[RFC PATCH] xfs: add new policy guidelines for llm-assisted patches

[RFC PATCH] xfs: add new policy guidelines for llm-assisted patches

[cem]

From: Carlos Maiolino <cem@kernel.org>

Hi, this idea came from some observations on the current inflow of patches
sent to xfs, amount of time we've been spending reviewing patches, lack of
testing coverage for them and sporadically bollocks patches that make no
sense or even do not compile.

A talk I had with Dave earlier today made me come up with an INITIAL
DRAFT of what should IMHO make 'reviewable' any LLM-assisted patch
submitted to the list.

Most of the information there is also valid for non-LLM assisted code,
but LLM-assisted code makes these policies exceptionally important
giving LLMs make the code generation way faster and easier than we have
time to follow through.

We do have tooling now like Sashiko to help with a gross review of
patches and some general policies, but none of those tooling/policies
target xfs specifically so I thought we ought to have a specific policy
in place, specially regarding testing-coverage as submitting
LLM-assisted patches also implies the same tooling can be used to create
fully-functional testing coverage in xfstests.

I'll appreciate your thoughts on this.

Cheers

Signed-off-by: Carlos Maiolino <cem@kernel.org>
---
 ...m-assisted-patch-submission-guidelines.rst | 59 +++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 59 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 Documentation/filesystems/xfs/xfs-llm-assisted-patch-submission-guidelines.rst

diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/xfs/xfs-llm-assisted-patch-submission-guidelines.rst b/Documentation/filesystems/xfs/xfs-llm-assisted-patch-submission-guidelines.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..1f7921789988
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/filesystems/xfs/xfs-llm-assisted-patch-submission-guidelines.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+.. _xfs_llm_assisted_patch_submission_guidelines:
+
+============================
+XFS LLM-Assisted patch submission guidelines
+============================
+
+Introduction
+============
+
+LLMs are a great tool for improving code quality when well used. But they also
+have been creating a lot of extra workload for developers with the increasing
+patch flow. Requiring much more time with reviewing and testing changes.
+
+Some patches submited fixes obvious bugs and are welcome, while other patches
+being submitted have obviously flaws, create regressions caught by xfstests,
+fixes theoretical bugs that may never be hit in real world (even though are
+worth fixing) and sometimes do not even build.
+
+So the goal of the policies described by this document is two-fold:
+
+	- Increase XFS's code quality ensuring all code modifications are
+	  properly tested and have extra coverage
+	- Reduce developers/maintainers workload with the extra income of
+	  machine-generated patches.
+
+Patch description
+-----------------
+
+Patches description should be carefully trimmed by the patch submitter removing
+all extra and unnecessary data from it.
+LLMs tend to generate extra-long documentation full of unnecessary information
+that won't help neither the reviewer nor anybody looking into the git history
+in the future, and these consumes a lot of time during review.
+It's the patch submitter responsibility to trim it down to a concise, easily
+readable document, removing all the extra unnecessary information from it.
+
+This also helps adding extra guardrails that the patch submitter fully understands
+what the patch is doing without letting the LLM loose.
+
+Patch changes
+-------------
+
+The patch submitter is fully responsible for the changes and must understand what
+the paitch does. And it should be in full agreement with the patch description.
+
+Testing the changes
+---------------
+
+LLM-generated patches should be coupled with a fully-functional xfstests test case
+which exercises the bug being fixed by the patch. This will not only improve testing
+coverage but also provide extra help for reviewers and the maintainer to properly
+review and test the changes being made.
+
+Also, every patch/series submitted must be exercised through xfstests suite
+- at least - through the auto group (and others depending on the change) as a way
+to add extra coverage through the already existing regression cases and help
+reviewers/maintainers through the integration process.
+
-- 
2.54.0

Re: [RFC PATCH] xfs: add new policy guidelines for llm-assisted patches

[Eric Sandeen]

