[RFC PATCH 0/1] SubmittingPatches: allow responsible AI assistance

After the AI discussion at the contributors' summit [1], I'd like to submit a concrete alternative for allowing AI generated work responsibly. This moves us closer to Linux's approach: use the tools you find helpful, but take responsibility for what you send.

Our current policy encourages careful use of AI, then says we'll reject anything that looks AI generated. That leaves someone with a useful, reviewed patch wondering whether telling us how they made it will get it rejected. I believe that it would be better to allow valuable, reviewed series and simply include disclosure (again, how Linux does it).

SFC's legal advice came up at the summit. The original policy credits Rick Sanders [2] of the SFC and there was some talk of the policy being sound because it had legal review. However, the SFC's public guidance has changed since then. They date a change in strategy to November 2025 (1 month after reviewing the Git policy), when they concluded that relying only on bans was no longer a good approach [3].

Their June 2026 recommendations describe how to use these tools responsibly: review the output, disclose the assistance, and keep records [4]. The change proposed with this patch is in line with their current recommendations.

There are also several other prominant example projects:

* Linux accepts tool-generated contributions under the existing DCO,
  asks for disclosure, and leaves maintainers free to request more
  testing or reject a patch [5][6].
* Xen is another GPLv2 project using human sign-off and an Assisted-by
  trailer [7][8]. Its documentation change explicitly followed Linux
  [9].
* Debian now allows responsible AI use too, though disclosure is
  optional there [10].

They all agree that we don't need to change the DCO to do this. Clause (a) already covers work created "in whole or in part" by the contributor, and (b) covers changes to appropriately licensed existing work [11]. Both still require the right to submit the contribution. Neither requires the submitter to have personally written every line [12].

So this updated version of the submission guidelines asks contributors sending AI assisted patches (code included) to:

* Review and understand the whole submission, test it appropriately, and
  answer review comments.
* Meet the existing DCO and license requirements.
* Add an Assisted-by trailer for substantial assistance and briefly
  explain what the tool did and how they checked it.

I'd like us to give people a clear way to submit good work with these tools, while keeping the expectations that make patches worth reviewing.

[1] Git Contributors' Summit 2026, AI contribution policy discussion:
    https://lore.kernel.org/git/summit-2026.94e33e9ddf234334.06@ttaylorr.com/
[2] Original Git policy commit:
    https://github.com/git/git/commit/7b0c37953d2e9198309ca6b6faf10bb5deeb4837
[3] SFC's account of its November 2025 strategic reassessment:
    https://sfconservancy.org/llm-gen-ai/
[4] SFC's recommendations, particularly points 4-8 and 11:
    https://sfconservancy.org/llm-gen-ai/llm-backed-generative-ai-recommendations.html
[5] Linux tool-generated content guidelines:
    https://docs.kernel.org/process/generated-content.html
[6] Linux AI coding assistant requirements:
    https://docs.kernel.org/process/coding-assistants.html
[7] Xen contribution guidance, Assisted-by and Signed-off-by:
    https://xenbits.xen.org/docs/unstable/process/sending-patches.html#assisted-by
[8] Xen licensing:
    https://github.com/xen-project/xen/blob/master/COPYING
[9] Xen's Linux-inspired documentation patch, 2026-06-15:
    https://lists.xenproject.org/archives/html/xen-devel/2026-06/msg00882.html
[10] Debian GR 2026/002, winning option 5:
     https://www.debian.org/vote/2026/vote_002
[11] Developer Certificate of Origin 1.1:
     https://developercertificate.org/
[12] Red Hat's DCO analysis, 2025-10-15:
     https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/ai-assisted-development-and-open-source-navigating-legal-issues

Scott Chacon (1):
  SubmittingPatches: allow responsible AI assistance

 Documentation/SubmittingPatches | 73 ++++++++++++++++++++++-----------
 1 file changed, 49 insertions(+), 24 deletions(-)

base-commit: a018953688f1b10bddf91bff8747068f5f4746a4