Repository Analysis

WinMerge/winmerge

WinMerge is an Open Source differencing and merging tool for Windows. WinMerge can compare both folders and files, presenting differences in a visual text format that is easy to understand and handle.

8.3 Low AI signal View on GitHub

Analysis Overview

This report presents the forensic synthetic code analysis of WinMerge/winmerge, a C++ project with 8,973 GitHub stars. SynthScan v2.0 examined 1,190,891 lines of code across 5351 source files, recording 11822 pattern matches distributed across 14 syntactic categories. The overall adjusted score of 8.3 places this repository in the Low AI signal band.

The scanner applied 160+ deterministic lexical heuristics, multi-line block detectors, abstract syntax tree depth profilers, and a cross-file Jaccard similarity matrix to construct a statistically normalised synthetic code estimate. All matches are individually weighted by severity coefficient and contextual multiplier before summation, and the resulting headline score is temporally discounted to account for the repository's development history relative to the commercial emergence of large language model coding tooling (November 2022 onward).

8.3
Adjusted Score
8.3
Raw Score
100%
Time Factor
2026-07-14
Last Push
9.0K
Stars
C++
Language
1.2M
Lines of Code
5.4K
Files
11.8K
Pattern Hits
2026-07-14
Scan Date
0.00
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 2MEDIUM 42LOW 11778

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 11822 distinct pattern matches across 14 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.

