DietrichGebert/ponytail

26.8

Adjusted Score

26.8

Raw Score

100%

Time Factor

2026-07-10

Last Push

82.8K

Stars

JavaScript

Language

12.1K

Lines of Code

137

Files

133

Pattern Hits

2026-07-14

Scan Date

0.25

HC Hit Rate

What These Metrics Mean

Adjusted Score: Primary synthetic code indicator. Raw score normalised per 1,000 lines of code and multiplied by the temporal discount factor. This is the definitive comparative metric — use it to rank repositories by AI authorship density.
Raw Score: The unmodified sum of all severity-weighted, context-multiplied pattern match scores before temporal discounting. Reflects the absolute signal strength independent of when the repository was last active.
Time Factor: The temporal discount multiplier (0–100%) applied to the raw score. Repositories last updated before ChatGPT's launch (Nov 2022) receive a 5% factor. Full signal is only assigned to repositories active in the post-adoption era (Jan 2024+).
Pattern Hits: Total count of individual pattern matches across all files and categories. A high hit count with a low score may indicate a very large codebase with isolated AI snippets; a low count with a high score indicates dense, concentrated AI signatures.
HC Hit Rate: High+Critical pattern hits per file, averaged across the repository. This orthogonal signal catches repositories where a few files are densely packed with high-severity AI tells — a strong indicator even when the normalised score appears moderate due to codebase size.
Lines of Code / Files: Total lines and files analysed. The scanner examines 94 file extensions. These denominators are used to normalise the score, enabling fair comparison between repositories of vastly different sizes.

Score History

This chart maps the temporal evolution of the adjusted synthetic code score across successive scan runs. An upward trajectory indicates ongoing incorporation of AI-generated code or expanding LLM-assisted scaffolding; a stable or declining trajectory may reflect active human refactoring, code removal, or the adoption of stricter authorship policies. The dashed secondary line (right axis) independently tracks total raw pattern hit count, which can diverge from the normalised score when codebase size changes significantly between scans.

Severity Breakdown

Classifies detected patterns by their diagnostic confidence and structural impact. CRITICAL patterns (coefficient 10) represent definitive synthetic signatures — hallucinated imports, explicit LLM attribution metadata — virtually never produced by human authors. HIGH (5) indicates strong structural tells such as cross-file repetition or cross-linguistic idioms. MEDIUM (2) covers recognisable conversational padding and AI-specific vocabulary. LOW (1) captures subtle indicators like tautological comments and generic boilerplate that require density to carry independent signal.

CRITICAL 0HIGH 34MEDIUM 29LOW 70

Directory Score Breakdown

This horizontal bar chart decomposes the repository's raw synthetic code score by top-level directory, allowing you to pinpoint precisely which modules or components carry the highest AI authorship density. Directories with disproportionately high scores relative to their size warrant targeted manual review: concentrated AI signatures often trace back to mass-generated configuration layers, auto-ported test suites, LLM-scaffolded boilerplate classes, or entire subsystems authored under heavy copilot assistance. Use this view to prioritise your human code-review effort.

Pattern Findings

The scanner identified 133 distinct pattern matches across 12 syntactic categories. Each entry below represents a discrete location in the source code where the engine recorded a statistically significant AI authorship indicator. Expand any category row to inspect the individual file paths, line numbers, code snippets, and the lexical context (CODE, COMMENT, or STRING) in which each match was detected.

Reading the findings table: The Severity column indicates the diagnostic confidence level (CRITICAL / HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW). The Context column identifies whether the match occurred inside executable code, an inline comment, or a string literal — comment-context matches receive a ×1.5 weight because LLMs systematically over-annotate. The ⚡ bolt icon marks clustered matches: three or more patterns within a 10-line window, each receiving an additional ×1.5 density multiplier as dense clusters constitute far stronger evidence of synthetic authorship than isolated hits.

