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Set AI-contribution rules in your project’s contribution policy and enforce them through the normal submission workflow. Require each human submitter to understand, review, verify, and take responsibility for the entire contribution; keep the project’s usual human review and acceptance process; and spell out disclosure, licensing, provenance, and agent-activity rules. There is no single rule for every open-source project: contributors need to follow the current policy for the repository they are submitting to.
Start with the project’s own policy
Umbrella guidance is not a substitute for repository-specific rules. The Linux Foundation says AI-generated content is permitted in its projects, while recognizing that an individual project or an employer may set stricter guidance. Maintainers should therefore publish requirements where contributors will encounter them—such as the contribution guide—and make sure the pull-request or commit workflow reinforces them.
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Keep the rule’s scope clear. Decide whether it covers only code or also documentation, issue reports, proposals, review comments, and other project activity. Electron’s policy is one example of a broad scope covering those kinds of contributions. State which repositories or project spaces the policy applies to, who owns it, and how contributors can raise questions or request an update.
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Require the person submitting a change to review and understand all of it, explain the important decisions, and take responsibility for its correctness and compliance. That obligation should not depend on whether the work was written by a person, suggested by an assistant, or generated largely by a tool.
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Official project policies illustrate this principle in different terms. Fedora says the contributor remains the author and fully accountable, and requires review, testing, and understanding. Electron requires contributors to review and understand submitted content, answer questions during review, and build and test code contributions. The Linux kernel’s guidance likewise assigns review, DCO certification, licensing compliance, and responsibility to the human submitter.
Define verification requirements and how to report gaps
Set verification expectations according to the contribution type. For code, specify relevant builds, tests, linters, or reproducible demonstrations; for documentation or other work, state what review or validation is appropriate. Ask submitters to report which checks they ran and accurately disclose any they could not run. Do not imply that a test passed when it was not performed.
The Linux kernel’s AI coding guidance offers a concrete model for nontrivial bug work: investigate the issue, provide a reproducer, test a proposed fix, and say explicitly when verification could not be completed. A project can adapt that level of detail to its own practices rather than requiring the same procedure for every change.
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Keep ordinary review and acceptance under human control
AI assistance should not quietly replace the project’s technical review, maintainer judgment, or established acceptance process. The Linux kernel guidance says AI use should follow the standard kernel development process. Fedora permits AI to assist a reviewer but says it must not wholly automate review or make the final acceptance decision. Electron disallows automated subjective review feedback without human review.
Write down what is allowed for reviewers as well as contributors. For example, clarify whether reviewers may use AI to identify possible issues, what human checking is required before acting on suggestions, and who makes the final decision. Keep ordinary project requirements—such as approval rules, tests, and release checks—in force unless the project explicitly changes them.
Make disclosure specific and usable
State what degree or kind of assistance triggers disclosure, where the disclosure belongs, and the exact format contributors must use. These conventions are project-specific, not interchangeable defaults:
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- Linux kernel: its guidance specifies an
Assisted-bytag. - Fedora: disclosure is encouraged for significant assistance, with examples including the pull-request description or commit message.
- Electron: disclosure is encouraged generally and required when AI-generated code is accepted largely as written.
Choose one convention that fits your project and define it plainly. If you adopt a commit trailer, provide its exact spelling and placement; if disclosure belongs in a pull request, name the field or section. Avoid vague instructions such as “disclose when appropriate,” which leave contributors guessing about the threshold.
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Tell contributors they remain responsible for complying with the project’s license and intellectual-property rules, including when AI tools are involved. The Linux Foundation advises checking that a tool’s terms do not conflict with project licensing or IP requirements. If generated output contains third-party copyrighted material, contributors should confirm permission and provide notice and attribution as required. Fedora likewise assigns contributors responsibility for respecting others’ work and open-source licenses.
Some projects can make these checks concrete. The Linux kernel guidance calls for GPL-2.0-only compatibility and SPDX identifiers for kernel contributions. Those are kernel-specific requirements, not universal defaults; each project should state the license and provenance rules that apply to its own repository.
Set boundaries for autonomous agents and enforcement
Specify whether an AI agent may open pull requests, post issues or comments, or submit review feedback, and whether those actions require a human to initiate or approve them. Do not assume another project’s limits apply to yours. The kernel guidance, for example, says an assistant must not send bug reports itself. Electron disallows unauthorized agents acting without human input and describes possible responses such as correction notes, warnings, and bans.
Describe how the policy is enforced so contributors know what happens when a submission misses a requirement. Possible responses should fit the project’s existing governance and conduct process; make clear who can request corrections and who decides whether a contribution is accepted.
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How established project policies differ
These examples show shared themes—human responsibility and project review—alongside meaningful differences in disclosure, verification detail, licensing, and agent boundaries. Consult the current policy for the project you contribute to rather than copying another project’s convention wholesale.
| Policy area | Linux kernel | Fedora | Electron |
|---|---|---|---|
| Human responsibility | Human reviews generated code, certifies DCO, and takes responsibility. Linux kernel AI Coding Assistants | Contributor is author and fully accountable; must review, test, and understand submissions. Fedora policy proposal and approval update | Contributor must review, understand, explain, build, and test. Electron AI Tool Policy |
| Disclosure | Specifies an Assisted-by tag. Linux kernel AI Coding Assistants |
Encouraged for significant assistance, for example in a pull-request description or commit. Fedora policy proposal and approval update | Encouraged generally; mandatory when AI-generated code is accepted largely as written. Electron AI Tool Policy |
| Review authority | Human submitter review and certification duties are explicit. Linux kernel AI Coding Assistants | AI may assist review but must not wholly automate it or make the final acceptance decision. Fedora policy proposal and approval update | Automated subjective review feedback without human review is disallowed. Electron AI Tool Policy |
| Verification | Detailed bug-work process includes a reproducer, tested fix, and reporting verification limits. Linux kernel AI Coding Assistants | Requires review, testing, and understanding. Fedora policy proposal and approval update | Requires builds and tests for code contributions, and answers to review questions. Electron AI Tool Policy |
| Licensing | Specifies GPL-2.0-only compatibility and SPDX identifiers. Linux kernel AI Coding Assistants | Contributor remains responsible for license compliance. Fedora policy proposal and approval update | The cited policy focuses on contribution quality, conduct, and disclosure. Electron AI Tool Policy |
| Agent boundaries | The assistant must not send bug reports itself. Linux kernel AI Coding Assistants | The cited policy focuses on contribution and review duties. Fedora policy proposal and approval update | Disallows unauthorized autonomous activity and specifies possible enforcement. Electron AI Tool Policy |
A practical policy checklist for maintainers
- Name the repositories, contribution types, and project spaces covered.
- Require the human submitter to understand, review, explain, and own the full contribution.
- Specify the verification expected for relevant changes and require honest reporting of checks not run.
- Preserve normal project review and identify the human decision-maker for acceptance.
- Set a clear disclosure trigger, location, and exact format.
- Require license compatibility and a process for resolving third-party material or attribution.
- Define what automated agents may do and how violations are handled.
- Name a policy owner and provide a route for review and updates.
Policies need maintenance as tools and project practices change. Fedora describes its policy as a living document, an approach other projects can use by assigning an owner and a regular review path. The OpenSSF has also published guidance on instructions for AI code assistants, which is relevant to secure-development practices but does not replace a repository’s contribution and acceptance rules.
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