---
title: Engineer mode
description: Re-run AI generation on an existing capture without re-browsing.
---

Engineer mode skips the capture step. It takes an existing run (HAR plus
metadata) and re-runs the AI generation pass. Useful when you want to try a
different model, prompt, or output language without re-doing the browser
work.

## When to use it

- The first generation missed something. Try Opus 4.6, or tweak the prompt.
- You want the same capture exported to a different language (Python to TS).
- You want to iterate on the generated client without paying the cost of
  re-capturing the site.

## How to run it

Interactive:

```bash
reverse-api-engineer
# switch to engineer mode with Shift+Tab, then enter <run_id>
```

Direct:

```bash
reverse-api-engineer engineer <run_id>
```

Find the `run_id` of a previous run with:

```bash
reverse-api-engineer list
```

Or `--json` for a machine-parseable list:

```bash
reverse-api-engineer list --json | jq
```

## What gets regenerated

Everything the AI emits gets rebuilt: `api_client.*`, `example_usage.*`,
`README.md`. The HAR itself is unchanged. Engineer mode writes back to the
same run's scripts directory, so use version control or copy the output first
if you want to compare iterations side by side.