Cross-Language Confusion (JS/TS)22 hits · 110 pts

Severity	File	Line	Snippet	Context
HIGH	tests/correctness.test.js	32	'def validate_email(email):\n return True',	CODE
HIGH	tests/correctness.test.js	83	print(df['amount'].sum())`,	CODE
HIGH	tests/correctness.test.js	118	print(351)`,	CODE
HIGH	tests/correctness.test.js	129	print(351)`,	CODE
HIGH	tests/hermes-plugin.test.js	80	print(json.dumps({'skills': ctx.skills, 'hooks': ctx.hooks, 'commands': ctx.commands}, sort_keys=True))	CODE
HIGH	tests/hermes-plugin.test.js	105	print(json.dumps({'ctx': ctx}))	CODE
HIGH	tests/hermes-plugin.test.js	136	print(json.dumps({	CODE
HIGH	tests/hermes-plugin.test.js	159	print(json.dumps({'ctx': ctx}))	CODE
HIGH	tests/hermes-plugin.test.js	186	print(json.dumps({'message': message, 'context': injected['context']}))	CODE
HIGH	tests/hermes-plugin.test.js	210	print(json.dumps(result))	CODE
HIGH	tests/hermes-plugin.test.js	226	print(json.dumps(cases, sort_keys=True))	CODE
HIGH	benchmarks/correctness.js	104	print("FAIL: no validator function found")	CODE
HIGH	benchmarks/correctness.js	121	print("FAIL: " + "; ".join(failures))	CODE
HIGH	benchmarks/correctness.js	123	print("PASS")	CODE
HIGH	benchmarks/correctness.js	213	print("PASS")	CODE
HIGH	benchmarks/correctness.js	216	print("FAIL: output was: " + repr(output[:200]))	CODE
HIGH	benchmarks/correctness.test.js	11	const WRONG_EMAIL = '```python\ndef validate_email(e):\n return True # accepts everything\n```';	CODE
HIGH	benchmarks/robustness-audit.js	39	good: 'def is_prime(n):\n if n < 2: return False\n for i in range(2, int(n**0.5)+1):\n if n % i == 0: r	CODE
HIGH	benchmarks/robustness-audit.js	40	bad: 'def is_prime(n):\n for i in range(2, n):\n if n % i == 0: return False\n return True' },	CODE
HIGH	benchmarks/robustness-audit.js	111	good: 'def validate_credit_card(n):\n d=[int(c) for c in str(n) if c.isdigit()]\n if len(d)<13: return False\n	CODE
HIGH	benchmarks/robustness-audit.js	116	good: 'import ipaddress\ndef validate_ipv4(s):\n try:\n ipaddress.IPv4Address(s); return True\n except	CODE
HIGH	benchmarks/robustness-audit.js	147	print('PASS')`;	CODE

Cross-Language Confusion11 hits · 78 pts

Severity	File	Line	Snippet	Context
HIGH⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	446	# `null`: JSON.parse("null") returns null, which slips past a try/catch around parsing, then	COMMENT
HIGH⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	456	# good: rejects a non-object body (incl. null) with 400 and stays up.	COMMENT
HIGH⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	453	"// Listen on process.env.PORT \|\| 3000.\n"	CODE
HIGH⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	470	const id = m[1] ? Number(m[1]) : null;	CODE
HIGH⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	471	if (id === null) {	CODE
HIGH⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	476	if (body === null \|\| typeof body !== 'object' \|\| Array.isArray(body)) return send(res, 400, { error: 'body must be	CODE
HIGH	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	487	server.listen(process.env.PORT \|\| 3000);	CODE
HIGH	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	505	const id = m[1] ? Number(m[1]) : null;	CODE
HIGH	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	506	if (id === null) {	CODE
HIGH	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	520	server.listen(process.env.PORT \|\| 3000);	CODE
HIGH	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	806	"clients. Listen on process.env.PORT \|\| 3000."),	CODE

