linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH] README: add AI Coding Assistants section

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Message-ID: <877bue18ch.fsf@trenco.lwn.net>
Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2025 15:04:46 -0700
From: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@....net>
To: Sasha Levin <sashal@...nel.org>
Cc: joe@...ches.com, kees@...nel.org, konstantin@...uxfoundation.org,
 linux-doc@...r.kernel.org, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
 rdunlap@...radead.org, rostedt@...dmis.org, Sasha Levin
 <sashal@...nel.org>
Subject: Re: [PATCH] README: add AI Coding Assistants section

Sasha Levin <sashal@...nel.org> 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 <sashal@...nel.org>
> ---
>  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