Cookiecutter Django is a framework for jumpstarting production-ready Django projects quickly.
This report presents the forensic synthetic code analysis of cookiecutter/cookiecutter-django, a Python project with 13,565 GitHub stars. SynthScan v2.0 examined 23,412 lines of code across 167 source files, recording 140 pattern matches distributed across 12 syntactic categories. The overall adjusted score of 13.5 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 140 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.
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/local.py | 10 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/local.py | 22 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/local.py | 32 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/local.py | 54 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/local.py | 60 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/local.py | 93 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/local.py | 103 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/local.py | 109 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/local.py | 120 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/local.py | 125 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/test.py | 10 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/test.py | 20 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/test.py | 25 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/test.py | 30 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/test.py | 34 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/test.py | 40 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/test.py | 45 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 231 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 236 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 245 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 255 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 21 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 48 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 65 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 72 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 115 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 120 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 134 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 154 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 175 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 189 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 196 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 267 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 294 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 336 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 360 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 367 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 393 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 405 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | …kiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/production.py | 26 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | …kiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/production.py | 33 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | …kiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/production.py | 37 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | …kiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/production.py | 52 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | …kiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/production.py | 118 | # ------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | …kiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/production.py | 214 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | …kiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/production.py | 230 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | …kiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/production.py | 235 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | …kiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/production.py | 302 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | …kiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/production.py | 330 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | …kiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/production.py | 335 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | …kiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/production.py | 412 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | …kiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/production.py | 442 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | …kiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/production.py | 450 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | …ookiecutter.project_slug}}/requirements/production.txt | 18 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/requirements/base.txt | 24 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/requirements/local.txt | 13 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/requirements/local.txt | 23 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/requirements/local.txt | 28 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/requirements/local.txt | 36 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | tests/test_cookiecutter_generation.py | 223 | def test_django_upgrade_passes(cookies, context_override): | CODE |
| LOW | tests/test_cookiecutter_generation.py | 281 | def test_travis_invokes_pytest(cookies, context, use_docker, expected_test_script): | CODE |
| LOW | tests/test_cookiecutter_generation.py | 306 | def test_gitlab_invokes_precommit_and_pytest(cookies, context, use_docker, expected_test_script): | CODE |
| LOW | tests/test_cookiecutter_generation.py | 333 | def test_github_invokes_linter_and_pytest(cookies, context, use_docker, expected_test_script): | CODE |
| LOW | tests/test_cookiecutter_generation.py | 372 | def test_error_if_incompatible(cookies, context, invalid_context): | CODE |
| LOW | tests/test_cookiecutter_generation.py | 389 | def test_pycharm_docs_removed(cookies, context, editor, pycharm_docs_exist): | CODE |
| LOW | tests/test_cookiecutter_generation.py | 442 | def test_pre_commit_without_heroku(cookies, context): | CODE |
| LOW | tests/test_hooks.py | 21 | def test_append_to_gitignore_file(working_directory): | CODE |
| LOW | hooks/post_gen_project.py | 40 | def remove_custom_user_manager_files(): | CODE |
| LOW | hooks/post_gen_project.py | 74 | def remove_nginx_docker_files(): | CODE |
| LOW | hooks/post_gen_project.py | 200 | def remove_prettier_pre_commit(): | CODE |
| LOW | hooks/post_gen_project.py | 204 | def remove_repo_from_pre_commit_config(repo_to_remove: str): | CODE |
| LOW | hooks/post_gen_project.py | 244 | def remove_dotgitlabciyml_file(): | CODE |
| LOW | hooks/post_gen_project.py | 349 | def set_celery_flower_password(file_path, value=None): | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | hooks/post_gen_project.py | 386 | def set_flags_in_settings_files(): | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | hooks/post_gen_project.py | 391 | def remove_envs_and_associated_files(): | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | hooks/post_gen_project.py | 397 | def remove_celery_compose_dirs(): | CODE |
| LOW | hooks/post_gen_project.py | 415 | def remove_ninja_starter_files(): | CODE |