On 7/9/26 6:59 AM, cem@kernel.org wrote:
> From: Carlos Maiolino <cem@kernel.org>
> 
> Hi, this idea came from some observations on the current inflow of patches
> sent to xfs, amount of time we've been spending reviewing patches, lack of
> testing coverage for them and sporadically bollocks patches that make no
> sense or even do not compile.
> 
> A talk I had with Dave earlier today made me come up with an INITIAL
> DRAFT of what should IMHO make 'reviewable' any LLM-assisted patch
> submitted to the list.
> 
> Most of the information there is also valid for non-LLM assisted code,
> but LLM-assisted code makes these policies exceptionally important
> giving LLMs make the code generation way faster and easier than we have
> time to follow through.
> 
> We do have tooling now like Sashiko to help with a gross review of
> patches and some general policies, but none of those tooling/policies
> target xfs specifically so I thought we ought to have a specific policy
> in place, specially regarding testing-coverage as submitting
> LLM-assisted patches also implies the same tooling can be used to create
> fully-functional testing coverage in xfstests.
> 
> I'll appreciate your thoughts on this.

I like it.

(applying my pedantic liberal arts native English speaker editorial preferences,
you can take it or leave it)

> Cheers
> 
> Signed-off-by: Carlos Maiolino <cem@kernel.org>
> ---
>  ...m-assisted-patch-submission-guidelines.rst | 59 +++++++++++++++++++
>  1 file changed, 59 insertions(+)
>  create mode 100644 Documentation/filesystems/xfs/xfs-llm-assisted-patch-submission-guidelines.rst
> 
> diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/xfs/xfs-llm-assisted-patch-submission-guidelines.rst b/Documentation/filesystems/xfs/xfs-llm-assisted-patch-submission-guidelines.rst
> new file mode 100644
> index 000000000000..1f7921789988
> --- /dev/null
> +++ b/Documentation/filesystems/xfs/xfs-llm-assisted-patch-submission-guidelines.rst
> @@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
> +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
> +.. _xfs_llm_assisted_patch_submission_guidelines:
> +
> +============================
> +XFS LLM-Assisted patch submission guidelines
> +============================
> +
> +Introduction
> +============

> +LLMs are a great tool for improving code quality when well used. But they also
> +have been creating a lot of extra workload for developers with the increasing

have the potential to create an extra workload for the XFS developer community with

> +patch flow. Requiring much more time with reviewing and testing changes.
> +
> +Some patches submited fixes obvious bugs and are welcome, while other patches

Some LLM generated patches fix obvious bugs and are welcome, while others
have obvious flaws, create regressions caught by xfstests, fix theoretical bugs
that may never be hit in the real world, and sometimes do not even build.

> +being submitted have obviously flaws, create regressions caught by xfstests,
> +fixes theoretical bugs that may never be hit in real world (even though are
> +worth fixing) and sometimes do not even build.
> +
> +So the goal of the policies described by this document is two-fold:

The goal of the policies described by 

> +
> +	- Increase XFS's code quality ensuring all code modifications are
> +	  properly tested and have extra coverage

sufficient coverage?

> +	- Reduce developers/maintainers workload with the extra income of
> +	  machine-generated patches.

Reduce developer / maintainer workload with the extra influx of

> +
> +Patch description
> +-----------------
> +
> +Patches description should be carefully trimmed by the patch submitter removing
> +all extra and unnecessary data from it.

Patch descriptions should be succinct and clear.

> +LLMs tend to generate extra-long documentation full of unnecessary information
> +that won't help neither the reviewer nor anybody looking into the git history

that won't help the reviewer or anyone reading git history in the future, 

> +in the future, and these consumes a lot of time during review.

and these consume a lot of time during review.

> +It's the patch submitter responsibility to trim it down to a concise, easily

It's the patch submitter's responsibility to ...

> +readable document, removing all the extra unnecessary information from it.

Strike "removing all the extra unnecessary information from it" which is extra
and unnecessary. ;) 

> + 
> +This also helps adding extra guardrails that the patch submitter fully understands
> +what the patch is doing without letting the LLM loose.

(this is a little unclear to me)

> +
> +Patch changes
> +-------------
> +
> +The patch submitter is fully responsible for the changes and must understand what
> +the paitch does. And it should be in full agreement with the patch description.

