tropius: detect AI tropes in prose

Developer Owais released tropius, a CLI tool that detects AI tropes in prose using Aho-Corasick phrase matching and structural detectors. The tool scans text for patterns like clichés and repetition, inspired by a BlueSky discussion about detecting AI-generated writing styles.

tropius tropius tropius is a CLI to detect AI tropes in prose. How how We use a pattern dictionary in TOML based on a trope list /desertthunder.dev/tropius/tree/main/meta/tropes.md from Tropes.fyi https://tropes.fyi Text ↓ Aho-Corasick phrase matcher ↓ Structural, repetition, and character-class detectors ↓ Findings report Usage usage Scan text from stdin: printf 'Let us delve into this robust ecosystem.' | cargo run -q -p tropius-cli Scan article text extracted from a live URL with lectito https://lectito.stormlightlabs.org/ : Install lectito cargo install lectito-cli lectito 'https://www.solo.io/blog/what-is-agent-identity-human-workload-a-new-layer' \ --format text \ | cargo run -q -p tropius-cli The CLI exits 0 when no findings are found and 1 when it finds trope signals. It exits 2 for usage or configuration errors. Color output respects NO COLOR https://no-color.org/ . Coverage coverage - an implementation path for every source section in tropes.md - phrase patterns for literal trope signals - structural detectors for sentence and paragraph shape - repetition detectors for repeated metaphor terms and duplicated content - markdown-aware detection for bold-first bullets - character-class detection for Unicode decoration Inspiration inspiration I got nerd-sniped on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/samuel.fm/post/3mp3l3cxg622y Samuel - @samuel.fm 2026-06-25 04:16“Claudesmell” labeller for standard.site records wen owais - @desertthunder.dev 2026-06-25 04:18what does claudesmell mean here Samuel - @samuel.fm 2026-06-25 04:22smells of claude, e.g. short, punchy yet needlessly florid prose, excessive claudeisms, it’s not just x it’s y etc owais - @desertthunder.dev 2026-06-25 04:26You know that feeling of nerd-sniping about to happen? I gotta use aho-corasick + tropes.fyi in some way