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Aayushi Shinde
Aayushi Shinde

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DeadCode 👻 — The Ghost of Forgotten Code (Reviving Abandoned Repositories with Local AI)

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Hacktoberfest Open-Source AI Challenge: Ghost in the Machine Submission 👻🌼

This is a submission for the Hacktoberfest Open-Source AI Challenge Week 4: Ghost in the Machine

What I Built

Every abandoned repository has a ghost: forgotten intentions, mystery functions, orphaned TODO comments, and undocumented architectures whose original creators have long since moved on.

I built DeadCode — The Ghost of Forgotten Code, a spooky, privacy-first AI code archaeology tool that helps developers explore, diagnose, and revive forgotten software repositories.

Instead of running untrusted code or sending private source files to third-party cloud APIs, DeadCode acts as a digital ghost residing locally inside the repository:

  1. Performs deterministic static analysis: Parses Python Abstract Syntax Trees (AST), finds empty function stubs, unearths TODO/FIXME/HACK markers, audits unpinned dependencies, and checks for dangerous anti-patterns (eval, subprocess shell=True, unsafe pickle.loads).
  2. Calculates a Repository Health Heuristic: Provides an honest 0–100 estimate of code dormancy and technical debt.
  3. Interrogates the Ghost: Uses a locally running, quantized open-weight model via Ollama to explain unfamiliar functions, decipher architectures, and suggest contribution starting points—with line-numbered citations.
  4. Writes "The Last Will of This Repository": Generates a comprehensive architectural summary and a phased revival roadmap (First Hour, First Day, First Week) downloadable as Markdown (.md) and JSON (.json).

Tagline: “Every repository has a past. Let AI uncover its unfinished story.”

Demo

DeadCode features a dark Haunted Terminal interface built with Streamlit, styled with glowing cyan, eerie green, and muted violet accents, accompanied by a custom CSS ghost mascot.

Key Capabilities in Action:

  • Instant Ingestion: Point to any local folder path or upload a .zip archive.
  • Built-in Demo Repository: One-click loading of phantom_vault (a realistic legacy Python service from 2021 with stubs, security anti-patterns, and unpinned dependencies).
  • Interactive Ghost Q&A: Grounded answers backed by line-numbered excerpts and strict secret redaction.
  • Graceful Offline Mode: Runs in 100% deterministic mode even when Ollama is offline or not installed, clearly labeling deterministic facts from AI estimates.

Code

The project is fully open source under the MIT License.

GitHub logo AayushiShinde / DeadCode-

DeadCode 👻

The Ghost of Forgotten Code

Tagline: Every repository has a past. Let AI uncover its unfinished story.

Built for the Hacktoberfest Open-Source AI Challenge, Week 4: “Ghost in the Machine”.

🌟 1. Project Overview

DeadCode is a spooky, privacy-first AI code archaeology tool engineered to revive forgotten, abandoned, or unfamiliar software repositories.

When developers inherit legacy repositories or return to half-finished prototypes after years of dormancy, they often encounter broken syntax, cryptically minimal functions, unpinned dependencies, forgotten TODO/FIXME comments, and zero documentation.

DeadCode summons a digital ghost to interrogate the repository:

  1. Performs deterministic static analysis via Python AST parsing, comment marker detection, and dependency audits.
  2. Consults a strictly local, quantized open-weight instruction model via Ollama to explain cryptic functions and suggest actionable next steps.
  3. Synthesizes a comprehensive architectural report and revival roadmap called:

    “The Last Will of This Repository”

Key Features

  • 100% Local & Offline…
View on GitHub

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