What “you own the code” should mean in a contract

Most agencies say you own the code. Fewer spell out what that means when the engagement ends. Here is what we put in writing.

Everything that runs

Source code, trained models and their weights, data pipelines, infrastructure definitions and configuration — in your repositories and your cloud accounts.

Everything that explains it

Architecture notes, a runbook, how to retrain each model, and a recorded handover session with your team.

“If we disappeared tomorrow, your team should still be able to run, fix and retrain everything we built.”

Nothing held back

Credentials are yours from day one. Pre-existing tools we bring are licensed to you for use with the delivered system, in writing.

Ask for this list before you sign, not at the end. It is much easier to agree on day one.