# Dark factory

Concept · [Building with AI](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/ai)

Also called: dark factories, lights-out factory, lights out factory

Part of a product where [agents](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/ai-agent) write and ship code that no person ever reviews. The name borrows from [factories](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/software-factory) that run with the lights off because no workers are inside. It only makes sense where [automated checks](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/automated-check) are strong and mistakes are cheap.

**For example:** A team lets [agents](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/ai-agent) maintain its internal sample-data scripts without review but keeps [human review](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/human-review) on anything that touches customer [payments](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/payments).

## Connects to (5)

- [Software factory](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/software-factory): A way of organizing work where events, not people, start agent sessions.
- [Human review](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/human-review): A person reading and approving what an agent produced before it goes live.
- [Automated check](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/automated-check): A test or rule a computer runs to catch problems without a person looking, such as tests, type checkers and style checkers.
- [Vibe coding](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/vibe-coding): Building software by describing what you want to an AI tool and accepting the code it writes, often without reading that code closely.
- [AFK](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/afk): Short for away from keyboard.

Map view: https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/dark-factory