| LOW | scripts/node_version.py | 21 | def get_version_from_dockerfile() -> str: | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | scripts/node_version.py | 34 | def get_version_from_package_json() -> str: | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | scripts/node_version.py | 39 | def update_package_json_version(old_version: str, new_version: str) -> None: | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | scripts/node_version.py | 48 | def update_production_node_version(old_version: str, new_version: str) -> None: | CODE |
| LOW | scripts/update_changelog.py | 86 | def group_pulls_by_change_type( | CODE |
| LOW | scripts/create_django_issue.py | 88 | def get_all_latest_django_versions( | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | scripts/python_dependency_version.py | 33 | def get_requirements_txt_version(package_name: str) -> str: | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | scripts/python_dependency_version.py | 42 | def get_pyproject_toml_version(package_name: str) -> str: | CODE |
| LOW | …{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/users/tests/test_forms.py | 20 | def test_username_validation_error_msg(self, user: User): | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | …okiecutter.project_slug}}/users/tests/test_managers.py | 32 | def test_create_superuser_username_ignored(self): | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | …okiecutter.project_slug}}/users/tests/test_managers.py | 41 | def test_createsuperuser_command(): | CODE |
| LOW | …cookiecutter.project_slug}}/users/tests/test_models.py | 9 | def test_user_get_absolute_url(user: User): | CODE |
| LOW | …ecutter.project_slug}}/users/tests/api/test_openapi.py | 8 | def test_api_docs_accessible_by_admin(admin_client): | CODE |
| LOW | …ecutter.project_slug}}/users/tests/api/test_openapi.py | 19 | def test_api_docs_not_accessible_by_anonymous_users(client): | CODE |
| LOW | …ecutter.project_slug}}/users/tests/api/test_openapi.py | 32 | def test_api_schema_generated_successfully(admin_client): | CODE |
| LOW | …kiecutter.project_slug}}/users/tests/api/test_views.py | 71 | def test_list_users_as_anonymous_user(client: Client): | CODE |
| LOW | …kiecutter.project_slug}}/users/tests/api/test_views.py | 77 | def test_list_users_as_authenticated_user(client: Client, user: User): | CODE |
| LOW | …kiecutter.project_slug}}/users/tests/api/test_views.py | 100 | def test_retrieve_current_user(client: Client, user: User): | CODE |
| LOW | …kiecutter.project_slug}}/users/tests/api/test_views.py | 131 | def test_retrieve_current_user(client: Client, user: User): | CODE |
| LOW | …kiecutter.project_slug}}/users/tests/api/test_views.py | 164 | def test_retrieve_another_user(client: Client, user: User): | CODE |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | docs/conf.py | 1 | # cookiecutter-django documentation build configuration file. | COMMENT |
| LOW | docs/conf.py | 41 | master_doc = "index" | COMMENT |
| LOW | docs/conf.py | 61 | # non-false value, then it is used: | COMMENT |
| LOW | docs/conf.py | 81 | # output. They are ignored by default. | COMMENT |
| LOW | docs/conf.py | 101 | COMMENT | |
| LOW | docs/conf.py | 121 | # Add any paths that contain custom static files (such as style sheets) here, | COMMENT |
| LOW | docs/conf.py | 141 | # If false, no module index is generated. | COMMENT |
| LOW | docs/conf.py | 161 | # base URL from which the finished HTML is served. | COMMENT |
| LOW | docs/conf.py | 201 | COMMENT | |
| LOW | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/test.py | 21 | # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#password-hashers | COMMENT |
| LOW | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 21 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| LOW | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/config/settings/base.py | 301 | CELERY_BROKER_USE_SSL = {"ssl_cert_reqs": ssl.CERT_NONE} if REDIS_SSL else None | COMMENT |
| LOW | {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/docs/conf.py | 61 | # a list of builtin themes. | COMMENT |
| LOW | …ecutter.project_slug}}/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json | 61 | }, | COMMENT |
| LOW | …ecutter.project_slug}}/users/tests/api/test_openapi.py | 41 | # No REST API framework was selected (rest_api = 'None'). | COMMENT |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEDIUM | hooks/post_gen_project.py | 557 | print(f"Error building Docker image: {e}", file=sys.stderr) | CODE |
| MEDIUM⚡ | hooks/post_gen_project.py | 571 | print(f"Error installing production dependencies: {e}", file=sys.stderr) | CODE |
| MEDIUM⚡ | hooks/post_gen_project.py | 578 | print(f"Error installing local dependencies: {e}", file=sys.stderr) | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | hooks/post_gen_project.py | 586 | except Exception as e: # noqa: BLE001 | CODE |
| MEDIUM⚡ | hooks/post_gen_project.py | 587 | print(f"Error removing 'requirements' folder: {e}", file=sys.stderr) | CODE |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIGH | scripts/update_changelog.py | 159 | repo.git.push(server, GIT_BRANCH) | CODE |
| HIGH | scripts/update_changelog.py | 160 | repo.git.push("--tags", server, GIT_BRANCH) | CODE |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW⚡ | scripts/node_version.py | 39 | def update_package_json_version(old_version: str, new_version: str) -> None: | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | scripts/node_version.py | 48 | def update_production_node_version(old_version: str, new_version: str) -> None: | CODE |
| LOW | scripts/update_changelog.py | 131 | def update_version(file_path: Path, release: str) -> None: | CODE |
| LOW | scripts/update_changelog.py | 142 | def update_git_repo(paths: list[Path], release: str) -> None: | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | scripts/python_dependency_version.py | 51 | def update_package_version(package_name: str, old_version: str, new_version: str) -> None: | CODE |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | scripts/node_version.py | 1 | CODE | |
| LOW | scripts/create_django_issue.py | 10 | CODE | |
| LOW | scripts/python_dependency_version.py | 1 | CODE | |
| LOW | …r.project_slug}}/merge_production_dotenvs_in_dotenv.py | 1 | CODE | |
| LOW | …lug}}/tests/test_merge_production_dotenvs_in_dotenv.py | 1 | CODE | |
| LOW | …slug}}/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/users/managers.py | 7 | CODE |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIGH | docs/6-about/generative-ai.md | 17 | Maintainers may close issues and PRs that are not useful or productive, including those that are fully generated by AI. | CODE |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | …{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/users/tests/test_admin.py | 51 | user = User.objects.get(email="admin@example.com") | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | …okiecutter.project_slug}}/users/tests/test_managers.py | 24 | email="admin@example.com", | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | …okiecutter.project_slug}}/users/tests/test_managers.py | 27 | assert user.email == "admin@example.com" | CODE |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | tests/test_cookiecutter_generation.py | 333 | CODE | |
| LOW | scripts/update_changelog.py | 86 | CODE | |
| LOW | scripts/create_django_issue.py | 154 | CODE |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEDIUM | docs/conf.py | 3 | # This file is execfile()d with the current directory set to its containing dir. | COMMENT |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | scripts/create_django_issue.py | 289 | # Check if there are any djs | COMMENT |
| LOW | …tter.project_slug}}/utility/install_os_dependencies.sh | 9 | # Check if a requirements file exist for the current distribution. | COMMENT |