Common Issues general

I Can't Add a New Feature Without Breaking Something

You want to add a new feature to your AI-built app, but every time you prompt the AI to add something, it breaks existing functionality. You're stuck in a loop where fixing one thing breaks another.

Common Causes

  • The codebase has accumulated too many AI-generated patches on top of patches
  • No separation of concerns — everything is intertwined
  • The AI doesn't understand the full context of the existing codebase
  • No tests, so there's no way to know if a change breaks something
  • The architecture wasn't designed to be extended

How to Fix It

  1. Stop trying to add the feature via prompting if it keeps breaking things
  2. Describe the feature you want and what keeps breaking to a developer
  3. The developer can refactor the affected area first, then add the feature properly
  4. Consider whether the app needs some architectural cleanup before adding more features
  5. A code review can identify the most fragile areas and suggest how to stabilize them

Real developers can help you.

Bastien Labelle Bastien Labelle Full stack dev w/ 20+ years of experience Luca Liberati Luca Liberati I work on monoliths and microservices, backends and frontends, manage K8s clusters and love to design apps architecture Jared Hasson Jared Hasson Full time lead founding dev at a cyber security saas startup, with 10 yoe and a bachelor's in CS. Building & debugging software products is what I've spent my time on for forever Krishna Sai Kuncha Krishna Sai Kuncha Experienced Professional Full stack Developer with 8+ years of experience across react, python, js, ts, golang and react-native. Developed inhouse websearch tooling for AI before websearch was solved : ) Mehdi Ben Haddou Mehdi Ben Haddou - Founder of Chessigma (1M+ users) & many small projects - ex Founding Engineer @Uplane (YC F25) - ex Software Engineer @Amazon and @Booking.com Nam Tran Nam Tran 10 years as fullstack developer Matthew Jordan Matthew Jordan I've been working at a large software company named Kainos for 2 years, and mainly specialise in Platform Engineering. I regularly enjoy working on software products outside of work, and I'm a huge fan of game development using Unity. I personally enjoy Python & C# in my spare time, but I also specialise in multiple different platform-related technologies from my day job. Jaime Orts-Caroff Jaime Orts-Caroff I'm a Senior Android developer, open to work in various fields prajwalfullstack prajwalfullstack Hi Im a full stack developer, a vibe coded MVP to Market ready product, I'm here to help zipking zipking I am a technologist and product builder dedicated to creating high-impact solutions at the intersection of AI and specialized markets. Currently, I am focused on PropScan (EstateGuard), an AI-driven SaaS platform tailored for the Japanese real estate industry, and exploring the potential of Archify. As an INFJ-T, I approach development with a "systems-thinking" mindset—balancing technical precision with a deep understanding of user needs. I particularly enjoy the challenge of architecting Vertical AI SaaS and optimizing Small Language Models (SLMs) to solve specific, real-world business problems. Whether I'm in a CTO-level leadership role or hands-on with the code, I thrive on building tools that turn complex data into actionable value.

Describe what's wrong in plain English. No technical knowledge needed.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is my AI-generated codebase salvageable?

Almost always yes. A developer can refactor the messy parts, add proper structure, and make the codebase easier to extend. It's almost always cheaper than starting over.

Should I start over from scratch?

Rarely. Refactoring specific parts is usually faster and cheaper. A developer can tell you whether a rewrite makes sense after reviewing the code.

Related Common Issues Issues

Can't fix it yourself?
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