Re: [PATCH v2] docs: remove Assisted-by references

["Vlastimil Babka (SUSE)" <vbabka@kernel.org>]

+Cc ksummit per [2]:

> There was, finally, a suggestion that the ksummit mailing list could be
used more. There are usually interesting discussions there in the lead-up to
the event, but then it goes quiet the rest of the year; there is no reason
why discussions of that type can't happen there at other times as well.

also +Cc workflows@ as these kinds of patches usually are

On 10/13/26 14:15, Sasha Levin wrote:
> Commit 78d979db6cef ("docs: add AI Coding Assistants documentation") asked
> contributors to add an Assisted-by tag to patches developed with help from an
> LLM, and commit 816d9992d9ed ("coding-assistants: simplify attribution") later
> reduced the tag to "Assisted-by: LLM".
> 
> A proposal to drop the tag was turned down in July [1]. The main argument for
> keeping it was that maintainers wanted a signal that a patch was LLM-assisted,
> so that they could review it accordingly.
> 
> The tag came up again at the 2026 Maintainers Summit [2]. Roughly 10% of the
> 18,533 non-merge commits in 7.3 through -rc7 carry an Assisted-by tag, while
> actual LLM use is far more widespread. Some contributors do not know about the
> rule, others leave the tag off on purpose, and few maintainers ask about it. As
> a result, the tag does not provide the signal it was kept for: its absence says
> nothing about how a patch was made, and for developers who use these tools for
> almost everything, its presence says little more. The choice was between
> finding a way to enforce the requirement and dropping it, and there was a
> strong, though not unanimous, consensus in the room to drop it. Greg
> Kroah-Hartman, who argued for keeping the tag in July, supports removing it now
> [3].
> 
> Maintainers do still want to know how a patch was created, but the view at the
> Summit was that this belongs in the cover letter, where it can describe how the
> tools were used, rather than in the changelog.
> Documentation/process/generated-content.rst already asks contributors to be
> transparent about tool use and is not changed here. The rules on the DCO and on
> the submitter's responsibility for the patch stay as they are.
> 
> Remove the Assisted-by sections from coding-assistants.rst,
> submitting-patches.rst, and the Italian, Brazilian Portuguese and Traditional
> Chinese translations, and drop the handling of the tag from checkpatch.
> 
> [1] https://lore.kernel.org/workflows/2026070224-unholy-commode-cf45@gregkh/
> [2] https://lwn.net/Articles/1099594/
> [3] https://lore.kernel.org/all/2026101327-cupid-legal-6cf6@gregkh/
> 
> Acked-by: Lorenzo Stoakes (ARM) <ljs@kernel.org>
> Reviewed-by: Kees Cook <kees@kernel.org>
> Reviewed-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>
> Signed-off-by: Sasha Levin <sashal@kernel.org>
> ---
> Changes in v2:
> - Expand the changelog with the background and the Maintainers Summit
>   discussion (Laurent, Krzysztof, Greg, Lorenzo).
> - Rebase on docs-next and also remove the Assisted-by sections from the
>   pt_BR and zh_TW translations there.
> - Collect tags.
> 
> v1: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20261009083137.3-1-sashal@kernel.org/
> 
>  Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst   | 21 +------------------
>  Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst  | 10 ---------
>  .../it_IT/process/submitting-patches.rst      | 10 ---------
>  .../pt_BR/process/coding-assistants.rst       | 20 ------------------
>  .../pt_BR/process/submitting-patches.rst      | 10 ---------
>  .../zh_TW/process/submitting-patches.rst      |  7 -------
>  scripts/checkpatch.pl                         | 11 ----------
>  7 files changed, 1 insertion(+), 88 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst b/Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst
