Why it matters, why it resists measurement, and how to govern automated development
Version 1.26 · Updated 22 August 2026 · Evidence cut-off 22 August 2026 · Links checked 22 August 2026
Written and researched by OpenAI Codex, under the direction and editorial guidance of Peter Roelants
What they are, how they work, and what it takes to run one
Version 3.7 · 23 August 2026
Written and researched by agents such as Codex, under the direction and editorial guidance of Peter Roelants
Working definition. A dark software factory is a development system in which people specify intent, constraints, and acceptable behavior while software agents produce and validate the implementation. In the strict form, people neither write nor routinely review the generated code; they operate the factory that does.
| from __future__ import annotations | |
| import io | |
| from typing import Literal, TypedDict, TypeVar, Union | |
| from fsspec.spec import AbstractFileSystem | |
| # Create a recursive type for the store dictionary | |
| T = TypeVar("T") | |
| StoreDict = dict[str, Union[bytes, "StoreDict"]] |
| from functools import partial | |
| from typing import Protocol | |
| class Callable(Protocol): | |
| def __call__(self, *args, **kwargs): | |
| ... | |
| class Params: |
| from fastapi import FastAPI | |
| from fastapi.staticfiles import StaticFiles | |
| class StaticNoCache(StaticFiles): | |
| """Disable caching of static files serverd""" | |
| def is_not_modified(self, *args, **kwargs) -> bool: | |
| return False | |
| def file_response(self, *args, **kwargs): |
| <html> | |
| <head> | |
| <style>.tree { | |
| position: relative; | |
| } | |
| /* Define variables used in tree-node */ | |
| :root { | |
| --indent: 1em; |
| """ | |
| FastAPI example web app for OAuth2 Authorization Code Flow. | |
| Run with: | |
| ``` | |
| uvicorn main:app --reload --log-config=log_conf.yaml | |
| ``` | |
| """ | |
| import logging |
| """ | |
| Simple example of OpenAI Function Calling in ReAct Loop. | |
| Functions are described in JSON with each parameter the function accepts described as a JSON Schema object. | |
| More info: | |
| - OpenAI Function Calling | |
| - https://openai.com/blog/function-calling-and-other-api-updates | |
| - https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/gpt/function-calling | |
| - https://platform.openai.com/docs/api-reference/chat/create#chat/create-functions |