# Product Change Impact Analysis From Your Code

Source: https://maito.app/workflows/answer-what-happens-if-we-change-x

Ask Maito what a change would touch and it reads the code, lists affected areas and flags the risks before the change goes on the roadmap.

Know what a change would touch before you put it on the roadmap.

[Product](https://maito.app/workflows/team/product) · [Software](https://maito.app/workflows/industry/software) · When you ask · Updated October 19, 2026

Works with

-   Slack
-   Email

## How do you find out what happens if you change a feature?

To find out what happens if you change a feature, ask Maito in Slack. It reads your repository, finds every place that depends on the current behavior, such as login, billing and reports, and replies with a list by area. It also flags a risk that is easy to miss before you put it on the roadmap.

## How it's done today

PMs wait for an engineer to look.

## What Maito does

1.  Read the question
2.  Trace the code and data involved
3.  List what would be affected

## Example

**Leo** (10:12 AM):

What breaks if we let users have two emails?

**Maito** (10:14 AM):

Five places assume one email per user.

• **Login:** auth/login.ts looks users up by users.email, which has a unique index  
• **Invites:** accepting an invite matches on email, so a second address creates a duplicate member  
• **Billing:** invoices go to users.email, with no way to pick another  
• **Reports:** 3 scheduled reports join on email (weekly\_usage, seat\_audit, churn\_risk)

**The catch:** password reset sends to whatever address is on the account. If a second address can be added unverified, anyone could attach yours and reset your password. Verification has to come first.

Rough size: medium, 2 to 3 weeks. I read the main branch and ran nothing. An engineer should confirm before this is planned.

**Leo** (10:20 AM):

Can you write this up so Alex can scope it?

**Maito** (10:22 AM):

Done. Attached: two-emails-impact.pdf, with file paths and line numbers for each item.

## How to set it up

When you ask Answer "what happens if we change X?"

Set up

Nothing to set up. Ask in Slack or by email whenever you need it.

## What it won't do

It sees the code, not your customers' habits or contracts. A change can matter to a customer in a way no file shows.

## Questions

### Do I need to read code to use it?

No. Ask in plain words and it replies in plain words, with file names for engineers who want them.

### Does it change any code?

No. It reads the repository and reports. Changes happen only if you ask for a branch.

### How reliable is the list?

It follows the code, so it finds real dependencies. Ask an engineer to confirm anything that drives a big decision.

## More product workflows

-   [Write a spec with the edge cases Turn a feature idea into a spec that includes the cases the code already handles. Product · When you ask Works with Notion, Confluence.](https://maito.app/workflows/write-a-spec-with-the-edge-cases)
-   [Build a quick prototype See an idea working on a branch before committing the team to it. Product · When you ask Works with Slack, Email.](https://maito.app/workflows/build-a-quick-prototype)
-   [Group user feedback into themes See what users ask for most, with counts and quotes. Product · On a schedule Works with Intercom, Pylon, Granola, Fireflies, SurveyMonkey.](https://maito.app/workflows/group-user-feedback-into-themes)
-   [Investigate a drop in a metric When sign-ups or activation drop, get a first answer on why. Product · When you ask Works with Amplitude, Mixpanel, Datadog, Sentry.](https://maito.app/workflows/investigate-a-drop-in-a-metric)
-   [Write release notes customers will read Turn the engineering changelog into plain notes for customers. Product · When something happens Works with Slack, Email.](https://maito.app/workflows/write-release-notes-customers-will-read)
-   [Prep for a customer interview Know the customer's usage and history before the interview. Product · When you ask Works with Amplitude, Mixpanel, Intercom, Pylon, HubSpot, Salesforce.](https://maito.app/workflows/prep-for-a-customer-interview)

[See all workflows](https://maito.app/workflows)

## Put your AI teammate to work.

Set it up in minutes. Start with this one, and let it earn the next one.

[Put Maito to work](https://maito.app/login?returnTo=%2Fworkflows%2Fanswer-what-happens-if-we-change-x)[Book a demo](mailto:support@maito.app?subject=Maito%20demo)