> index 051f0d819f68e..509dbf23a099b 100644
> --- a/Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst
> +++ b/Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst
> @@ -40,24 +40,6 @@ is responsible for:
>  * Adding their own Signed-off-by tag to certify the DCO
>  * Taking full responsibility for the contribution
>  
> -Attribution
> -===========
> -
> -When AI tools contribute to kernel development, proper attribution
> -helps track the evolving role of AI in the development process.
> -Contributions should include an Assisted-by tag in the following format::
> -
> -  Assisted-by: LLM [TOOL1] [TOOL2]
> -
> -* ``[TOOL1] [TOOL2]`` are optional specialized analysis tools used
> -  (e.g., coccinelle, sparse, smatch, clang-tidy)
> -
> -Basic development tools (git, gcc, make, editors) should not be listed.
> -
> -Example::
> -
> -  Assisted-by: LLM coccinelle sparse
> -
>  Procedure for finding and fixing bugs
>  =====================================
>  
> @@ -82,8 +64,7 @@ these steps:
>     another one. The fix must not add build warnings and must pass the
>     checkpatch.pl checks (see submitting-patches.rst).
>  6. Commit the working fix with a detailed message describing the problem, the
> -   solution and a Fixes tag. Do not add a Signed-off-by tag, and add an
> -   Assisted-by tag, as described above.
> +   solution and a Fixes tag. Do not add a Signed-off-by tag.
>  7. Identify the maintainers and lists using scripts/get_maintainer.pl.
>     Documentation/process/security-bugs.rst shows how to do that.
>  8. Indicate what could not be done. If the fix could not be built or tested, or
> diff --git a/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst b/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
> index 4c28a239e8cb5..f271d7413f72c 100644
> --- a/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
> +++ b/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
> @@ -632,16 +632,6 @@ bugzilla.kernel.org is a public place in this sense, but email addresses
>  used there are private; so do not expose them in tags, unless the person
>  used them in earlier contributions.
>  
> -Using Assisted-by:
> -------------------
> -
> -If you used any sort of advanced coding tool in the creation of your patch,
> -you need to acknowledge that use by adding an Assisted-by tag.  Failure to
> -do so may impede the acceptance of your work.  Please see
> -Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst for details regarding the
> -acknowledgment of coding assistants.
> -
> -
>  .. _the_canonical_patch_format:
>  
>  The canonical patch format
> diff --git a/Documentation/translations/it_IT/process/submitting-patches.rst b/Documentation/translations/it_IT/process/submitting-patches.rst
> index a742610cb0709..d0e0d6c9ecc2e 100644
> --- a/Documentation/translations/it_IT/process/submitting-patches.rst
> +++ b/Documentation/translations/it_IT/process/submitting-patches.rst
> @@ -691,16 +691,6 @@ un luogo pubblico, ma gli indirizzi email usati lì sono privati; quindi non
>  esponeteli nelle etichette, a meno che la persona non li abbia già usati in
>  contributi precedenti.
>  
> -Usare Assisted-by:
> --------------------
> -
> -Se avete usato un qualsiasi tipo di strumento di assistenza avanzata alla
> -scrittura del codice per la creazione della vostra patch, dovete darne atto
> -aggiungendo un'etichetta Assisted-by.  Non farlo può ostacolare
> -l'accettazione del vostro lavoro.  Fate riferimento a
> -Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst per i dettagli su come dare
> -atto dell'uso di assistenti alla scrittura del codice.
> -
>  .. _it_the_canonical_patch_format:
>  
>  Il formato canonico delle patch
> diff --git a/Documentation/translations/pt_BR/process/coding-assistants.rst b/Documentation/translations/pt_BR/process/coding-assistants.rst
> index 2055af34a9081..f6062b22a8fd8 100644
