You’ll have to sift through fewer vibe-coded apps on Flathub in future, as the store has announced a policy change on software made using AI tools.
Flathub, the de-facto place to find and install Flatpak applications, is banning the use of “AI” coded applications and automated submissions going forward.
It’s not a blanket ban – mature projects with AI code are allowed
A change to the store’s policy note says “applications containing AI-generated or AI-assisted code, documentation, or other content are not allowed”.
A carve out will allow “mature, well-maintained projects” to include AI generated code and use AI tools for generating and handling submissions.
Existing AI-coded apps available on Flathub are also exempt (which will be music to the ears of the Amberol-alikes, I’m sure).
Flathub’s Bart Piotrowski explained more on the reason behind the policy on Mastodon, citing negative experiences with “entitled submitters acting as if they were bestowing their brilliant software upon us idiots who are rejecting it”.
But they also note their own reservations in committing to banning vibe-coded software, feeling that “LLMs are inevitable”.
‘Depressing’ amount of slop submissions
Submissions to Flathub are handled via GitHub pull requests. Under the new policy, no part of that process can be automated using AI tools or agents, including the manifest, metadata, patches, build scripts and the PR itself.
A Cursor-y1 glance at Flathub’s current submission queue shows a depressing sludge of vibecoded projects angling for inclusion on the store.
Curtailing automated submissions at the root is simply a pragmatic move. Plugging the slopportunity hole should help prevent an ever-scaling influx of low-effort, low-passion identikit-projects that clog volunteer-led approval and review processes.
More pointedly, it could also reduce the amount of chaff the store has to host (infrastructure isn’t cheap) which means users are more likely to find good-quality software.
The majority of low-effort vibe coded apps are spur-of-the-moment clones or riffs on existing tools and lack evidence of commitment2 to maintenance or a vision. Developers of vibeware still have other distribution avenues, like the Snap Store.
A case of “if you couldn’t be bothered to code or submit it, we can’t be bothered to review or host it”.
The crux of the policy change will be in how “exceptions” to the revised policy are handled, since it won’t apply retroactively to existing apps on the store.
Piotrowski says community engagement, release cadence and continuous integration systems – i.e., indications that it isn’t one-shot slopware® made on a whim – will be the bar against which exceptions are viewed.
Cue the tokenburn from AI agents being asked to generate an app, icon, documentation, website, manifest AND now a slew of community simulacrum too…