# History and messages to the requester ("Updated the parser to...", "As requested", "Generated by AI", dated change notes)

*Comments and text*: one of the ways AI coding agents bloat software, from lessloc's [pattern catalog](https://lessloc.org/patterns/index.md). lessloc catches it as [`history`](https://lessloc.org/guide/reference.md#tier-3).

## What makes history and messages to the requester a bad practice?

The standard that calls it a bad practice: Clean Code C1 and Journal Comments: history belongs in source control.

## What does lessloc do about history and messages to the requester?

lessloc catches it as [`history`](https://lessloc.org/guide/reference.md#tier-3).

- `history` (tier 3): Dates, change history or notes to the requester in comments.

## Examples

Caught as `history`:

```js [o.js]
// Updated the parser to handle empty input, as requested
export const parse = s => s.trim();
```

Written well:

```js [o.js]
// Empty input is valid: forms post "" for untouched fields
export const parse = s => s.trim();
```

## Related patterns

The other patterns in [Comments and text](https://lessloc.org/patterns/index.md#comments-and-text):

- [Comments that narrate what the code does](https://lessloc.org/patterns/narration.md): lessloc catches it as `narration`.
- [Banners, dividers, closing-brace comments, emoji decoration](https://lessloc.org/patterns/decoration.md): lessloc catches it as `narration`.
- [Docs that restate the name](https://lessloc.org/patterns/restating-docs.md): lessloc catches it as `narration`.
- [Comment blocks and comment-heavy changes](https://lessloc.org/patterns/comment-weight.md): lessloc catches it as `comment-block` and `comment-density`.
- [Log lines that narrate each step](https://lessloc.org/patterns/log-chatter.md): lessloc catches it as `narration` (three or more in a file).
- [Docs that still name what a change removed](https://lessloc.org/patterns/stale-doc.md): lessloc catches it as `stale-doc`.
- [Summary, report and notes files](https://lessloc.org/patterns/index.md#report-files): lessloc catches it as `junk-file` and refuses it before it lands.
- [Doc files and README growth nobody asked for](https://lessloc.org/patterns/unrequested-docs.md): lessloc catches it as `unrequested-doc`.
- [Docs deleted wholesale to shrink a change](https://lessloc.org/patterns/doc-removed.md): lessloc catches it as `doc-removed`.
- [Always-loaded instructions that grow](https://lessloc.org/patterns/long-instructions.md): lessloc catches it as `long-instructions`.
- [Commit messages that recap the diff file by file](https://lessloc.org/patterns/commit-recaps.md): The commit hook warns when a message lists the files the diff shows.