tech
Fed up with vibe coders, dev sneaks data-nuking prompt injection into their code
Undisclosed addition in jqwik instructed AI coding agents to delete app output.

TL;DR
- A developer secretly added a prompt injection to the open-source Java testing app jqwik.
- The hidden instruction told AI coding agents to delete all jqwik tests and code.
- This tactic aims to discourage the use of AI coding agents in projects.
- The addition was concealed using ANSI escape sequences to hide the output from human reviewers.
- Other developers have raised ethical concerns about the aggressive and potentially destructive nature of the payload.
- The developer later disclosed the prompt injection in the release notes and is considering legal advice due to threats.
- This incident follows the developer's previous writings decrying the harms of generative AI.