I Can't Update My App After the AI Tool Made Changes
You were using an AI tool to build or update your app, and after a series of changes, something went wrong. Now you can't make any more updates — the app won't build, the AI keeps going in circles, or every new change breaks something else.
This is like being stuck in quicksand. The more you ask the AI to fix it, the deeper the mess gets. You might see error messages that don't make sense, or the AI says it fixed the problem but nothing actually changed.
At this point, the code has gotten so tangled that the AI can't untangle it on its own. You need a human developer to step in, clean up the mess, and get your app back to a working state.
Error Messages You Might See
Common Causes
- AI made conflicting changes — Different prompts told the AI to do opposite things, creating code that contradicts itself
- Dependencies got scrambled — The AI added, removed, or changed software libraries in a way that makes them incompatible with each other
- Core files were accidentally overwritten — The AI replaced important configuration files with broken versions
- Too many changes at once — Instead of small careful updates, the AI rewrote large sections and introduced multiple bugs simultaneously
- Build errors piling up — One error led to a "fix" that created two more errors, and so on
How to Fix It
- Stop asking the AI to fix it — Seriously. If it's been going in circles for more than 3 attempts, the AI is making things worse
- Go back to the last working version — Check if your AI tool has version history or if your code is saved in GitHub with previous versions
- Screenshot every error message — Document exactly what's happening so a developer can diagnose the problem quickly
- Get a human developer to review the code — They can identify the root cause and fix it properly instead of guessing like the AI is doing
- Make a plan before more changes — Once it's fixed, make smaller, more careful updates and test after each one
Real developers can help you.
Matt Butler
Software Engineer @ AWS
Luca Liberati
I work on monoliths and microservices, backends and frontends, manage K8s clusters and love to design apps architecture
Daniel Vázquez
Software Engineer with over 10 years of experience on Startups, Government, big tech industry & consulting.
Sage Fulcher
Hey I'm Sage! Im a Boston area software engineer who grew up in South Florida. Ive worked at a ton of cool places like a telehealth kidney care startup that took part in a billion dollar merger (Cricket health/Interwell health), a boutique design agency where I got to work on a ton of exciting startups including a photography education app, a collegiate Esports league and more (Philosophie), a data analytics as a service startup in Cambridge (MA) as well as at Phillips and MIT Lincoln Lab where I designed and developed novel network security visualizations and analytics. I've been writing code and furiously devoted to using computers to make people’s lives easier for about 17 years. My degree is in making computers make pretty lights and sounds. Outside of work I love hip hop, the Celtics, professional wrestling, magic the gathering, photography, drumming, and guitars (both making and playing them)
Matthew Butler
Systems Development Engineer @ Amazon Web Services
BurnHavoc
Been around fixing other peoples code for 20 years.
Bastien Labelle
Full stack dev w/ 20+ years of experience
Dor Yaloz
SW engineer with 6+ years of experience,
I worked with React/Node/Python
did projects with React+Capacitor.js for ios
Supabase expert
PawelPloszaj
I'm fronted developer with 10+ years of experience with big projects. I have small backend background too
Stanislav Prigodich
15+ years building iOS and web apps at startups and enterprise companies. I want to use that experience to help builders ship real products - when something breaks, I'm here to fix it.
Describe what's wrong in plain English. No technical knowledge needed.
Get HelpFrequently Asked Questions
Why does the AI keep making things worse?
AI coding tools work best for building new things, not debugging tangled code. When code gets messy, the AI doesn't truly understand what's wrong — it makes educated guesses. After several wrong guesses, the code becomes too complex for the AI to sort out.
Can I go back to an earlier version of my app?
If your code is on GitHub or your AI tool has version history, yes. Look for a 'history' or 'versions' feature, or check your GitHub repository for previous commits. If there's no history, a developer may still be able to untangle the current code.