The decision
A repository is only one part of ownership. A handover is usable when another authorised team can build, deploy, observe and restore the product without depending on an individual's personal account. Contractual ownership still needs its own explicit agreement; possession of a file is not a legal conclusion.
A worked example
For an illustrative booking application, list the repository, domain, hosting, database, email provider, payment account and monitoring. For each, record the business owner, administrators, billing contact and recovery method. Transfer access through the provider's supported process and rotate credentials that the outgoing team no longer needs.
Inventory the running product, not only its repository
Ask the outgoing team to trace one customer action through every service it touches. A booking confirmation may pass through a job queue, an email provider, a scheduled cleanup task and a monitoring alert. Put those services in the inventory with the account owner and an explanation of their purpose. List the environments separately: development access does not establish production control. Include build instructions, required runtime versions, third-party licences and where configuration is stored. Keep the document useful without exposing live secrets, customer records or personal recovery details to everyone who can read the repository.
Rehearse the transfer with an independent operator
Have a receiving operator start from a clean environment and follow the documented steps. They should build the application, run the appropriate checks, apply migrations to a disposable database and restore a safe backup. Record where they needed an undocumented answer. Repeat only the steps affected by the correction, so the exercise remains focused. A recording of the original developer performing a deployment is helpful context, but it is not equivalent to the receiving team proving it can operate the product. The distinction matters most when the original team is unavailable during an incident.
Close access deliberately after acceptance
Agree a sequence for ownership transfer, verification, credential rotation and removal of obsolete access. Removing the outgoing team's access too early can interrupt a necessary transfer; leaving it indefinitely makes ownership unclear. Confirm that business-controlled recovery methods work and that automated jobs still run after changes. Name the person who will receive renewal notices and incident alerts. The final handover record should list completed demonstrations, accepted limitations, remaining contractual obligations and the support contact during transition. Any open issue needs a responsible person and a resolution condition rather than a vague statement that the code has been delivered.
Alternatives worth weighing
A document-only handover is inexpensive to schedule but can conceal missing steps. A recorded walkthrough helps explain decisions. A supervised rebuild and restore from a backup provides stronger operational evidence; run it in an isolated environment with safe data.
Where the plan breaks
Common omissions include dependencies licensed to a developer personally, scheduled jobs, environment variables and instructions that only work on one laptop. Never paste active secrets into the handover document. Reference their secure storage and test that the receiving team can access it.
Before you commission the work
Can the new team release a harmless change, locate an error and restore a test backup? Are recurring charges and support boundaries clear? Use those demonstrations as acceptance criteria for a custom software handover, alongside the agreed intellectual-property terms.