{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7164910048","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2606.14796","title":"Faster Code, Deeper Debt? A Multivocal Literature Review on Technical Debt and Its Early Signs in LLM-Assisted Software Development","display_name":"Faster Code, Deeper Debt? A Multivocal Literature Review on Technical Debt and Its Early Signs in LLM-Assisted Software Development","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-06-11","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7164910048","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2606.14796"},"language":null,"primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2606.14796","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2606.14796","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Preprint"},"type":"preprint","indexed_in":["datacite"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"green","oa_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2606.14796","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5092418418","display_name":"Ramtin Ehsani","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1517-7135"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Ehsani, Ramtin","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5123607391","display_name":"Shriya Rawal","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Rawal, Shriya","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5138693325","display_name":"Yuanfang Cai","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Cai, Yuanfang","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5049106181","display_name":"Preetha Chatterjee","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3057-7807"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Chatterjee, Preetha","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":0,"institutions_distinct_count":0,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":null,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":null,"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":null,"issue":null,"first_page":null,"last_page":null},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10260","display_name":"Software Engineering Research","score":0.8973000049591064,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10260","display_name":"Software Engineering Research","score":0.8973000049591064,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10430","display_name":"Software Engineering Techniques and Practices","score":0.020999999716877937,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11675","display_name":"Open Source Software Innovations","score":0.01600000075995922,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1706","display_name":"Computer Science Applications"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/technical-debt","display_name":"Technical debt","score":0.883400022983551},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/debt","display_name":"Debt","score":0.5885000228881836},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/documentation","display_name":"Documentation","score":0.5708000063896179},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/corporate-governance","display_name":"Corporate governance","score":0.5558000206947327},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/quality","display_name":"Quality (philosophy)","score":0.44909998774528503},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/software-development","display_name":"Software development","score":0.34869998693466187}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C159198006","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1532172","display_name":"Technical debt","level":4,"score":0.883400022983551},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C120527767","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3196867","display_name":"Debt","level":2,"score":0.5885000228881836},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C56666940","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q788790","display_name":"Documentation","level":2,"score":0.5708000063896179},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C39389867","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q380767","display_name":"Corporate governance","level":2,"score":0.5558000206947327},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779530757","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1207505","display_name":"Quality (philosophy)","level":2,"score":0.44909998774528503},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C144133560","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4830453","display_name":"Business","level":0,"score":0.37059998512268066},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C529173508","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q638608","display_name":"Software development","level":3,"score":0.34869998693466187},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C207267971","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q120208","display_name":"Emerging technologies","level":2,"score":0.34709998965263367},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C121955636","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4116214","display_name":"Accounting","level":1,"score":0.3246000111103058},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.322299987077713},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C121087249","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q546395","display_name":"Emerging markets","level":2,"score":0.3098999857902527},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C112930515","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4389547","display_name":"Risk analysis (engineering)","level":1,"score":0.30559998750686646},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C195094911","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14167904","display_name":"Process management","level":1,"score":0.29910001158714294},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C19351080","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1395034","display_name":"New product development","level":2,"score":0.2831999957561493},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777904410","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7397","display_name":"Software","level":2,"score":0.2824999988079071},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C32896092","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q189447","display_name":"Risk management","level":2,"score":0.2791000008583069},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C127413603","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11023","display_name":"Engineering","level":0,"score":0.2563000023365021}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2606.14796","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2606.14796","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":null,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Preprint"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2606.14796","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2606.14796","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Preprint"},"sustainable_development_goals":[{"display_name":"Partnerships for the goals","id":"https://metadata.un.org/sdg/17","score":0.4678512215614319}],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"pdf":false,"grobid_xml":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":0,"referenced_works":[],"related_works":[],"abstract_inverted_index":{"With":[0],"the":[1,7,11,128],"rapid":[2],"adoption":[3],"of":[4,29,63,194],"LLM-assisted":[5,39],"coding,":[6],"need":[8],"to":[9,36,42,52,97,119,148,161,166,190],"manage":[10],"technical":[12,43,64,150],"debt":[13,44,99,151],"these":[14],"systems":[15],"introduce":[16],"has":[17],"become":[18],"urgent.":[19],"In":[20,139],"this":[21],"paper,":[22],"we":[23,79,184],"conduct":[24],"a":[25,92],"multivocal":[26],"literature":[27,129],"review":[28],"104":[30],"sources":[31],"(31":[32],"formal,":[33],"73":[34],"grey)":[35],"examine":[37],"how":[38,163],"development":[40],"contributes":[41],"and":[45,49,69,100,112,135,187],"what":[46],"strategies,":[47],"metrics,":[48],"benchmarks":[50,171],"exist":[51],"mitigate":[53],"it.":[54],"We":[55],"find":[56],"that":[57,95],"LLMs":[58,164,195],"often":[59],"amplify":[60],"traditional":[61],"forms":[62],"debt,":[65,82,114],"particularly":[66],"code,":[67],"design,":[68],"documentation":[70],"debts,":[71],"while":[72,153],"also":[73],"introducing":[74],"new":[75,116],"LLM-specific":[76,173],"debts.":[77,167],"Notably,":[78],"identify":[80],"fast-integration":[81],"where":[83],"rapidly":[84],"generated":[85],"code":[86],"prioritizes":[87],"speed":[88],"over":[89],"quality,":[90],"triggering":[91],"domino":[93],"effect":[94],"leads":[96],"governance":[98],"increased":[101],"long-term":[102],"maintenance":[103],"costs.":[104],"Additional":[105],"emerging":[106,160],"categories":[107],"include":[108,130],"prompt,":[109],"ethical,":[110],"data,":[111],"provenance":[113],"reflecting":[115],"challenges":[117],"unique":[118],"LLM":[120],"adoption.":[121],"To":[122],"address":[123],"these,":[124],"strategies":[125],"suggested":[126],"in":[127],"human-in-the-loop":[131],"frameworks,":[132],"prompt":[133],"engineering,":[134],"data":[136],"quality":[137],"alignment.":[138],"practice,":[140],"tools":[141],"such":[142,156],"as":[143,157],"SonarQube":[144],"are":[145,159],"commonly":[146],"used":[147],"detect":[149],"indicators,":[152],"research":[154],"prototypes":[155],"CodeSmellEval":[158],"assess":[162],"contribute":[165],"However,":[168],"no":[169],"standardized":[170],"or":[172],"metrics":[174],"yet":[175],"exist,":[176],"leaving":[177],"an":[178],"important":[179],"gap.":[180],"Based":[181],"on":[182],"findings,":[183],"outline":[185],"insights":[186],"future":[188],"directions":[189],"ensure":[191],"reliable":[192],"integration":[193],"into":[196],"software":[197],"engineering":[198],"workflows.":[199]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-07-01T06:00:48.157686","created_date":"2026-06-17T00:00:00"}