GitHub repo blocks AI bots using contributor whitelisting system
Original: We stopped AI bot spam in our GitHub repo using Git's –author flag
Why This Matters
Shows growing challenge of AI spam threatening open source collaboration quality
Archestra implemented a contributor onboarding system to combat AI bot spam that flooded their GitHub repository with 253 comments on one issue and 27 untested pull requests. The company uses Git's --author flag and prior contributor restrictions to whitelist legitimate developers.
AI startup Archestra faced an epidemic of AI bot spam in their GitHub repository after posting a $900 bounty issue. Bots generated 253 comments with pointless implementation plans and aggressive messages toward maintainers, burying legitimate contributor discussions. The company received 27 pull requests for one issue, most untested by contributors. Team members spent half a day weekly cleaning AI-generated content. Initial solutions included building 'London-Cat' reputation calculator and an 'AI sheriff' bot, but these proved ineffective. Archestra implemented a nuclear option: blocking non-whitelisted users from creating issues, opening PRs, or commenting using GitHub's 'Limit to prior contributors' setting combined with Git's --author flag for verification. This five-step contributor onboarding process aims to maintain repository quality despite potential impact on GitHub activity metrics important to VC-backed startups.