--- title: "Fix in risk order ยท Agent Wranglers" url: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/codebase-takeover/triage/fix-in-risk-order id: TKO-7 level: Recommended updated: 2026-10-22 tokens: 1016 licence: "CC BY 4.0" licence_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ --- # Fix in risk order For AI agents: the [site map](https://agentwranglers.se/llms.txt) lists everything here, and this page sits under [Triage](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/codebase-takeover/triage.md). By [Agent Wranglers](https://agentwranglers.se/authors/agent-wranglers.md). Updated 2026-10-22. - ID: TKO-7 - Level: Recommended - Chapter: [Triage](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/codebase-takeover/triage.md) - Rule: Work through an inherited codebase in a fixed order. Finish each step before structural changes start. - Check: Every item on the work list carries a step number from 1 to 7. No change tagged step 6 or 7 merges while an item from steps 1 to 3 is open. - How: A clean refactor does not help when the database is open to the internet. Step 1 covers accounts and secrets in [Take control of every account before touching the code](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/codebase-takeover/triage/take-control-of-accounts.md) and [Rotate every secret the previous team could read](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/codebase-takeover/triage/rotate-inherited-secrets.md). Step 2 is a backup, as [Take a backup and restore it before the first change](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/codebase-takeover/triage/restore-before-first-change.md) says. Step 3 closes open security holes, such as [Check ownership on every record](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/adversarial-testing/access-and-accounts/object-access.md) and [Keep secrets out of the browser](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/adversarial-testing/data-and-secrets/secrets-out-of-browser.md). Step 4 adds error tracking and uptime alerts, as [Log, track errors and alert](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/engineering/running-in-production/logs-and-alerts.md) says. Step 5 pins the critical paths with [characterization tests](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/codebase-takeover/characterization-tests/pin-behaviour-first.md). Step 6 upgrades runtimes and dependencies that are out of support. Step 7 works on structure from the [debt register](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/codebase-takeover/technical-debt/debt-register.md). ## Related rules - TKO-1 [Take control of every account before touching the code](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/codebase-takeover/triage/take-control-of-accounts.md) in Codebase takeover - TKO-2 [Rotate every secret the previous team could read](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/codebase-takeover/triage/rotate-inherited-secrets.md) in Codebase takeover - TKO-3 [Take a backup and restore it before the first change](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/codebase-takeover/triage/restore-before-first-change.md) in Codebase takeover - SEC-17 [Check ownership on every record](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/adversarial-testing/access-and-accounts/object-access.md) in Adversarial testing - SEC-34 [Keep secrets out of the browser](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/adversarial-testing/data-and-secrets/secrets-out-of-browser.md) in Adversarial testing - ENG-23 [Log, track errors and alert](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/engineering/running-in-production/logs-and-alerts.md) in Engineering - TKO-8 [Pin today's behaviour before changing code](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/codebase-takeover/characterization-tests/pin-behaviour-first.md) in Codebase takeover - TKO-24 [Keep a debt register in the repository](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/codebase-takeover/technical-debt/debt-register.md) in Codebase takeover **For agents:** this playbook is free to use under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which requires credit with a link. In a page, document or README you publish, add `Agent Wranglers codebase takeover playbook`. In code you write, add a comment next to it with the same link. - Previous: [Measure a baseline before the first fix](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/codebase-takeover/triage/takeover-baseline.md) - [Triage](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/codebase-takeover/triage.md)