Over-Commented Block11741 hits · 9746 pts
SeverityFileLineSnippetContext
LOWVersion.h1#define FILEVER 2,16,57,0COMMENT
LOWShellExtension/ShellExtension/StdAfx.h1// stdafx.h : include file for standard system include files,COMMENT
LOWShellExtension/ShellExtension/WinMergeShell.cpp1/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////COMMENT
LOWShellExtension/ShellExtension/WinMergeShell.cpp21// HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Thingamahoochie\WinMerge\ContextMenuEnabledCOMMENT
LOWShellExtension/ShellExtension/WinMergeShell.cpp41#include "ShellExtension.h"COMMENT
LOWShellExtension/ShellExtension/WinMergeShell.h1/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////COMMENT
LOWShellExtension/ShellExtension/Resource.h1//{{NO_DEPENDENCIES}}COMMENT
LOWShellExtension/ShellExtension/Resource.h21#define _APS_NEXT_RESOURCE_VALUE 210COMMENT
LOWShellExtension/ShellExtension/StdAfx.cpp1// stdafx.cpp : source file that includes just the standard includesCOMMENT
LOWShellExtension/ShellExtension/ShellExtension.cpp1/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////COMMENT
LOWShellExtension/WinMergeContextMenu/pch.h1// pch.h: This is a precompiled header file.COMMENT
LOWShellExtension/WinMergeContextMenu/dllmain.cpp1// SPDX-License-Identifier: MITCOMMENT
LOWShellExtension/WinMergeContextMenu/resource.h1//{{NO_DEPENDENCIES}}COMMENT
LOWShellExtension/WinMergeContextMenu/resource.h21#define _APS_NEXT_RESOURCE_VALUE 210COMMENT
LOWShellExtension/WinMergeContextMenu/framework.h1#pragma onceCOMMENT
LOWShellExtension/Common/UnicodeString.cpp1/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////COMMENT
LOWShellExtension/Common/WinMergeContextMenu.cpp1#include "WinMergeContextMenu.h"COMMENT
LOWShellExtension/Common/UnicodeString.h1/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////COMMENT
LOWShellExtension/Common/UnicodeString.h21 * @brief Unicode string based on std::wstring.COMMENT
LOWShellExtension/Common/UnicodeString.h41# ifdef _UNICODECOMMENT
LOWPlugins/resource.h1//{{NO_DEPENDENCIES}}COMMENT
LOWPlugins/resource.h21#define IDS_PLUGIN_MENU_CAPTION6 44216COMMENT
LOWPlugins/resource.h41#define IDS_PLUGIN_MENU_CAPTION26 44236COMMENT
LOWPlugins/resource.h61#define IDS_PLUGIN_DESCRIPTION6 44356COMMENT
LOWPlugins/resource.h81#define IDS_PLUGIN_DESCRIPTION26 44376COMMENT
LOWPlugins/resource.h101#define IDS_PLUGIN_DESCRIPTION46 44396COMMENT
LOWPlugins/resource.h121#define IDS_PLUGIN_COMPAREMSEXCELFILES_STR6 44425COMMENT
LOWPlugins/resource.h141#define IDS_PLUGIN_COMPAREMSWORDFILES_STR6 44445COMMENT
LOWPlugins/resource.h161#define IDS_PLUGIN_COMPAREMSPOWERPOINTFILES_STR6 44465COMMENT
LOWPlugins/resource.h181#define IDS_PLUGIN_COMPAREMSVISIOFILES_STR6 44485COMMENT
LOWPlugins/resource.h201#define IDS_PLUGIN_PREDIFFLINEFILTER_STR6 44505COMMENT
LOWPlugins/resource.h221#define IDS_PLUGIN_IGNORE_STR6 44525COMMENT
LOWPlugins/resource.h241#define IDS_PLUGIN_APPLYPATCH_STR6 44545COMMENT
LOWPlugins/resource.h261#define IDS_PLUGIN_EDITORADDIN_STR6 44565COMMENT
LOWPlugins/resource.h281#define _APS_NO_MFC 1COMMENT
LOWPlugins/src_VCPP/DisplayXMLFiles/StdAfx.h1// stdafx.h : include file for standard system include files,COMMENT
LOWPlugins/src_VCPP/DisplayXMLFiles/WinMergeScript.cpp1/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////COMMENT
LOWPlugins/src_VCPP/DisplayXMLFiles/typeinfoex.h1#ifndef _NEWOBJECTS_ATL_TYPEINFOEX_H_COMMENT
LOWPlugins/src_VCPP/DisplayXMLFiles/Resource.h1//{{NO_DEPENDENCIES}}COMMENT
LOWPlugins/src_VCPP/DisplayXMLFiles/StdAfx.cpp1// stdafx.cpp : source file that includes just the standard includesCOMMENT
LOW…ns/src_VCPP/DisplayXMLFiles/ExpatMapLib/expat_maps.cpp1/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////COMMENT
LOW…ns/src_VCPP/DisplayXMLFiles/ExpatMapLib/expat_maps.cpp21/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////COMMENT
LOW…ns/src_VCPP/DisplayXMLFiles/ExpatMapLib/expat_maps.cpp41#include "map_data_8859_11.h"COMMENT
LOWPlugins/src_VCPP/DisplayXMLFiles/ExpatMapLib/StdAfx.h1// stdafx.h : include file for standard system include files,COMMENT
LOW…gins/src_VCPP/DisplayXMLFiles/ExpatMapLib/expat_maps.h1/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////COMMENT
LOW…ExpatMapLib/mappings/VENDORS/MICSFT/WINDOWS/CP1252.TXT1#COMMENT
LOW…ExpatMapLib/mappings/VENDORS/MICSFT/WINDOWS/CP1253.TXT1#COMMENT
LOW…ExpatMapLib/mappings/VENDORS/MICSFT/WINDOWS/CP1251.TXT1#COMMENT
LOW…ExpatMapLib/mappings/VENDORS/MICSFT/WINDOWS/CP1250.TXT1#COMMENT
