Software Supply Chains are Dead: Use-Case-Oriented Regeneration
arXiv:2607.13021
The paper proposes a use‑case‑oriented regeneration approach that uses generative AI to synthesize only the needed functionality of a dependency, reducing reliance on external software supply chains while preserving repository behavior.
Abstract
Modern software development relies on an increasingly doubtful premise: that the up-front implementation savings from adopting a dependency outweighs the maintenance costs. Two changes are reshaping the build-vs.-reuse calculus: software supply chain attacks have raised the cost of external reliance, while generative AI has lowered the cost of local implementation. We envision use-case-oriented regeneration as a new software sourcing paradigm that shifts the supply chain from external trust to local verification. We evaluate an agentic workflow that synthesizes only the specific slice of dependency functionality that a repository exercises. Our measurements across 180 repository-dependency pairs suggest that this approach is feasible: the replacements preserve 99.8% of repository-observed behavior across baseline validation checks and reduce the exported API surface by 93%. Software sourcing may evolve toward verifiable repository-specific code synthesis, especially when the required functionality is narrow, stable, and well tested.
[ESEM'26-ERVR] Proceedings of the 20th International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement (ESEM 2026 Emerging Results, Vision, and Reflection Papers)