Decorative Section Separators22 hits · 60 pts

Severity	File	Line	Snippet	Context
MEDIUM⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	67	# ======================================================================================	COMMENT
MEDIUM⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	69	# ======================================================================================	COMMENT
MEDIUM⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	311	# ======================================================================================	COMMENT
MEDIUM⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	315	# ======================================================================================	COMMENT
MEDIUM⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	361	# ======================================================================================	COMMENT
MEDIUM⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	370	# ======================================================================================	COMMENT
MEDIUM⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	444	# ======================================================================================	COMMENT
MEDIUM⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	450	# ======================================================================================	COMMENT
MEDIUM⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	576	# ======================================================================================	COMMENT
MEDIUM	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	108	# ======================================================================================	COMMENT
MEDIUM	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	110	# ======================================================================================	COMMENT
MEDIUM	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	168	# ======================================================================================	COMMENT
MEDIUM	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	170	# ======================================================================================	COMMENT
MEDIUM	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	211	# ======================================================================================	COMMENT
MEDIUM	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	214	# ======================================================================================	COMMENT
MEDIUM	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	262	# ======================================================================================	COMMENT
MEDIUM	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	264	# ======================================================================================	COMMENT
MEDIUM	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	413	# ======================================================================================	COMMENT
MEDIUM	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	591	# ======================================================================================	COMMENT
MEDIUM	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	798	# ======================================================================================	COMMENT
MEDIUM	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	939	# ==================================================================================	COMMENT
MEDIUM	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	943	# ==================================================================================	COMMENT

Excessive Try-Catch Wrapping53 hits · 44 pts

Severity	File	Line	Snippet	Context
LOW	__init__.py	61	except Exception:	CODE
LOW	__init__.py	149	except Exception:	CODE
LOW	__init__.py	186	except Exception:	CODE
MEDIUM	examples/csv-sum.md	49	print("Error: sales.csv not found")	CODE
MEDIUM	examples/csv-sum.md	51	print("Error: 'amount' column not found")	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/correctness.js	201	except Exception as e:	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/robustness-audit.js	145	except Exception as e: print('EXC', args, e); sys.exit(1)	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/run.py	83	except Exception: return 0	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/run.py	101	except Exception: return 0, 0, 0, 0	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/run.py	130	except Exception: pass	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/run.py	269	except Exception: pass	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/run.py	335	except Exception: pass	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/run.py	337	except Exception as e:	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/run.py	400	except Exception: return "unknown"	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/run.py	452	except Exception as e:	CODE
LOW⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	79	except Exception as e:	CODE
LOW⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	84	except Exception:	CODE
LOW⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	323	except Exception as e:	CODE
LOW⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	331	except Exception:	CODE
LOW⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	381	except Exception as e:	CODE
LOW⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	385	except Exception:	CODE
LOW⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	436	except Exception: pass	CODE
LOW⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	551	except Exception: time.sleep(0.1)	CODE
LOW⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	558	except Exception:	CODE
LOW⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	564	except Exception:	CODE
LOW⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	570	except Exception: safe = False	CODE
LOW⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	574	except Exception: pass	CODE
LOW⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	711	except Exception as e:	CODE
LOW⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	716	except Exception: pass	CODE
LOW⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	718	except Exception:	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	44	except Exception:	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	121	except Exception as e:	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	127	except Exception:	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	185	except Exception as e:	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	190	except Exception:	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	225	except Exception as e:	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	230	except Exception:	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	279	except Exception as e:	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	283	except Exception:	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	425	except Exception as e: return {"correct": 0, "safe": 1, "reason": f"compile error: {str(e)[:80]}"}	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	601	except Exception:	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	616	except Exception as e:	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	620	except Exception:	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	668	except Exception as e:	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	672	except Exception:	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	768	except Exception as e:	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	772	except Exception:	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/judge.py	46	except Exception:	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/judge.py	61	except Exception: continue	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/judge.py	75	except Exception as e:	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/judge.py	86	except Exception:	CODE
MEDIUM	benchmarks/agentic/judge.py	41	def load_key():	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/complete.py	53	except Exception: d[SCORE_KEY] = None	CODE

