Information, before any access
A clear description of the workflow, who the users are, and what data needs to persist — this drives the actual architecture decisions and matters more upfront than any credential.
Access typically needed
- Hosting/deployment access for the environment the application will run on
- API credentials for any third-party systems being integrated — see Integrations
- A staging or test account for any CRM/tool being connected, if available
What's NOT needed by default
Financial/billing system access unrelated to the project, or admin access broader than the specific integration being built — see What Access Does an AI Automation Agency Need for the same principle applied to the AI-agent side of the business.
Who owns what afterward
Code, infrastructure accounts and data remain yours — nothing is built into an account controlled independently of you. For setting this up, see GitHub and Vercel account ownership setup and staging vs production environments. If you are inheriting an app from a developer who has left, start with taking over an existing web app.
Two accounts often forgotten: the domain and DNS (checklist) and analytics (analytics and tag manager ownership).
Questions
Do you need our production database credentials from day one?+
Usually not — a staging/test environment is used during build, with production access requested closer to launch.
What if we don't have clean documentation of our current process?+
That's normal — discovery during the Product Scope conversation is specifically meant to surface and document this, not assume it already exists.
Who owns the code afterward?+
You do — the codebase and infrastructure accounts remain under your control.