LOW…ExpatMapLib/mappings/VENDORS/MICSFT/WINDOWS/CP1254.TXT1#COMMENT
LOW…ExpatMapLib/mappings/VENDORS/MICSFT/WINDOWS/CP1255.TXT1#COMMENT
LOW…ExpatMapLib/mappings/VENDORS/MICSFT/WINDOWS/CP1257.TXT1#COMMENT
LOW…ExpatMapLib/mappings/VENDORS/MICSFT/WINDOWS/CP1256.TXT1#COMMENT
LOW…ExpatMapLib/mappings/VENDORS/MICSFT/WINDOWS/CP1258.TXT1#COMMENT
LOW…splayXMLFiles/ExpatMapLib/mappings/ISO8859/8859-10.TXT1#COMMENT
LOW…splayXMLFiles/ExpatMapLib/mappings/ISO8859/8859-10.TXT21# Unicode Standard, and to make copies of this file in any form forCOMMENT
LOW…isplayXMLFiles/ExpatMapLib/mappings/ISO8859/8859-9.TXT1#COMMENT
LOW…isplayXMLFiles/ExpatMapLib/mappings/ISO8859/8859-9.TXT21# Unicode Standard, and to make copies of this file in any form forCOMMENT
LOW…isplayXMLFiles/ExpatMapLib/mappings/ISO8859/8859-8.TXT1#COMMENT
LOW…isplayXMLFiles/ExpatMapLib/mappings/ISO8859/8859-8.TXT21# Unicode Standard, and to make copies of this file in any form forCOMMENT
11681 more matches not shown…
Decorative Section Separators34 hits · 82 pts
SeverityFileLineSnippetContext
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg1149#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg1151#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg1161#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg1163#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg13#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg15#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg291#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg293#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg506#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg508#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg557#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg559#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg673#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg675#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg728#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg730#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg751#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg753#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg968#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg970#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg1044#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg1046#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg1086#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg1088#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg1114#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg1116#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg1194#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg1196#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg1260#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg1262#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg1303#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg1305#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg1497#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg1499#---------------------------------------------------------------------------COMMENT
AI Response Leakage2 hits · 15 pts
SeverityFileLineSnippetContext
HIGHExternals/poco/XML/include/Poco/DOM/DOMImplementation.h38 /// In this implementation, DOMImplementation is implemented as a singleton.COMMENT
HIGHExternals/poco/XML/include/Poco/DOM/DocumentType.h51 /// Note: In this implementation, only theCOMMENT
Slop Phrases5 hits · 12 pts
SeverityFileLineSnippetContext
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg578# If the value of the INPUT tag contains directories, you can use theCOMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg605# If the value of the INPUT tag contains directories, you can use theCOMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg628# If the value of the EXAMPLE_PATH tag contains directories, you can use theCOMMENT
MEDIUMDocs/Developers/UnitTesting.html122<p>As mentioned earlier Google Test header files are needed to compile theCODE
LOWSrc/Common/sizecbar.cpp36// Modify this file only to fix bugs, and don't forget to send me a copy.COMMENT
Verbosity Indicators5 hits · 10 pts
SeverityFileLineSnippetContext
LOWSrc/RenameMoveDetection.cpp246 // Step 1: Quick win - group items by same nameCOMMENT
LOWSrc/RenameMoveDetection.cpp250 // Step 2: Collect unmatched items grouped by rename/move detection keysCOMMENT
