Inherited a messy, slow, or fragile codebase? I stabilize it first, then refactor it toward something you can build on — without a risky big-bang rewrite. Incremental modernization: cut tech debt, add automated tests, harden security (OWASP Top 10), and optimize performance. On past work I reduced API latency ~50% and cut system error rates ~90% with an E2E test framework.
I prefer ongoing engagements: rescue the platform, then keep it healthy as your long-term maintainer. Backward-compatibility first, clear rollback paths, nothing that breaks production. Stack: PHP / Laravel, MySQL, Redis, Docker, AWS.