1.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 2 3.. _coding_assistants: 4 5AI Coding Assistants 6++++++++++++++++++++ 7 8This document provides guidance for AI tools and developers using AI 9assistance when contributing to the Linux kernel. 10 11AI tools helping with Linux kernel development should follow the standard 12kernel development process: 13 14* Documentation/process/development-process.rst 15* Documentation/process/coding-style.rst 16* Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst 17 18For guidelines on content generated by AI coding assistants see: 19 20* Documentation/process/generated-content.rst 21 22Licensing and Legal Requirements 23================================ 24 25All contributions must comply with the kernel's licensing requirements: 26 27* All code must be compatible with GPL-2.0-only 28* Use appropriate SPDX license identifiers 29* See Documentation/process/license-rules.rst for details 30 31Signed-off-by and Developer Certificate of Origin 32================================================= 33 34AI agents MUST NOT add Signed-off-by tags. Only humans can legally 35certify the Developer Certificate of Origin (DCO). The human submitter 36is responsible for: 37 38* Reviewing all AI-generated code 39* Ensuring compliance with licensing requirements 40* Adding their own Signed-off-by tag to certify the DCO 41* Taking full responsibility for the contribution 42 43Attribution 44=========== 45 46When AI tools contribute to kernel development, proper attribution 47helps track the evolving role of AI in the development process. 48Contributions should include an Assisted-by tag in the following format:: 49 50 Assisted-by: LLM [TOOL1] [TOOL2] 51 52* ``[TOOL1] [TOOL2]`` are optional specialized analysis tools used 53 (e.g., coccinelle, sparse, smatch, clang-tidy) 54 55Basic development tools (git, gcc, make, editors) should not be listed. 56 57Example:: 58 59 Assisted-by: LLM coccinelle sparse 60 61Procedure for finding and fixing bugs 62===================================== 63 64When an AI assistant is used to find and fix bugs, it **MUST** follow at least 65these steps: 66 671. Before starting, read the whole process documentation listed above, as well 68 as any other document mentioned in the request. Do not rely on isolated 69 parts found by keyword search. 702. Note the commit ID and Locate a bug as instructed. 713. For any bug found that is not trivial, verify that it looks real by 72 attempting to create a reproducer to demonstrate it. Lacking it may cause 73 the report to be ignored, as many unverified bug reports sent to maintainers 74 happen to be invalid. Stop here if it finally looks wrong. 754. Write a fix for the bug. This part is not optional: except in a few very 76 rare cases, an AI assistant able to find a bug is able to fix it. Note that 77 fixes written in the same session as used to find the bug will generally 78 lead to better and more accurate fixes as the LLM's reasoning context 79 remains present. 805. Build and verify that the fix works either using the reproducer or by 81 re-running a complete analysis; drop any fix that doesn't work and try 82 another one. The fix must not add build warnings and must pass the 83 checkpatch.pl checks (see submitting-patches.rst). 846. Commit the working fix with a detailed message describing the problem, the 85 solution and a Fixes tag. Do not add a Signed-off-by tag, and add an 86 Assisted-by tag, as described above. 877. Identify the maintainers and lists using scripts/get_maintainer.pl. 88 Documentation/process/security-bugs.rst shows how to do that. 898. Indicate what could not be done. If the fix could not be built or tested, or 90 if no reproducer could be produced, say so explicitly: maintainers currently 91 waste too much time analyzing unverified reports and untested fixes. 929. Read Documentation/process/threat-model.rst to determine whether the bug is 93 a vulnerability or a regular bug, and leave the result to the reporter for 94 review (the assistant must never send anything itself). Regular bugs are 95 submitted as described in Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst, 96 vulnerabilities as described in Documentation/process/security-bugs.rst. 97