"patch" - but also not entirely sure what this means or how to better word it.
"Patch changes" is a bit of an odd heading. In general I 100% agree with
"you, the human, had better understand what the patch is doing before you submit it."

> +
> +Testing the changes
> +---------------
> +
> +LLM-generated patches should be coupled with a fully-functional xfstests test case
> +which exercises the bug being fixed by the patch. This will not only improve testing
> +coverage but also provide extra help for reviewers and the maintainer to properly
> +review and test the changes being made.

This will also help you, the submitter, have confidence that your patch is doing
what you expect it to do.

> +
> +Also, every patch/series submitted must be exercised through xfstests suite
> +- at least - through the auto group (and others depending on the change) as a way
> +to add extra coverage through the already existing regression cases and help
> +reviewers/maintainers through the integration process.
> +

Re: [RFC PATCH] xfs: add new policy guidelines for llm-assisted patches

[Darrick J. Wong]

On Thu, Jul 09, 2026 at 07:30:41AM -0500, Eric Sandeen wrote:
> On 7/9/26 6:59 AM, cem@kernel.org wrote:
> > From: Carlos Maiolino <cem@kernel.org>
> > 
> > Hi, this idea came from some observations on the current inflow of patches
> > sent to xfs, amount of time we've been spending reviewing patches, lack of
> > testing coverage for them and sporadically bollocks patches that make no
> > sense or even do not compile.
> > 
> > A talk I had with Dave earlier today made me come up with an INITIAL
> > DRAFT of what should IMHO make 'reviewable' any LLM-assisted patch
> > submitted to the list.
> > 
> > Most of the information there is also valid for non-LLM assisted code,
> > but LLM-assisted code makes these policies exceptionally important
> > giving LLMs make the code generation way faster and easier than we have
> > time to follow through.
> > 
> > We do have tooling now like Sashiko to help with a gross review of
> > patches and some general policies, but none of those tooling/policies
> > target xfs specifically so I thought we ought to have a specific policy
> > in place, specially regarding testing-coverage as submitting
> > LLM-assisted patches also implies the same tooling can be used to create
> > fully-functional testing coverage in xfstests.
> > 
> > I'll appreciate your thoughts on this.
> 
> I like it.
> 
> (applying my pedantic liberal arts native English speaker editorial preferences,
> you can take it or leave it)
> 
> > Cheers
> > 
> > Signed-off-by: Carlos Maiolino <cem@kernel.org>
> > ---
> >  ...m-assisted-patch-submission-guidelines.rst | 59 +++++++++++++++++++
> >  1 file changed, 59 insertions(+)
> >  create mode 100644 Documentation/filesystems/xfs/xfs-llm-assisted-patch-submission-guidelines.rst
> > 
> > diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/xfs/xfs-llm-assisted-patch-submission-guidelines.rst b/Documentation/filesystems/xfs/xfs-llm-assisted-patch-submission-guidelines.rst
> > new file mode 100644
> > index 000000000000..1f7921789988
> > --- /dev/null
> > +++ b/Documentation/filesystems/xfs/xfs-llm-assisted-patch-submission-guidelines.rst
> > @@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
> > +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
> > +.. _xfs_llm_assisted_patch_submission_guidelines:
> > +
> > +============================
> > +XFS LLM-Assisted patch submission guidelines
> > +============================
> > +
> > +Introduction
> > +============
> 
> > +LLMs are a great tool for improving code quality when well used. But they also

I'd change that to "...when used well."  I dunno if this is a local
colloquialism but to me "used well" means "used in a beneficial manner"
whereas "well used" just means "used very much".

> > +have been creating a lot of extra workload for developers with the increasing
> 
> have the potential to create an extra workload for the XFS developer community with

"But the increasing patch flow creates a lot of extra work for the XFS
developer community." ?

> > +patch flow. Requiring much more time with reviewing and testing changes.
> > +
> > +Some patches submited fixes obvious bugs and are welcome, while other patches
> 
> Some LLM generated patches fix obvious bugs and are welcome, while others
> have obvious flaws, create regressions caught by xfstests, fix theoretical bugs
> that may never be hit in the real world, and sometimes do not even build.

