Understanding the system before changing it
A major change request starts with questions about the system already in place. What does the application do today? Which parts of the code support that behaviour? What else could be affected by the proposed change?
Amotion worked with the Hydralogic team on tools and working practices to support that investigation. The engagement included building a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server and Claude Code plugins, alongside skills and written guidance for recurring engineering tasks.
The scope connected requirements preparation, documentation generation, data transformation, codebase audits and impact analysis. The aim was to give the team a clearer basis for planning changes to existing software.
Bringing source material into requirements
The work included generating Functional Requirements Documents (FRDs) from multiple sources. Bringing that material together creates a starting point for describing the requested functionality and reviewing what still needs clarification.
This requirements work sat alongside the codebase analysis. A proposed change describes what the system should do; examining the existing application helps the team understand what that request means in practice. Connecting the two supports a more informed discussion before implementation begins.
Making the codebase easier to examine
Amotion helped the team develop capabilities for examining the application from several angles. Each produced a different kind of working material for the people assessing a change.
- Documentation from the codebase. Documentation generation turned information held in the code into written explanations: a basis for understanding existing behaviour and discussing the application with the people responsible for changing it.
- Code audits and reports. Codebases were audited and the findings organised into reports, so the team could examine them in engineering review and decide which areas needed further investigation.
- Reverse engineering and change impact. Reverse engineering and impact analysis were used to investigate an existing codebase before development on a substantial change request: understanding current behaviour and examining how a proposed change could affect the wider application.
- Data transformation. Data transformation sat within the broader work on understanding and changing existing systems, alongside documentation, requirements preparation and code analysis.
Tools the team could use again
The MCP server and Claude Code plugins were developed as part of the engagement. Reusable skills and descriptive guidance accompanied the tooling, documenting how to approach the analysis and preparation tasks.
This combination mattered because the same kinds of questions return with each new requirement or change request. Written instructions give engineers a starting point for repeating the work and adapting it to the task in front of them.
A better starting point for a major change request
Taken together, requirements preparation and codebase investigation support a useful set of questions before development:
- What functionality is being requested, and which source material describes it?
- How does the relevant part of the application behave today?
- Which areas could be affected by the proposed change?
- What do the documentation and audit findings add to the assessment?
- What remains uncertain and needs an engineer’s investigation?
These questions connect the business request with the technical investigation. They help organise the evidence available to the team and the further work needed to prepare a change plan.
What the team gained
The engagement brought together an MCP server, Claude Code plugins, reusable skills and guidance covering documentation, codebase audits, reports, impact analysis and requirements generation, as well as data transformation work.
For the team, the value of connecting these activities is continuity: source material informs the requirements, codebase analysis informs the change plan, and written guidance provides a way to approach the next request. Amotion’s role was to help build the tooling and the practices that support those connections.