Quality Control: GNOME Extensions Catalog Rejects Submissions with Unvetted AI-Generated Code
The GNOME Shell Extensions team has decided to tighten moderation rules in the EGO catalog in response to a growing influx of extensions that bear clear traces of AI-generated code. The trigger, according to a member of the review team, was that some developers have begun using AI tools bluntly—submitting packages without fully understanding what is actually written in the source code.
The author explains that they joined the team with the aim of making life easier for extension developers: starting with a porting guide, then becoming deeply involved in reviews—sharing best practices, providing code examples, and at times fixing issues themselves and submitting merge requests. Together with Andy Holmes, they prepared a set of documentation for extension authors and established review rules that are strict yet transparent, complete with examples. In parallel, the community continued to grow: the GNOME Extensions Matrix channel, as noted, offers quick answers and support, and the volume of submissions to EGO has steadily increased.
That growth, however, has brought a new burden. On some days, reviews consume more than six hours, with over 15,000 lines of code passing through reviewers’ hands, alongside a constant stream of questions from community members. Over the past two months in particular, EGO has seen a surge of new extensions, and the team increasingly encounters superfluous code and poor practices clearly inherited from AI-generated responses. The problem, the author argues, is compounded by a domino effect: once a bad habit appears in one extension, it is quickly copied into others—lengthening the review queue for everyone.
A telling example is cited: instead of a straightforward call to super.destroy(), authors wrap it in try–catch blocks, add type checks, and emit warnings—even though the method is explicitly defined in the parent class. The result is bloated, more complex, and less readable code, which in turn slows the review process. As a consequence, EGO’s rules will now include a new clause: submissions containing unnecessary code that appears to be AI-generated will be rejected.
At the same time, the team emphasizes that it is not calling for the abandonment of AI as a tool. AI can be valuable for learning, diagnosing errors, and carefully correcting issues. What is discouraged is generating an entire extension and submitting it without understanding how it works. For newcomers to extension development, the author encourages more frequent engagement with the GNOME Extensions Matrix channel to seek advice and guidance.
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