> Op 13-10-2026 14:15 CEST schreef Sasha Levin <[email protected]>: > > > 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) <[email protected]> > Reviewed-by: Kees Cook <[email protected]> > Reviewed-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <[email protected]> > Signed-off-by: Sasha Levin <[email protected]> > --- > 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/[email protected]/ > > 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 > -- > 2.53.0
Reviewed-by: Jori Koolstra <[email protected]> I only now see we have this document already: https://docs.kernel.org/process/generated-content.html . I must have missed it. It does address a lot of my concerns, maybe it would be good to have a one or two line summary on the "AI Coding Assistants" as well, but that is a different matter.
