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Rule library

slop-guard ships a pipeline of small, independently scored rules. Each rule targets one formulaic pattern, flags the exact matching spans, and contributes a penalty toward the final score.

The default pipeline runs 24 rules across four scopes. Open a card to read the full rule page, including example violations, default thresholds, and a link to the source file.

Word rules

Single-token checks. These are the cheapest rules and fire on individual AI-associated words.

Slop Word

Detect overused AI-associated slop words.

Sentence rules

One sentence at a time. Catches canned phrases, disclosures, tone markers, and templated pivots.

Slop Phrase

Detect stock slop phrases and transition templates.
Tone Marker

Detect AI-style tone markers and opener tells.
Weasel Phrase

Detect unattributed weasel phrases.
AI Disclosure

Detect direct AI self-disclosure statements.
Placeholder

Detect unfinished placeholder markers.
Contrast Pair

Detect repeated contrast constructions that stage a binary opposition.
Intrasentence Keyword Bold

Detect short, mid-sentence keyword bold spans (LLM emphasis tic).
Setup Resolution

Detect setup-resolution rhetorical flips.
Pithy Fragment

Detect short evaluative pivot fragments.

Paragraph rules

Adjacent-line structure. Catches bullet runs, blockquotes, horizontal rules, and listicle layouts.

Structural Pattern

Detect listicle-like structural patterns in paragraphs.
Bullet Density

Detect bullet-heavy document formatting.
Blockquote Density

Detect excessive thesis-style blockquote usage.
Bold Term Bullet Run

Detect runs of bullets that start with bold terms.
Horizontal Rule Overuse

Detect overuse of horizontal rule separators.

Passage rules

Whole-document signals. Catches rhythm, density, and repetition across the full text.

Rhythm

Detect monotonous sentence-length rhythm.
Em Dash Density

Detect overuse of em dashes across a passage.
Colon Density

Detect elaboration-colon overuse in prose passages.
Phrase Reuse

Detect repeated long n-gram phrase reuse.
Copula Chain

Detect high copula-sentence density - an encyclopedic AI chain pattern.
Extreme Sentence

Detect extremely long run-on sentences.
Closing Aphorism

Detect moralizing or generalizing closing sentences.
Paragraph Balance

Detect suspiciously uniform paragraph lengths.
Paragraph CV

Detect suspiciously uniform paragraph lengths.