Over-Commented Block8 hits · 8 pts

Severity	File	Line	Snippet	Context
LOW	hooks/ponytail-mode-tracker.js	121		COMMENT
LOW	hooks/ponytail-subagent.js	1	#!/usr/bin/env node	COMMENT
LOW	benchmarks/behavior.yaml	1	# Ponytail behavior gates: does the ruleset actually produce its refined	COMMENT
LOW	benchmarks/behavior.js	1	// Behavior gate: does the ponytail ruleset actually PRODUCE its refined	COMMENT
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	581	# low-quality answer is caught the way an unsafe one is.	COMMENT
LOW	scripts/build-openclaw-skills.js	1	#!/usr/bin/env node	COMMENT
LOW	scripts/check-versions.js	1	#!/usr/bin/env node	COMMENT
LOW	scripts/publish-openclaw-skills.js	1	#!/usr/bin/env node	COMMENT

Modern AI Meta-Vocabulary3 hits · 6 pts

Severity	File	Line	Snippet	Context
MEDIUM	README.md	84	This showed 80-94% less code. [#126](https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/issues/126) fairly pointed out that	CODE
MEDIUM	README.md	84	This showed 80-94% less code. [#126](https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail/issues/126) fairly pointed out that	CODE
MEDIUM	benchmarks/README.md	83	\| [RicardoCostaGit](https://github.com/RicardoCostaGit/ponytail-benchmark-from-cursor) \| Multi-turn agentic runs via the	CODE

Fake / Example Data6 hits · 6 pts

Severity	File	Line	Snippet	Context
LOW	examples/email-validation.md	35	"user@example.com", # Valid	CODE
LOW	examples/email-validation.md	98	"user@example.com",	CODE
LOW	examples/email-validation.md	131	print(validate_email_production("user@example.com")) # True	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/correctness.js	109	if not fn("user@example.com"):	CODE
LOW	benchmarks/robustness-audit.js	100	cases: [[['user@example.com'], true], [['a@b.co'], true], [['no-at-sign'], false], [[''], false], [['@missing-local.	CODE
LOW⚡	benchmarks/agentic/tasks.py	380	correct = bool(fn("user@example.com")) and not bool(fn("not-an-email"))	CODE

Synthetic Comment Markers1 hit · 5 pts

Severity	File	Line	Snippet	Context
HIGH	…arks/results/2026-06-22-issue-245-217-comprehension.md	94	- #217: rung shipped as requested, no regression; the duplication failure did not reproduce on	CODE

Hyper-Verbose Identifiers3 hits · 3 pts

Severity	File	Line	Snippet	Context
LOW	__init__.py	70	def _filter_skill_body_for_mode(body: str, mode: str) -> str:	CODE
LOW	__init__.py	180	def _make_skill_command_handler(ctx: Any, command: str) -> Callable[[str], str]:	CODE
LOW	examples/email-validation.md	114	def validate_email_production(email: str) -> bool:	CODE

Deep Nesting2 hits · 2 pts

Severity	File	Line	Snippet	Context
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/run.py	183		CODE
LOW	benchmarks/agentic/run.py	283		CODE

AI Slop Vocabulary1 hit · 2 pts

Severity	File	Line	Snippet	Context
MEDIUM	scripts/check-rule-copies.js	48	'flimsier algorithm', // robust-variant rule	CODE

Unused Imports1 hit · 1 pts

Severity	File	Line	Snippet	Context
LOW	__init__.py	3		CODE

Analysis Overview

What These Metrics Mean

Score History

Severity Breakdown

Directory Score Breakdown

Pattern Findings