Engagement
How engagements are priced and run.
Three drivers move the number. Everything else is scope, and scope is written down.
Drivers
Three drivers.
Coverage
How much of the lifecycle we own: Build only, Build into Run, or all four phases.
Speed
How fast the committed throughput has to land, and whether the pager is business hours or 24/7.
Committed throughput
How many sized backlog items per month we guarantee, with a make-good if we miss.
Complexity is a multiplier on all three. Nothing else moves the number.
Ways in
Three ways into Build.
Pilot
Two weeks, fixed scope, eight to ten items. Written acceptance criteria on day one, written status on day ten. The fastest way to find out whether the model fits your codebase and your team.
Retainer
Monthly committed throughput with a make-good guarantee. Shortfall rolls forward at no cost. Includes Run at Monitored minimum for everything shipped under it.
Project
Fixed scope, milestones of four weeks or less, each with its own acceptance criteria and its own sign-off. Handover is the final milestone, not an afterthought.
Allocation
Shared, named or dedicated.
The default is a shared Technical Lead owning outcomes across a small number of clients. That is what keeps the model cost-efficient: agents do the volume, and one senior person spends their time on scope, review and production rather than on a single chair. Clients who want a named or dedicated engineer can have one, priced on allocation.
Growth
Scope extensions.
Extensions are priced in whole weeks with a committed output per week, so growth in scope never becomes an argument about hours. You see what a week buys before you buy it.
Guarantee
What is guaranteed.
- Throughput, with a make-good. Two consecutive shortfall months and either side may exit.
- Add-ons scoped and agreed upfront, never on an invoice unannounced.
Terms
Terms in one paragraph.
Engagements are prepaid. Projects bill per milestone. Overage bills in arrears. Intellectual property is assigned on payment. Handover is a deliverable, with runbooks, decision records and a restore drill, not a goodbye email.
Not a fit
What we decline.
- Staff augmentation by the hour.
- Work with no definable acceptance criteria.
- Clients who want to keep the outcome but not the scope.
Next step
A fixed quote within 48 hours of a 20-minute call.
Bring the backlog, the system, or the question. We will tell you on the call whether it is a fit.
Scoping call, 20 min
Email hello@unocode.ai with two or three slots that suit you (SGT). We reply within one working day.
Email to book