The best way of working with Protocol Buffers.
This report presents the forensic synthetic code analysis of bufbuild/buf, a Go project with 11,284 GitHub stars. SynthScan v2.0 examined 205,829 lines of code across 1463 source files, recording 1299 pattern matches distributed across 6 syntactic categories. The overall adjusted score of 7.1 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).
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.
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.
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.
The scanner identified 1299 distinct pattern matches across 6 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.
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | .godoclint.yaml | 1 | # Configuration file version. | COMMENT |
| LOW | .godoclint.yaml | 21 | # files that their relative path (with respect to the config file path) does not | COMMENT |
| LOW | .godoclint.yaml | 41 | # List of rules to enable *in addition to* the default set. | COMMENT |
| LOW | .godoclint.yaml | 61 | - require-doc | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/protoc-gen-buf-breaking/breaking.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/buf.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/buf_test.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/workspace_unix_test.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/workspace_test.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/workspace_windows_test.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/workspace_subdir_test.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/buf_unix_test.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/imports_test.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/breaking/breaking_test.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/breaking/breaking.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/beta/internal/internal.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | …d/buf/internal/command/beta/bufpluginv2/bufpluginv2.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/beta/price/price.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | …mmand/beta/registry/webhook/webhooklist/webhooklist.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | …d/beta/registry/webhook/webhookdelete/webhookdelete.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | …d/beta/registry/webhook/webhookcreate/webhookcreate.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | …/command/beta/registry/plugin/pluginpush/pluginpush.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | …mand/beta/registry/plugin/plugindelete/plugindelete.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | …d/buf/internal/command/beta/bufpluginv1/bufpluginv1.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | …rnal/command/beta/bufpluginv1beta1/bufpluginv1beta1.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | …d/buf/internal/command/beta/studioagent/studioagent.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/lint/lint.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/lsfiles/lsfiles.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | …/command/config/configlslintrules/configlslintrules.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | …d/buf/internal/command/config/configinit/configinit.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | …internal/command/config/configmigrate/configmigrate.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | …nal/command/config/configmigrate/configmigrate_test.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/config/internal/internal.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | …rnal/command/config/configlsmodules/configlsmodules.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | …/config/configlsbreakingrules/configlsbreakingrules.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | …/sourceedit/sourceeditdeprecate/sourceeditdeprecate.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | …buf/internal/command/plugin/pluginprune/pluginprune.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | …d/buf/internal/command/plugin/pluginpush/pluginpush.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | …f/internal/command/plugin/pluginupdate/pluginupdate.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/lsp/lspserve/lspserve.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/lsp/lspserve/debug.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/push/push.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/curl/curl.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/curl/curl.go | 761 | } | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/curl/curl.go | 1261 | if httpClient, ok := makeCompletionHTTPClient(cmd, isSecure, parsed.Host); ok { | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/curl/curl.go | 1381 | // example, given services | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/curl/curl_completion_test.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/dep/depprune/depprune.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/dep/internal/internal.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/dep/depgraph/depgraph.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/dep/depgraph/depgraph_test.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/dep/depupdate/depupdate.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/generate/generate.go | 1 | // Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/generate/generate.go | 81 | # Use the plugin hosted at buf.build/protocolbuffers/go at version v1.28.1. | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/generate/generate.go | 121 | # The generation strategy to use. There are two options: | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/generate/generate.go | 141 | # | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/generate/generate.go | 161 | # Each override rule specifies an option, the value for this option and | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/generate/generate.go | 181 | # - php_metadata_namespace_suffix | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/generate/generate.go | 241 | inputs: | COMMENT |
| LOW | cmd/buf/internal/command/generate/generate.go | 281 | # Optional. | COMMENT |
| 1171 more matches not shown… | ||||
