From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from ms.lwn.net (ms.lwn.net [45.79.88.28]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by smtp.subspace.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id D35A21DF980; Mon, 22 Dec 2025 22:04:47 +0000 (UTC) Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; arc=none smtp.client-ip=45.79.88.28 ARC-Seal:i=1; a=rsa-sha256; d=subspace.kernel.org; s=arc-20240116; t=1766441091; cv=none; b=aSQWYPfZIYBnDOcQBXlTLUjRhle3zkIKFCj5hIXhTzi0R18Qx8mOpJHxGxWIk0QQbARdyYVrfI8c1ApI5CEXeaDIL2j67D3DT6KLUOAFuPLckVYX2iknhPz1I9uXnBi/RDFz3f02LA4F872noEfW9dmadtyetz8vo5g4h/kGqAI= ARC-Message-Signature:i=1; a=rsa-sha256; d=subspace.kernel.org; s=arc-20240116; t=1766441091; c=relaxed/simple; bh=FJpNfwTfs8IwrQnA47tP7zbelq8Zpp7Zhqq0uOuEuzk=; h=From:To:Cc:Subject:In-Reply-To:References:Date:Message-ID: MIME-Version:Content-Type; b=RTYNyf4Sb01jwhERqijwK11Lt8CrB6kO/vtNk6GW6h0A2QYJ7XR5KYsnzd22HJ8UIaKSP4wDTcyLNqgFciiB4ssM6ZkT6NEPR13utSaONmreidFMt0MN0+m5ZV2S3JWa7tU7CUieTMPkV4y+OCtocCCEHitn/6d7CPicKOEmXfk= ARC-Authentication-Results:i=1; smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dmarc=pass (p=none dis=none) header.from=lwn.net; spf=pass smtp.mailfrom=lwn.net; dkim=pass (2048-bit key) header.d=lwn.net header.i=@lwn.net header.b=M4F93OGW; arc=none smtp.client-ip=45.79.88.28 Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dmarc=pass (p=none dis=none) header.from=lwn.net Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; spf=pass smtp.mailfrom=lwn.net Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dkim=pass (2048-bit key) header.d=lwn.net header.i=@lwn.net header.b="M4F93OGW" DKIM-Filter: OpenDKIM Filter v2.11.0 ms.lwn.net 014354040B DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=lwn.net; s=20201203; t=1766441087; bh=NRu+mCuo2pzM8q+dlKypHrQYJH2xPbXsZyRleXGOLgE=; h=From:To:Cc:Subject:In-Reply-To:References:Date:From; b=M4F93OGW/DB+X50HZjvSjCpTCl46acouUVh6L6+mpI6Sn4gHqJdtS5mFP3GkPUyVA hyY9cDf6iy8kFyhLcbHJAOYBKcAveDry8HMVV7VKr2vn+ijIkr3a5sZjyDEFHuU2RK KPLboih3neupSBfDMMCBPm34rv9hsbuB+0DQPqUv6Py829lJFvAJ7DtLnC3z7XCnej M26I9k+EV5ct0d6G+IAVFucb7HXEri8B5JCyZPnV9L8jR+pMPagxzDiAL7Pk5ohYaH 6lk0DNsKzRLvnSD/QNChVD5Hu/ntvx7zN62RXrsO6a9Cmyp+alpY01TXqfG9SfRNas 7ye1qjLBNidZw== Received: from localhost (unknown [IPv6:2601:280:4600:27b::1fe]) (using TLSv1.3 with cipher TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 (256/256 bits) key-exchange ECDHE (prime256v1) server-signature RSA-PSS (2048 bits) server-digest SHA256) (No client certificate requested) by ms.lwn.net (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 014354040B; Mon, 22 Dec 2025 22:04:46 +0000 (UTC) From: Jonathan Corbet To: Sasha Levin Cc: joe@perches.com, kees@kernel.org, konstantin@linuxfoundation.org, linux-doc@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, rdunlap@infradead.org, rostedt@goodmis.org, Sasha Levin Subject: Re: [PATCH] README: add AI Coding Assistants section In-Reply-To: <20251214010711.370328-1-sashal@kernel.org> References: <20251214010711.370328-1-sashal@kernel.org> Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2025 15:04:46 -0700 Message-ID: <877bue18ch.fsf@trenco.lwn.net> Precedence: bulk X-Mailing-List: linux-doc@vger.kernel.org List-Id: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Sasha Levin writes: > Add guidance for AI assistants and developers using AI tools for kernel > contributions, per the consensus reached at the 2025 Maintainers Summit. > > This will allow coding assistants to easily parse these instructions and comply > with guidelines set by the community. > > Link: https://lwn.net/Articles/1049830/ > Signed-off-by: Sasha Levin > --- > README | 33 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > 1 file changed, 33 insertions(+) > > diff --git a/README b/README > index a9fc263ccd711..f6016e553ba4c 100644 > --- a/README > +++ b/README > @@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ Find your role below: > * Maintainer - Leading subsystems and reviewing patches > * Hardware Vendor - Writing drivers for new hardware > * Distribution Maintainer - Packaging kernels for distros > +* AI Coding Assistants - AI tools and developers using AI for contributions > > > For Specific Users > @@ -144,6 +145,38 @@ Package and distribute the kernel: > * Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst > * Tainted Kernels: Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst > > +AI Coding Assistants > +-------------------- > + > +AI assistants and developers using AI tools for kernel contributions must follow > +the standard kernel development processes: > + > +* Development Process: Documentation/process/development-process.rst > +* Coding Style: Documentation/process/coding-style.rst > +* Submitting Patches: Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst > +* Programming Language: Documentation/process/programming-language.rst > + > +Important requirements: > + > +* License Compliance: All contributions must comply with GPL-2.0-only licensing. > + See Documentation/process/license-rules.rst for SPDX identifier requirements. > + > +* Signed-off-by: AI agents MUST NOT add Signed-off-by tags. Only humans can > + legally certify the Developer Certificate of Origin (Documentation/process/ > + submitting-patches.rst). The human submitting AI-assisted code is responsible > + for the Signed-off-by certification. > + > +* Attribution: Contributions involving AI assistance should include an Assisted-by > + tag in the following format: > + > + Assisted-by: AGENT_NAME:MODEL_VERSION [TOOL1] [TOOL2] ... > + > + Where AGENT_NAME is the AI tool/assistant name, MODEL_VERSION is the specific > + model or version used, and optional tool names indicate specialized analysis > + tools used during development. > + > + List specialized tools (coccinelle, sparse, smatch, cppcheck, clang-tidy, > + custom scripts) but omit basic tools (git, gcc, make, editors). I won't dig in my heels on this, but I do have to ask ... I can only imagine that this stuff will grow over time, to the point that it dominates our top-level README file, which is intended for humans. What do you think about creating Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst, putting this material there, and adding a single line to README telling these tools to refer to the file and follow it rigorously? Thanks, jon