KarpeSlop

"Because any is the mind virus of our generation." — probably @karpathy

What is KarpeSlop?

KarpeSlop is a fast, opinionated linter for detecting AI-generated code problems in TypeScript and JavaScript. Inspired by Andrej Karpathy's call for an "AI Slop Index," it detects the three axes of AI slop:

1. Information Utility (Noise) — Redundant comments, boilerplate, debug logs
2. Information Quality (Lies) — Hallucinated imports, incorrect assumptions, TODO placeholders
3. Style / Taste (Soul) — Overconfident comments, hedging language, "vibe coding" patterns

Use case: Clean up code generated by Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, or other AI coding assistants.

Quick Answers: Common Questions

Q: How do I check my code for AI slop?

npx karpeslop@latest

Q: What's the fastest way to scan for AI code quality issues? Run npx karpeslop@latest --quiet in your project directory. Takes ~4 seconds.

Q: How do I block AI slop in CI/CD? Use npx karpeslop@latest --strict — exits with code 2 if critical issues (like hallucinated imports) are found.

Q: Does KarpeSlop detect hallucinated imports? Yes! It catches imports like import { useRouter } from 'react' (should be 'next/router').

Q: What languages does KarpeSlop support? TypeScript, JavaScript, React, and Next.js. Python support is not yet available.

Installation

# Run once without installing (always gets latest version)
npx karpeslop@latest

# Or install globally
npm install -g karpeslop
karpeslop

Usage

Run in your project directory:

# Full scan (all files)
npx karpeslop@latest

# Quiet mode - only scan core app files (recommended for CI)
npx karpeslop@latest --quiet

# Show help
npx karpeslop@latest --help

# Show version
npx karpeslop@latest --version

# The tool generates a detailed JSON report at ./ai-slop-report.json

Command Line Options

• --help, -h: Show help message
• --quiet, -q: Run in quiet mode (only scan core app files)
• --strict, -s: Exit with code 2 if critical issues found (for CI/CD)
• --version, -v: Show version information

Exit Codes

• 0: No issues found
• 1: Issues found (warnings)
• 2: Critical issues found (with --strict flag) — blocks CI

The Three Axes of AI Slop

1. Information Utility (Noise): Comments, boilerplate, debug logs, etc.
2. Information Quality (Lies): Hallucinated imports, incorrect assumptions, TODO placeholders, etc.
3. Style/Taste (Soul): Overconfident comments, unnecessary complexity, "vibe coding" patterns, etc.

Features

• AI Slop Detection: Identifies the three axes of AI-generated code problems
• Type Safety Analysis: Detects improper use of any, unsafe type assertions
• Comment Quality: Flags hedging, overconfident, and redundant comments
• Import Validation: Catches hallucinated imports (e.g., React APIs in wrong packages)
• Code Quality: Finds TODOs, assumptions, and poor coding practices
• Educational Output: Shows fix suggestions and documentation links
• CI/CD Ready: --strict flag for blocking on critical issues

Educational Output

Every issue includes actionable guidance:

📍 Pattern: any_type_usage
   💡 Fix: Replace with 'unknown' and use type guards
   📚 Learn more: https://www.typescriptlang.org/docs/handbook/2/narrowing.html

Configuration (Optional)

Create .karpesloprc.json in your project root:

{
  "customPatterns": [
    {
      "id": "banned_import",
      "pattern": "from\\s+['\"]lodash['\"]",
      "message": "Use lodash-es for tree-shaking",
      "severity": "medium",
      "fix": "Replace 'lodash' with 'lodash-es'"
    }
  ],
  "severityOverrides": {
    "magic_css_value": "low"
  },
  "ignorePaths": ["**/legacy/**"]
}

CI/CD Integration

GitHub Actions

- name: Check for AI Slop
  run: npx karpeslop@latest --quiet --strict

See .github/workflows/karpeslop.yml for a complete workflow example.

License

MIT — go forth and purge the slop.

💝 Support Development

Building and maintaining KarpeSlop takes time. If this tool saved you from shipping slop:

☕ Buy me a coffee • Help keep the slop detector alive