I agree.

> > +being submitted have obviously flaws, create regressions caught by xfstests,
> > +fixes theoretical bugs that may never be hit in real world (even though are
> > +worth fixing) and sometimes do not even build.
> > +
> > +So the goal of the policies described by this document is two-fold:
> 
> The goal of the policies described by 

Agree here too.

> > +
> > +	- Increase XFS's code quality ensuring all code modifications are
> > +	  properly tested and have extra coverage
> 

"Increase XFS's code quality by ensuring..." ?

> sufficient coverage?

Yes.

> > +	- Reduce developers/maintainers workload with the extra income of
> > +	  machine-generated patches.
> 
> Reduce developer / maintainer workload with the extra influx of

Hah, I wish I got extra income from all this LOLLM slop. ;)

> > +
> > +Patch description
> > +-----------------
> > +
> > +Patches description should be carefully trimmed by the patch submitter removing
> > +all extra and unnecessary data from it.
> 
> Patch descriptions should be succinct and clear.

"The patch description should state clearly the specific reasons why the
change is being made.  It should not be a summary of the changes in the
diff." ?

> > +LLMs tend to generate extra-long documentation full of unnecessary information
> > +that won't help neither the reviewer nor anybody looking into the git history
> 
> that won't help the reviewer or anyone reading git history in the future, 

(Agree)

> > +in the future, and these consumes a lot of time during review.
> 
> and these consume a lot of time during review.

"Reading the unnecessarily wordy documentation consumes too much time
during reviews." ?

> > +It's the patch submitter responsibility to trim it down to a concise, easily
> 
> It's the patch submitter's responsibility to ...

(Agree)

> > +readable document, removing all the extra unnecessary information from it.
> 
> Strike "removing all the extra unnecessary information from it" which is extra
> and unnecessary. ;) 

Yes.

> > + 
> > +This also helps adding extra guardrails that the patch submitter fully understands
> > +what the patch is doing without letting the LLM loose.
> 
> (this is a little unclear to me)

How about:

"These guidelines are a means for the person submitting the patch to
demonstrate that they fully understand the changes in the diff.
Reviewers may ask follow-up questions if they are not convinced of this
point.  The person submitting the change is always fully responsible for
those changes."

(and then drop the next section)

> > +
> > +Patch changes

Do you mean the diff part?

> > +-------------
> > +
> > +The patch submitter is fully responsible for the changes and must understand what
> > +the paitch does. And it should be in full agreement with the patch description.

Don't start a sentence with "And".

I also can't tell what "it" refers to -- does that mean the diff should
agree with the description?  Or that the submitter themself should?

"The patch diff must match the patch description."

> "patch" - but also not entirely sure what this means or how to better word it.
> "Patch changes" is a bit of an odd heading. In general I 100% agree with
> "you, the human, had better understand what the patch is doing before you submit it."
> > +
> > +Testing the changes
> > +---------------
> > +
> > +LLM-generated patches should be coupled with a fully-functional xfstests test case

"...should be submitted with..." ?

(also, don't we call it fstests nowadays?)

> > +which exercises the bug being fixed by the patch. This will not only improve testing
> > +coverage but also provide extra help for reviewers and the maintainer to properly
> > +review and test the changes being made.
> 
> This will also help you, the submitter, have confidence that your patch is doing
> what you expect it to do.

"...the person submitting the patch..." ?

> > +Also, every patch/series submitted must be exercised through xfstests suite
> > +- at least - through the auto group (and others depending on the change) as a way
> > +to add extra coverage through the already existing regression cases and help
> > +reviewers/maintainers through the integration process.

What about patches to online fsck, in which case the auto group may or
may not cover it other than incidentally through xfs/28[56]? ;)

How about:

"Every patch submitted must be exercised through the fstests suite
because good test coverage makes review and maintenance processes
easier.  Ideally, the change should be exercised by a fstest case in the
"auto" group, but another group may be more appropriate depending on the
change."

--D