Every repository is haunted

Description and use

Repositories contain references to deleted files, causing import errors and CI failures. The "ouija" tool detects these "ghosts", and "ofrenda" documents them.

Problem

Repositories contain references to files that have been deleted, causing dead imports, broken CI scripts, and stale documentation.

Outcome

The scan uncovered 69 proven ghosts and 34 suspected across 29 projects, highlighting widespread maintenance gaps.

Workflow

• 1. Scan repository for import statements, CI scripts, and documentation that reference file paths.
• 2. Verify if the referenced file exists in the current commit history.
• 3. Classify references as proven (full path matches) or suspected (bare filename or ambiguous context).
• 4. Aggregate counts per repository and generate a report.
• 5. Publish findings on a public altar site for community awareness.

Evidence

There is a file in vLLM that imports a module which does not exist.

Source

PlaceholderAttentionBackend is defined nowhere in the repository today.

Source

The tool is one claim, and I wanted the claim to be the kind that can be proven wrong: "This exact file is gone. Nothing replaced it. Something still says its name."

Source

The sweep ran against local clones. For any repository where my checkout carries my own branches, the numbers above come from a throwaway worktree at that project's upstream default branch instead, so every line quoted below is one anybody can go and read.

Source