> --- a/Documentation/translations/pt_BR/process/coding-assistants.rst
> +++ b/Documentation/translations/pt_BR/process/coding-assistants.rst
> @@ -38,23 +38,3 @@ A pessoa que envia é responsável por:
>  * Garantir conformidade com os requisitos de licença
>  * Acrescentar sua própria tag Signed-off-by para certificar o DCO
>  * Assumir toda responsabilidade pela contribuição
> -
> -Atribuições
> -===========
> -
> -Quando ferramentas de IA contribuírem para o desenvolvimento do kernel,
> -a atribuição adequada ajuda a rastrear a função da IA no processo de
> -desenvolvimento. Contribuições devem incluir a tag de assistência seguindo este
> -formato::
> -
> -    Assisted-by: LLM [FERRAMENTA1] [FERRAMENTA2]
> -
> -* ``[FERRAMENTA1] [FERRAMENTA2]`` são ferramentas de análise especializada
> -    opcionais (Exemplo: coccinelle, sparse, smatch, clang-tidy)
> -
> -Ferramentas básicas de desenvolvimento (git, gcc, make, editors) não são
> -listadas.
> -
> -Exemplo::
> -
> -  Assisted-by: LLM coccinelle sparse
> \ No newline at end of file
> diff --git a/Documentation/translations/pt_BR/process/submitting-patches.rst b/Documentation/translations/pt_BR/process/submitting-patches.rst
> index aad926c17fb45..4d1e75935745b 100644
> --- a/Documentation/translations/pt_BR/process/submitting-patches.rst
> +++ b/Documentation/translations/pt_BR/process/submitting-patches.rst
> @@ -650,16 +650,6 @@ bugzilla.kernel.org é um local público nesse sentido, mas os endereços de e-m
>  usados lá são privados; portanto, não os exponha em tags, a menos que a pessoa
>  os tenha usado em contribuições anteriores.
>  
> -Usando Assisted-by:
> --------------------
> -
> -Se você usou qualquer tipo de ferramenta avançada de codificação na criação do seu patch,
> -você precisa reconhecer esse uso adicionando uma tag Assisted-by. A falha em
> -fazer isso pode impedir a aceitação do seu trabalho. Por favor, veja
> -Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst para detalhes sobre o
> -reconhecimento de assistentes de codificação.
> -
> -
>  .. _pt_BR_the_canonical_patch_format:
>  
>  O formato canônico do patch
> diff --git a/Documentation/translations/zh_TW/process/submitting-patches.rst b/Documentation/translations/zh_TW/process/submitting-patches.rst
> index b780f1539b46b..4a7c046b23894 100644
> --- a/Documentation/translations/zh_TW/process/submitting-patches.rst
> +++ b/Documentation/translations/zh_TW/process/submitting-patches.rst
> @@ -503,13 +503,6 @@ Fixes: 指示補丁修復了之前提交中的一個缺陷。它可以便於確
>  的。注意，就此而言bugzilla.kernel.org是公開場所，但其中使用的電子郵件地址
>  是私密的；因此不要在標籤中暴露它們，除非該人在先前的貢獻中使用過。
>  
> -使用Assisted-by:
> -----------------
> -
> -如果您在建立補丁的過程中使用了任何進階編碼工具，您需要透過添加Assisted-by
> -標籤來聲明這一使用。不這樣做可能會妨礙您的工作被接受。關於聲明編碼助手的
> -細節，請參見 Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst 。
> -
>  .. _tw_the_canonical_patch_format:
>  
>  標準補丁格式
> diff --git a/scripts/checkpatch.pl b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
> index 8a7787d228a63..c9840f5219c2a 100755
> --- a/scripts/checkpatch.pl
> +++ b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
> @@ -655,7 +655,6 @@ our $signature_tags = qr{(?xi:
>  	Reviewed-by:|
>  	Reported-by:|
>  	Suggested-by:|
> -	Assisted-by:|
>  	To:|
>  	Cc:
>  )};
> @@ -3124,16 +3123,6 @@ sub process {
>  				}
>  			}
>  
> -			# Assisted-by uses a free-form value (e.g. "LLM"), not an
> -			# email address, so skip the email format checks below.
> -			if ($sign_off =~ /^Assisted-by:/i) {
> -				if ($email =~ /^\s*$/) {
> -					WARN("BAD_SIGN_OFF",
> -					     "Assisted-by requires a value\n" . $herecurr);
> -				}
> -				next;
> -			}
> -
>  			my ($email_name, $name_comment, $email_address, $comment) = parse_email($email);
>  			my $suggested_email = format_email(($email_name, $name_comment, $email_address, $comment));
>  			if ($suggested_email eq "") {
> 
> base-commit: 8fdbd353e6928492fdc46c359aabd2bfb7630fba