AI assistance when contributing to the Linux kernel

Even when using AI tools, Linux kernel contributions must follow the existing development process as is.

• Documentation/process/development-process.rst
• Documentation/process/coding-style.rst
• Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst

Licensing and legal requirements are also strict.

• All code must be compatible with GPL-2.0-only.
• The appropriate SPDX license identifier must be used.
• Details follow Documentation/process/license-rules.rst.

Most importantly, AI agents must not add a Signed-off-by tag. The DCO (Developer Certificate of Origin) can only be legally certified by a human, and the final submitter bears the following responsibilities.

• Directly review the AI-generated code.
• Verify that it meets the licensing requirements.
• Add their own Signed-off-by.
• Take responsibility for the entire contribution.

When AI tools are used, adding an Assisted-by tag is recommended. The format is as follows.

• Assisted-by: AGENT_NAME:MODEL_VERSION [TOOL1] [TOOL2]

Here, AGENT_NAME is the name of the AI tool or framework, and MODEL_VERSION is the model version used. Specialized tools like coccinelle, sparse, smatch, and clang-tidy can be listed, but basic development tools like git, gcc, make, and editors are not listed.

Example:

• Assisted-by: Claude:claude-3-opus coccinelle sparse