The code and data behind xeiaso.net
feat(notes): slop signal: weird indentation for command lists
Signed-off-by: Xe Iaso <me@xeiaso.net>
+29
+29
lume/src/notes/2025/slop-signal-indentation.mdx
+29
lume/src/notes/2025/slop-signal-indentation.mdx
···
1
+
---
2
+
title: "New AI slop signal: code blocks with weird indentation"
3
+
desc: "If the first line of a set of commands isn't indented but the rest are: the post is AI slop"
4
+
date: 2025-12-01
5
+
---
6
+
7
+
I just discovered a new way to tell if a blogpost is AI slop or at least if someone blindly copied and pasted commands from Claude Code: the first line of a group of commands isn't indented but the rest are, like this:
8
+
9
+
```bash
10
+
sudo apt update
11
+
sudo apt upgrade
12
+
sudo apt autoremove
13
+
sudo apt autoclean
14
+
```
15
+
16
+
This happens because the raw CLI output of Claude code for this question looks like this:
17
+
18
+
```text
19
+
> What are the commands to fully update an Ubuntu system? Just list the commands.
20
+
21
+
● sudo apt update
22
+
sudo apt upgrade
23
+
sudo apt autoremove
24
+
sudo apt autoclean
25
+
```
26
+
27
+
And then the writer copied from the beginning of the set of commands to the end. Their text editor / formatting tool did not remove the preceding spaces because that's sometimes syntactically relevant in code blocks.
28
+
29
+
I'll keep y'all updated as I find more indicators. There are so many in the wild and it's making me grow weary.