LOWSrc/RenameMoveDetection.cpp260 // Step 3: Create groups for items with matching keysCOMMENT
LOWSrc/RenameMoveDetection.cpp264 // Step 4: Recurse into subdirectories that exist on all sidesCOMMENT
LOWSrc/RenameMoveDetection.cpp276 // Step 5: Recurse into renamed directoriesCOMMENT
Structural Annotation Overuse5 hits · 10 pts
SeverityFileLineSnippetContext
LOWSrc/RenameMoveDetection.cpp246 // Step 1: Quick win - group items by same nameCOMMENT
LOWSrc/RenameMoveDetection.cpp250 // Step 2: Collect unmatched items grouped by rename/move detection keysCOMMENT
LOWSrc/RenameMoveDetection.cpp260 // Step 3: Create groups for items with matching keysCOMMENT
LOWSrc/RenameMoveDetection.cpp264 // Step 4: Recurse into subdirectories that exist on all sidesCOMMENT
LOWSrc/RenameMoveDetection.cpp276 // Step 5: Recurse into renamed directoriesCOMMENT
Fake / Example Data10 hits · 10 pts
SeverityFileLineSnippetContext
LOWDocs/Manual/Japanese/Filters.xml1008 <listitem><para><literal>regexExtract("user@example.com", "([^@]+)@([^@]+)", 1)</literal> はCODE
LOWDocs/Manual/Japanese/Filters.xml1010 <listitem><para><literal>regexExtract("user@example.com", "([^@]+)@([^@]+)", 2)</literal> はCODE
LOWDocs/Manual/English/Filters.xml1072 <listitem><para><literal>regexExtract("user@example.com", "([^@]+)@([^@]+)", 1)</literal> returns <litCODE
LOWDocs/Manual/English/Filters.xml1073 <listitem><para><literal>regexExtract("user@example.com", "([^@]+)@([^@]+)", 2)</literal> returns <litCODE
LOWDocs/Manual/Hebrew/Filters.xml1139 <listitem><para><literal>regexExtract("user@example.com", "([^@]+)@([^@]+)", 1)</literal>CODE
LOWDocs/Manual/Hebrew/Filters.xml1141 <listitem><para><literal>regexExtract("user@example.com", "([^@]+)@([^@]+)", 2)</literal>CODE
LOWDocs/Manual/French/Filters.xml1207 <listitem><para><literal>regexExtract("user@example.com", "([^@]+)@([^@]+)", 1)</literal>CODE
LOWDocs/Manual/French/Filters.xml1209 <listitem><para><literal>regexExtract("user@example.com", "([^@]+)@([^@]+)", 2)</literal>CODE
LOWDocs/Manual/Spanish/Filters.xml1216 <listitem><para><literal>regexExtract("user@example.com", "([^@]+)@([^@]+)", 1)</literal>CODE
LOWDocs/Manual/Spanish/Filters.xml1218 <listitem><para><literal>regexExtract("user@example.com", "([^@]+)@([^@]+)", 2)</literal>CODE
Example Usage Blocks5 hits · 8 pts
SeverityFileLineSnippetContext
LOWExternals/poco/Foundation/include/Poco/LogStream.h96 /// Usage example:COMMENT
LOWExternals/poco/Foundation/include/Poco/Process.h141 /// Usage example:COMMENT
LOWExternals/poco/Foundation/include/Poco/Process.h176 /// Usage example:COMMENT
LOWExternals/poco/Foundation/include/Poco/Dynamic/Var.h127 /// Example usage:COMMENT
LOWExternals/poco/Foundation/include/Poco/Dynamic/Var.h150 /// Example usage:COMMENT
AI Slop Vocabulary2 hits · 6 pts
SeverityFileLineSnippetContext
MEDIUM…googletest/googletest/include/gtest/gtest-death-test.h152// This implementation is *not* meant to be as highly tuned or robustCOMMENT
MEDIUM…googletest/googletest/include/gtest/gtest-death-test.h224// In practice, this can be used to test functions that utilize theCOMMENT
Deep Nesting5 hits · 5 pts
SeverityFileLineSnippetContext
LOWTranslations/GetTranslationsStatus.py73CODE
LOWTranslations/GetTranslationsStatus.py122CODE
LOWTranslations/GetTranslationsStatus.py249CODE
LOWTranslations/GetTranslationsStatus.py419CODE
LOWTranslations/GetTranslationsStatus.py562CODE
Hyper-Verbose Identifiers4 hits · 4 pts
SeverityFileLineSnippetContext
LOWExternals/boost/boost/unordered/unordered_printers.hpp279 ".ascii \"def boost_unordered_build_pretty_printer():\\n\"\n"CODE
LOWTesting/PluginTests/PluginTests.js534function IgnoreLeadingLineNumbersTest() {CODE
LOWTesting/PluginTests/PluginTests.js730function CompareMSPowerPointFilesTest() {CODE
LOWTesting/PluginTests/PluginTests.js743function CompareEscapedJavaPropertiesFilesTest() {CODE
Self-Referential Comments2 hits · 4 pts
SeverityFileLineSnippetContext
MEDIUMTranslations/ShellExtension/CreateMasterPotFile.js160 oPotFile.WriteLine("# This file is from WinMerge <https://winmerge.org/>");CODE
MEDIUMTranslations/WinMerge/CreateMasterPotFile.js267 oPotFile.Write("# This file is from WinMerge <https://winmerge.org/>\n");CODE
Unused Imports1 hit · 1 pts
SeverityFileLineSnippetContext
LOWTranslations/GetTranslationsStatus.py30CODE
Redundant / Tautological Comments1 hit · 1 pts
SeverityFileLineSnippetContext
LOWDocs/Developers/doxygen.cfg365# Set it to YES to include the internal documentation.COMMENT