No placeholder or stub content
Why it matters
Placeholder text (TODO, TBD, FIXME, Coming soon, unmodified create-next-app boilerplate) tells every evaluator that the project is unfinished and the maintainers are not shipping. It is worse than an absent section because it actively signals neglect. For commercial libraries this kills sales; for open-source projects it suppresses stars, contributions, and external integrations. Boilerplate READMEs also leak through search results and SEO-penalize the project against competitors who wrote real content.
Severity rationale
High because placeholders actively signal project abandonment and erode evaluator trust immediately.
Remediation
Grep the repo for TODO, TBD, FIXME, Coming soon, Lorem ipsum, and [insert across README.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, and docs/**/*.md. For each hit, either write the actual content or delete the section outright — a missing section is better than one flagged as broken. Example fix:
<!-- Before -->
## Configuration
TODO: Add configuration docs
<!-- After -->
## Configuration
Configuration is set via environment variables documented in `.env.example`.
DetectionPro
The detection method for this pattern is part of AuditBuffet Pro.
The full method (what to look for, pass and fail conditions, and how results get reported) ships inside the Developer Documentation Audit. The pattern definition, severity rationale, and remediation remain openly licensed under CC-BY-4.0.
Taxons
History
- 2026-04-18·v1.0.0·Initial import from developer-documentation·automated