kill-ai-slop

What the source does

• FilesystemNone observedNo reads or writes in the source
• NetworkNone observedNo outbound calls in the source
• ShellNone observedNo commands run in the source
• DependenciesNot pinnedSome versions float
• SecretsNone foundNo keys in source

Five audit layers

Gates applied: no behavioural pass.

astro

Audit 0.4.1 · source sha bc13e1c22b64 · 21 Oct 2026Report an issue or request a re-scan

• Publisheryetone GitHub userOwner of the repository this skill is read from
• Source folderyetone/kill-ai-slopThe exact folder we audited
• LicenceApache-2.0As the repository states it
• Commit pinned for this verdictbc13e1c22b64A new audit runs when the source changes
• Repository statusNot archivedLast push 35 days ago
• Sandboxed runNot runSkills are read, not executed; layer L4 is skipped

Its description: Find and remove AI slop — the generic, machine-default visual and copy tics of vibe-coded products — from a web project. Use when the user asks to "kill AI slop", "de-slop", "remove the AI look", "make this not look…

---
name: kill-ai-slop
description: >-
  Find and remove AI slop — the generic, machine-default visual and copy tics of
  vibe-coded products — from a web project. Use when the user asks to "kill AI
  slop", "de-slop", "remove the AI look", "make this not look AI-generated", or
  clean up a landing page / UI / docs that feels templated. Detects and fixes
  the catalogue of tells: indigo→violet gradients, gradient-clip headlines, the
  default semantic palette, one-hue status boxes, atmospheric gradients,
  serif-italic emphasis, highlighted keywords, AI copywriting voice ("not just
  X — it's Y"), emoji everywhere, glowing status dots, wobbling spinners,
  colored-left-border
  callouts, pastel icon tiles, glassmorphism, over-rounding, oversized shadows,
  borders that die at corners, badge & pill spam, AI-drawn SVG icons, kickers
  over every heading, flat type
  hierarchies, invented stat rows, 01/02/03 section
  markers, cards nested in cards, the default Inter/Space Grotesk look, and
  more. Works on HTML/CSS, React/Vue/Svelte/Astro, Tailwind, PHP, and Markdown
  copy.
---

# Kill AI Slop

AI slop is **ugly** in a specific way: it piles on every possible style and
detail without settling on a focus. A gradient, a glow, a mascot, emoji, a wall
of glowing cards, every default switched on at once, until every product looks
like the same garish template. It reads as "designed" in a thumbnail and falls
apart the moment anyone looks. Your job is to strip it back to something a
person would actually choose.

The principles, held on every fix you make:

1. **Decide before you decorate.** Every visual choice must be explainable.
2. **One accent, one voice.**
3. **Hierarchy from scale and space.** Coloring words or swapping fonts is a shortcut.
4. **Subtract first.** The first move toward not-ugly is removing things.
5. **Specific beats punchy** in copy.
6. **Decoration must mean something** — icons, badges, callouts are signals.

## Workflow

Follow these steps in order. Do not mass-edit before the user has seen the report.

### 1. Scope
Confirm what to scan. Default to the app/site source (skip `node_modules`,
`dist`, `build`, `.git`, `vendor`, lockfiles, minified files). Ask if the
project mixes several apps.

### 2. Scan
Run the bundled scanner, which greps the codebase for the code-level signals of
each tell and prints grouped `file:line` hits:

```
node scripts/scan.mjs <root>          # human-readable report
node scripts/scan.mjs <root> --json   # machine-readable, for triage
```

It is pure Node (no dependencies) and never edits files. Use its output as a
starting map, not gospel — confirm each hit by reading the code.

To narrow a scan: `--only=01,06` / `--skip=19` filter by tell id, and
`--exclude=legacy` drops paths (substring match on the project-relative path).
`--rules=extra.mjs` loads additional project- or language-specific tells
(`scripts/rules.ru.mjs` is a shipped Russian-copy example and the template for
your own). Hits the user has confirmed as intentional can be pinned in source
with `deslop-ignore`, `deslop-ignore-next-line 06`, or `deslop-ignore-file`
comments — prefer the id-scoped forms so new tells still surface.

### 3. Triage
For every hit, open the file and decide **slop vs. intentional**. This is the
step that separates this skill from a lint rule. A gradient, a serif, or an
emoji can be a real, defended choice. Keep anything the user clearly chose
(brand tokens, a logo, a deliberate illustration). Flag only defaults.

Read `references/taxonomy.md` for what each tell is and why it reads as
machine-made, and `references/detection.md` for the exact patterns and their
common false positives.

### 4. Report
Before changing anything, give the user a grouped summary: each tell, the
`file:line` hits you confirmed, one sentence on why, and the proposed fix.
Mirror the format:

```
slop  src/Hero.tsx:12   indigo→violet gradient        → one solid accent
slop  src/Hero.tsx:31   gradient-clip headline        → solid ink, scale up
slop  src/Note.tsx:8    border-l-4 callout ×3         → 1 aside, rest is body
slop  copy.md:1         "not just X — it's Y"         → say the specific thing
→ 4 groups, 11 hits.
```

Then ask which groups to apply, or whether to proceed on all.

### 5. Fix
Apply the minimal change that removes the tell while preserving intent and
function. Use `references/fixes.md` for the before→after pattern per tell.

- Prefer editing shared tokens/components over touching every call site.
- Never invent new brand colors; if a palette must change, propose neutrals +
  the project's existing accent and let the user confirm.
- Keep copy meaning; make it specific, don't just delete it.
- Re-run the scanner after fixing to confirm the count dropped, and note any
  hits you intentionally left (with the reason).

## Guardrails

- **Respect authorship.** Treat unfamiliar files and deliberate flourishes as
  someone's choice. When unsure whether something is slop, ask — don't strip it.
- **Small, reviewable diffs.** Never reformat unrelated code. Never run
  `git add -A`; stage explicit files only, and leave others' work-in-progress
  alone.
- **No new dependencies** to do this work.
- **Verify visually when possible.** If a dev server exists, look at the before
  and after; a passing scan is not the same as a better page.

## References

- `references/taxonomy.md` — the 35 tells: what each is, why it's slop, the fix.
- `references/detection.md` — concrete ripgrep/regex patterns + false positives.
- `references/fixes.md` — before→after remediation patterns.
- `scripts/scan.mjs` — the dependency-free scanner.

Excerpt, first 5,630 characters of SKILL.md, verbatim from the audited commit. It is text from someone else’s repository, quoted so you can judge it before your agent reads it.

1. 2026-10-21
   ✓SAFE B 89 / 100

   first audit · source bc13e1c22b64

Questions about kill-ai-slop

• github.com/yetone/kill-ai-slop — the audited source at commit bc13e1c22b64 and every finding aboveObserved · 21 Oct 2026

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