The Congealing Slop
It works on my machine (and the model's).
Congealing Slop is what happens when AI-generated code accumulates without enough shaping. Each piece works in isolation. Together, they form a substance that resists change, defies understanding, and slowly absorbs every developer who touches it.
Symptom
A codebase nobody would have designed on purpose. Inconsistent conventions, redundant abstractions, and a 'how' that has become too tangled to explain.
Why It Matters
It's not one big mistake — it's a thousand small ones that hardened before anyone noticed. Refactors stop landing. Velocity drops. Nobody can point to where it went wrong.
What the Chapter Gives You
The early shape of Congealing Slop in PRs, the review habits that keep it from setting, and the refactor patterns that work once it has.
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