When production and the repository disagree
A recovery checklist for teams who discover that the live binary no longer matches any tagged release.
The first sign is often a hotfix folder on a desktop, or a compile laptop that nobody has powered on since the last release manager left. Production keeps serving customers; the repository looks tidy and wrong.
Start with artefacts, not opinions
Hash the deployed binaries. Compare installers, MSI caches, and container images if they exist. Only then open Git or SVN. Arguments about “who skipped the process” can wait until you know which bytes are live.
Interview for the invisible
Dispatchers and accounts clerks often know which button still triggers a nightly export. Those stories map to scripts that never entered source control. Write them down before proposing modernization paths.
Record gaps without drama
A recovery report that lists missing modules is more useful than a cheerful rewrite pitch. Sponsors can fund archaeology when the gaps are visible; they cannot fund hope.
AmberPath’s codebase recovery assessment exists for this exact mismatch. Bring the archives you still have — even imperfect ones.