--- title: README, not | daily.dev description: A proposal for a READMENOT file convention — analogous to README — that developers could add to projects to signal that the code is AI-generated slop or... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/readme-not-86ahvsiou twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: README, not | daily.dev og:description: A proposal for a READMENOT file convention — analogous to README — that developers could add to projects to signal that the code is AI-generated slop or... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/readme-not-86ahvsiou og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/86AHvsIou.png og:image:alt: README, not og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # README, not **[Lobsters](https://daily.dev/sources/lobsters)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A proposal for a READMENOT file convention — analogous to README — that developers could add to projects to signal that the code is AI-generated slop or otherwise not intended for human reading. The author defines 'slop' as code developed primarily without human supervision or reflecting a fundamental lack of operator understanding, and argues that a consistent marker would let readers make informed decisions about whether to engage with a codebase. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What does the term slop mean when talking about AI-generated code? Slop refers to a codebase that is either developed primarily without human supervision or reflects a fundamental lack of understanding by the person who produced it. Either quality alone is sufficient to qualify code as slop, and the two often overlap but are independent conditions. The definition is acknowledged to shift over time as language models improve. _Developers sorting signal from AI-generated noise can follow this kind of framing on daily.dev._ ### What is a READMENOT file supposed to do? A READMENOT file is a proposed convention where developers add a file to a project to warn readers that the code inside is slop, meaning low-effort or largely unsupervised AI-generated code unsuitable for careful reading or reuse without caution. It typically contains a short human-friendly explanation of why the project shouldn't be read closely, similar in spirit to a @generated marker for autogenerated code. _Anyone weighing conventions for disclosing AI-generated code can track this kind of discussion on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Stop Slopware](https://daily.dev/posts/stop-slopware-j3jquitkc) · Hacker News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [The Rejection of Artificially Generated Slop \(RAGS\)](https://daily.dev/posts/the-rejection-of-artificially-generated-slop-rags--shjqbeues) · Lobsters · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#open-source](https://daily.dev/tags/open-source), [#ai-coding](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-coding) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/readme-not-86ahvsiou) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"README, not","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/readme-not-86ahvsiou","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/readme-not-86ahvsiou"},"datePublished":"2026-07-17T04:00:20.224Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T06:37:11.393Z","description":"A proposal for a READMENOT file convention — analogous to README — that developers could add to projects to signal that the code is AI-generated slop or...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/6b862b4e450a84592a44885a229a0378?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/6b862b4e450a84592a44885a229a0378?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Lobsters","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Lobsters","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--tl8v_Fku--/f_auto,t_logo/v1698841318/logos/lobste.jpg","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/lobsters"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/readme-not-86ahvsiou","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"open-source,ai-coding","timeRequired":"PT3M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lobsters","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/lobsters"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"README, not"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/readme-not-86ahvsiou#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What does the term slop mean when talking about AI-generated code?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Slop refers to a codebase that is either developed primarily without human supervision or reflects a fundamental lack of understanding by the person who produced it. Either quality alone is sufficient to qualify code as slop, and the two often overlap but are independent conditions. The definition is acknowledged to shift over time as language models improve. Developers sorting signal from AI-generated noise can follow this kind of framing on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What is a READMENOT file supposed to do?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"A READMENOT file is a proposed convention where developers add a file to a project to warn readers that the code inside is slop, meaning low-effort or largely unsupervised AI-generated code unsuitable for careful reading or reuse without caution. It typically contains a short human-friendly explanation of why the project shouldn't be read closely, similar in spirit to a @generated marker for autogenerated code. Anyone weighing conventions for disclosing AI-generated code can track this kind of discussion on daily.dev."}}]} ```