I Built a “Production-Ready” AI Agent Framework. It Was a Lie. So I Fixed It.
A story about AI-generated repos, fake READMEs, and what I did about it.
Two weeks ago, I built an automation pipeline that generates open-source projects on GitHub. The idea: market-research trending tech, scaffold a repo, fill it with code, add docs, and push — fully automated. 14 agents working together. 65 seconds end-to-end. I was proud of it.
Then I actually looked at the generated code.
The Ugly Truth
The pipeline had generated three repos:
- ai-agent-starter: “Production-ready AI agent framework with multi-provider support”
- dev-cli-kit: “Modern CLI toolkit with scaffolding, code generation, and git automation”
- nextjs-saas-starter: “Next.js SaaS starter with auth, payments, and AI integration”
Sounds great, right? Here’s what was actually inside:
| Repo | Source Code | Tests | Could It Run? |
|---|---|---|---|
| ai-agent-starter | 183 lines of broken code | 0 | No |
| dev-cli-kit | 1 Handlebars template file (not even .ts) |
0 | No |
| nextjs-saas-starter | Zero lines of code | 0 | No |
The nextjs-saas-starter didn’t even have a src/ directory. Just a package.json, a tsconfig.json, and a README claiming it had “authentication, Stripe payments, and an AI chat interface.” None of those existed. Not even a single component.
The READMEs were AI-generated marketing fluff. Every claim was false. And somehow, each one had donation links (PayPal, Buy Me a Coffee, GitHub Sponsors) — asking for money before delivering a single working line of code.
I had built a lying machine.
What I Did
Instead of deleting the repos (GitHub URLs and star history have value), I decided to make every claim true.
I rewrote all three from scratch, and built a fourth:
1. ai-agent-starter (v0.2.0)
What it claimed → What it now is:
- “Multi-provider support (OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama)” → Actually implemented all three, with streaming
- “Built-in tool execution engine” → Real function calling via OpenAI/Anthropic native tool APIs, not regex string matching
- “Conversation memory” → Token-aware memory manager with auto-pruning
- “CLI and programmatic API” →
npx ai-agent-starter chat,npx ai-agent-starter run "prompt", and importable package
650+ lines of TypeScript, 24 tests, zero build errors.
2. dev-cli-kit (v0.2.0)
The old version’s only source file was cli.ts.hbs — a Handlebars template with // TODO: Implement init logic as its core functionality.
Now: real project scaffolding from 3 built-in templates (Node/TS, React/Vite, CLI tool), code generation (component/hook/util/api), and git workflow helpers. 480+ lines, 8 tests.
3. nextjs-saas-starter (v0.2.0)
From zero lines to a complete Next.js 14 app: landing page (hero, features grid, pricing), dashboard with sidebar + stats, login/register pages, billing page, settings page, API route, Tailwind CSS with dark mode. 520+ lines across 14 files.
4. ai-chat-saas (NEW)
Built on top of the first three — a complete AI chat application. Multi-provider streaming chat with server-side API key protection. 763 lines. Ready to deploy on Vercel in 60 seconds.
What I Learned
-
AI-generated code isn’t the problem — unverified AI-generated code is. My pipeline agents were generating template stubs and calling them “production-ready.” The fix was embedding real, tested code as the generation template.
-
READMEs should describe what EXISTS, not what you WISH existed. Every line in the new READMEs corresponds to actual code you can run.
-
Donation links on empty repos are a red flag. If a project has zero working code and asks for money, it damages trust in the entire open-source ecosystem. I removed all donation links and added them back only where appropriate.
-
“Production-ready” means something. It means tests pass, builds succeed, and someone can clone your repo, run
npm install && npm run dev, and see a working product. Not a TODO comment.
What’s Next
The pipeline is fixed. The code agents now generate real, working code instead of stubs. Cron runs daily at 16:00 Beijing time.
I’m also launching a paid template — ai-chat-saas — on Gumroad for $19. It’s the chat application with all three providers, streaming, dark mode, and server-side API protection. Clone, set your API keys, deploy.
The moral: if you’re using AI to generate code, verify it. Actually run npm install. Actually run npm test. Actually try to use it. Otherwise you’re just building a very fast bullshit machine.
All repos: github.com/GrahamduesCN