KodoLab engineering blog / 23 deep guides

How to make better technical decisions for a product.

Long-form guides for founders, product leaders and engineers — from the first hypothesis and AI/RAG to integrations, e-commerce and production launch.

Featured

Mobile products · 7 min

Mobile app development cost: how to budget the first release

A practical guide to iOS and Android app cost: user journeys, backend, design, integrations, QA, store release and post-launch work.

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MVP and product strategy · 7 min

MVP without illusions: defining a useful first release

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AI and RAG · 7 min

RAG for business: when document search is worth it

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CRM, ERP and APIs · 6 min

How to design CRM, ERP and API integrations that stay reliable

A practical guide to integration projects: data ownership, contracts, states, retries, failure handling, security and launch order.

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B2B portals and business systems · 6 min

How to design a B2B portal for real business processes

A guide to B2B portals for customers, managers and operators: roles, requests, documents, approvals, integrations and audit.

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E-commerce platforms · 6 min

E-commerce architecture: connecting catalog, orders, payments and logistics

A practical blueprint for online sales: data ownership, order lifecycle, inventory, delivery, CRM, payment failures and custom boundaries.

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Production and operations · 6 min

Is the product production-ready? A practical pre-launch checklist

What to review before launching a SaaS, CRM, mobile app or AI system: environments, security, monitoring, backups, releases and ownership.

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CRM and business systems · 6 min

Custom CRM or an off-the-shelf platform: how to choose without an expensive rewrite

When a packaged CRM is enough, when a custom contour is justified and how to compare the total cost of ownership, integrations and change.

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Business automation · 6 min

Business process automation: where to start without automating chaos

A practical guide to requests, approvals and operations: mapping loss, defining the first release, handling exceptions and measuring impact.

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B2B portals and workspaces · 6 min

B2B portal cost and scope: what shapes budget and timeline

How to estimate a B2B portal for customers or partners: roles, documents, requests, integrations, security, first release and growth.

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Legacy and backend · 6 min

Legacy system modernization: how to upgrade a backend without stopping the business

A staged approach to an existing product: dependency audit, change boundaries, API compatibility, observability, migrations and rollout.

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AI and RAG · 6 min

How to implement a RAG system in a company: data, access, quality and the first release

An engineering guide to enterprise search and AI assistants: source preparation, indexing, permissions, citations, evaluation and operations.

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Mobile products · 5 min

Mobile MVP: what belongs in the first app release

How to choose platforms, roles and one end-to-end journey so a mobile product can be validated and extended without a rewrite.

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Business systems · 5 min

CRM or ERP: choosing the right automation contour

A practical framework for CRM, ERP or a custom system: workflows, data ownership, roles, integrations and first-release boundaries.

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Integrations and APIs · 5 min

Why integrations fail: APIs, data and retry patterns

How to design resilient CRM, ERP and third-party integrations through contracts, idempotency, queues, failure handling and monitoring.

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Operations and DevOps · 5 min

Product observability: what to monitor before the business finds the issue

A practical observability plan for web and internal systems: metrics, logs, traces, alerts, recovery and ownership.

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Discovery and launch · 5 min

What to learn before development: a short discovery that saves months

How to prepare a project before code: users, workflows, data, constraints, prototype, readiness criteria and first-release scope.

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E-commerce and sales · 7 min

When a seller needs a direct store and how to launch a second sales channel

A practical guide for marketplace sellers: when a direct store adds value, what belongs in version one and how to connect orders, inventory, payments and fulfilment.

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MVP and team · 6 min

Who should build an MVP: choosing a team without an expensive rewrite

How to compare an MVP team, studio or contractor: product ownership, architecture, estimates, communication, source-code handover and post-launch support.

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Integrations and accounting · 6 min

A reliable 1C integration: architecture for a site and business systems

An engineering guide to 1C integration: source of truth, catalog and order exchange, idempotency, queues, monitoring and a safe rollout.

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AI and existing systems · 6 min

How to add AI to an existing backend without rewriting the product

A staged architecture for an AI layer over a working system: data adapter, permissions, RAG, assist mode, quality evaluation and rollout.

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MVP and architecture · 6 min

Why MVPs get rewritten after a year: decisions that preserve version one

Why MVP rewrites become expensive: unclear boundaries, brittle integrations, data ownership, missing observability and no path for the next release.

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B2B and automation · 6 min

How to replace Excel, chat and email with a corporate portal without stopping work

A practical migration plan from spreadsheets and messages to a B2B portal: first workflows, data migration, roles, approvals and measurable outcomes.

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