know what you have before anyone changes it.
Rails Questions, Answered
Can you take over a Rails app built by an offshore team, agency, or freelancer?
Yes. Who built it doesn't change the process: we start read-only, document every account and access path, get the app running outside production, and stabilize it before changing behavior. As long as you control the repository and hosting accounts, or can recover them, the original developers don't need to be involved.
Do we need a rewrite?
Almost never. A rewrite has to rediscover every business rule the current application encodes, and it delivers nothing until it's finished. We stabilize, upgrade, and refactor in place. If replacing one piece really is the cheaper path, we'll say so and explain why.
Which Ruby and Rails versions do you work with?
Old and new. Each Rails release series gets security fixes for two years after its first release, so an app that hasn't had steady upkeep is usually on a version that no longer gets them. We plan a path from where your application is today to currently supported Ruby and Rails releases, moving one version at a time and fixing deprecations and gem conflicts as we go.
How long does a Rails upgrade take?
It depends on how far behind the application is, how much test coverage exists, and how many gems need replacing. After the assessment you get a step-by-step plan, and each step ships on its own, so you aren't waiting until the end to see progress.
Do you work on Ruby applications that aren't built with Rails?
Yes. Sinatra apps, plain Rack services, and Ruby scripts that run part of the business get the same read-only start, stabilization, and upkeep.
Who owns the code and accounts?
You do. The code stays in your repository and every service account stays in your name. If you later bring development in-house, you get documentation and a clean handoff.
Bring the Application You Have. Or the One You Need.
Book a free 45-minute call to talk through your product, the codebase, or the part that has stopped moving.
We will tell you plainly whether Bracken East is a practical fit for the work. Prefer to write? Send us a message.