Implementation worksheet · 5 min read
What to Ask an AI App Builder About Infrastructure Ownership
Ask eight questions in writing: Where does my database live and can I dump it? Who owns the domain binding? Where do uploaded files live? Can auth/user records leave with password hashes? Whose keys are my integration secrets? What does deletion actually delete? What breaks the day I stop paying? Is any runtime dependency vendor-only? Score the answers, not the marketing page.
An app is code plus state. Builders advertise the code half because it's clean; the state half — data, files, users, domains — is where leaving actually gets expensive. These questions surface that half before it costs you.
Put it into practice
1. Send the eight questions in writing
Email or support ticket, not a sales call. Written answers commit the vendor and give you a record to test against later.
2. Test the database claim
Whatever they answered, attempt the dump on a test project. A 'yes, via support request' is a different answer from a button, and both are different from silence.
3. Test file and user egress
Upload files, create users, then export both. Check the user export includes what re-authentication elsewhere needs — password hashes or a stated migration path.
4. Run the stop-paying scenario
Read the terms for what happens at cancellation: grace period, data retention, export window. Write the timeline down next to the vendor's verbal answer.
5. File the record with dates
Vendors change policies; your log is the state of the answers when you committed. Re-run annually for anything client-critical.
Infrastructure ownership answer log
Copy this structure into your review document and record your observed result for each row.
| Question | Vendor answer (dated) | Tested? | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Database dump path | |||
| Domain ownership on exit | |||
| File storage egress | |||
| User/auth export incl. hashes | |||
| Stop-paying timeline |
A failure worth checking
Export theater: a vendor whose code export is excellent while every question about database dumps routes to 'contact support'. The code repo is the shop window; the database is the inventory. An evaluation that only checks the window gets owned by the inventory.
Common questions
Which single question predicts the most?
'What breaks the day I stop paying?' — it forces the vendor to describe the dependency graph honestly, and evasion there tells you what the other seven answers are worth.
Does self-hosting solve this?
It trades the questions, not the work: you own everything and operate everything. For most teams the honest middle is a vendor whose written answers pass, re-verified yearly.
Basis and scope
This is a proposed implementation method using illustrative examples, not a measured benchmark or a customer case study. Prepared with AI assistance. Validate product-specific behavior against current documentation and your own test environment.