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_policy_yaml_lsp_test.go | 293 | // ── Top-level keys ────────────────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_policy_yaml_lsp_test.go | 320 | // ── lint sub-keys ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_policy_yaml_lsp_test.go | 352 | // ── breaking sub-keys ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_policy_yaml_lsp_test.go | 369 | // ── Rule names as values in use/except ────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_policy_yaml_lsp_test.go | 396 | // ── plugin entry keys ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_policy_yaml_lsp_test.go | 408 | // ── Positions that should return no hover ──────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_policy_yaml_completion_test.go | 38 | // ── Top-level key completions ────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_policy_yaml_completion_test.go | 54 | // ── lint key completions ─────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_policy_yaml_completion_test.go | 65 | // ── breaking key completions ─────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_policy_yaml_completion_test.go | 76 | // ── plugins item key completions ─────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_policy_yaml_completion_test.go | 85 | // ── Value completions ────────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_policy_yaml_completion_test.go | 101 | // ── Sequence value completions (lint.use / lint.except) ──────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | private/buf/buflsp/buf_policy_yaml_completion_test.go | 126 | // ── Sequence after existing items ───────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | private/buf/buflsp/buf_policy_yaml_completion_test.go | 135 | // ── Blank lines between parent and child ────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | private/buf/buflsp/buf_policy_yaml_completion_test.go | 144 | // ── Partial key in breaking block ───────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | private/buf/buflsp/buf_policy_yaml_completion_test.go | 153 | // ── Plugin item continuation ─────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | private/buf/buflsp/buf_policy_yaml_completion_test.go | 163 | // ── Bare-parent-key heuristic ───────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_policy_yaml_completion_test.go | 181 | // ── No completions ───────────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_completion_test.go | 110 | // ── module-level lint keys ───────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_completion_test.go | 119 | // ── plugins item key completions ─────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_completion_test.go | 128 | // ── policies item key completions ────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_completion_test.go | 137 | // ── Value completions ────────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_completion_test.go | 263 | // ── Sibling key (except alongside use) ──────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_completion_test.go | 272 | // ── Blank lines between parent and child ────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_completion_test.go | 281 | // ── Partial key in lint block ────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_completion_test.go | 290 | // ── Second module item keys ──────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_completion_test.go | 40 | // ── Top-level key completions ────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_completion_test.go | 64 | // ── lint key completions ─────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_completion_test.go | 80 | // ── breaking key completions ─────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_completion_test.go | 89 | // ── modules item key completions ─────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_completion_test.go | 160 | // ── Sequence value completions (lint.use / lint.except) ──────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_completion_test.go | 199 | // ── ignore_only key completions ──────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_completion_test.go | 231 | // ── Sequence after existing items ───────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_completion_test.go | 247 | // ── Module-level lint and breaking sequence values ───────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_completion_test.go | 316 | // ── Bare-parent-key heuristic ───────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_completion_test.go | 357 | // ── Existing-key filtering ──────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_completion_test.go | 384 | // ── No completions ───────────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_completion_test.go | 412 | // ── CRLF line endings ───────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_gen_yaml_lsp_test.go | 349 | // ── Top-level keys ────────────────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_gen_yaml_lsp_test.go | 376 | // ── managed sub-keys ──────────────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_gen_yaml_lsp_test.go | 393 | // ── managed.disable rule keys ─────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_gen_yaml_lsp_test.go | 405 | // ── managed.override rule keys ────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_gen_yaml_lsp_test.go | 417 | // ── plugin entry keys ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_gen_yaml_lsp_test.go | 474 | // ── input entry keys ──────────────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_gen_yaml_lsp_test.go | 536 | // ── Positions that should return no hover ──────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_gen_yaml_completion_test.go | 49 | // ── Top-level key completions ─────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_gen_yaml_completion_test.go | 73 | // ── Plugin key completions ────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_gen_yaml_completion_test.go | 125 | // ── Input key completions ──────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_gen_yaml_completion_test.go | 193 | // ── Managed key completions ───────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_gen_yaml_completion_test.go | 235 | // ── Value completions ──────────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_gen_yaml_completion_test.go | 286 | // ── Bare-parent-key heuristic ───────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_gen_yaml_completion_test.go | 305 | // ── No completions ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_lsp_test.go | 603 | // ── Top-level keys ────────────────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_lsp_test.go | 630 | // ── Module entry sub-keys ──────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_lsp_test.go | 652 | // ── lint sub-keys ──────────────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_lsp_test.go | 709 | // ── breaking sub-keys ──────────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_lsp_test.go | 741 | // ── Rule/category names as values in lint.use ───────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_lsp_test.go | 758 | // ── Rule/category names as values in lint.except ────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_lsp_test.go | 765 | // ── Rule names as keys in lint.ignore_only ──────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | private/buf/buflsp/buf_yaml_lsp_test.go | 772 | // ── Rule/category names as values in breaking.use ───────────────────── | COMMENT |
| 3 more matches not shown… | ||||
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEDIUM | cmd/buf/internal/command/dep/depgraph/depgraph.go | 189 | // We first scaffold a module with no deps populated yet. | COMMENT |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | make/go/scripts/checknolintlint.bash | 15 | # Check if nolintlint linter is enabled in config | COMMENT |
| LOW | make/go/scripts/checknolintlint.bash | 35 | # Check if nolintlint is configured according to standards. | COMMENT |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | private/bufpkg/bufimage/util.go | 83 | // potentialDirPaths are paths that we need to check if they are directories | COMMENT |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | …bufpkg/bufimage/bufimagefuzz/bufimagefuzz_unix_test.go | 43 | // To focus on just one test in the corpus, put its file name here. Don't forget to revert before committing. | COMMENT |