From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from mgamail.intel.com (mgamail.intel.com [192.198.163.18]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by smtp.subspace.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 77AFA2DC789 for ; Fri, 14 Nov 2025 18:35:59 +0000 (UTC) Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; arc=none smtp.client-ip=192.198.163.18 ARC-Seal:i=1; a=rsa-sha256; d=subspace.kernel.org; s=arc-20240116; t=1763145361; cv=none; b=oGxFvXworNiu+KDYV34z0YnwchLZqcpkYiIRVQxpNO6FBnyHFwH3VQBw4CAX83LUw9pyvTBVzo9fubRH9Cj/PqywTrSaWjrSPGVRvByCr6mbGPW/jCxOGMQHIHS6rNBuzRstXlWB6EuZPDBtWIigR+4NAubbLE3Ty/C4VwY8yF4= ARC-Message-Signature:i=1; a=rsa-sha256; d=subspace.kernel.org; s=arc-20240116; t=1763145361; c=relaxed/simple; bh=swps8ZhYlsWpjyXF4UoIJa2PAB1CwC6og6rmXeftYrI=; h=From:To:Cc:Subject:Date:Message-Id:MIME-Version; b=WwnQAUF6q4dm0nUG8CQq2HaPAh/jVbIqwmkE8FzmR8Q47qKp71+NZiYwugkoRGQX1fofXKgvxyYnmGvoVv/ph9H59x/U3sk85qAwfojwAC4/57ZwUoNMnX3cqnj5TzsqJuiQPcgIlqWwJwmnkkQLxYLS6zW3RaOHLKogxRFvSkc= ARC-Authentication-Results:i=1; smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dmarc=pass (p=none dis=none) header.from=linux.intel.com; spf=pass smtp.mailfrom=linux.intel.com; dkim=pass (2048-bit key) header.d=intel.com header.i=@intel.com header.b=TrliPRMf; arc=none smtp.client-ip=192.198.163.18 Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dmarc=pass (p=none dis=none) header.from=linux.intel.com Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; spf=pass smtp.mailfrom=linux.intel.com Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dkim=pass (2048-bit key) header.d=intel.com header.i=@intel.com header.b="TrliPRMf" DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/simple; d=intel.com; i=@intel.com; q=dns/txt; s=Intel; t=1763145360; x=1794681360; h=from:to:cc:subject:date:message-id:mime-version: content-transfer-encoding; bh=swps8ZhYlsWpjyXF4UoIJa2PAB1CwC6og6rmXeftYrI=; b=TrliPRMfplMayoTA/aNkkXSOmYQjX2zXByp4oAGTfRdOm/dnzmbvWVtY sPHWBVTrpVm1X3m3qRXh14eI9d3Zh4LF2uys835acB2p0CNTjSfOjDmwA Bgr+s5poJ2c0PIO5AoHIe62wwXb10d1BzcrZqYN9GTQZ4glvTqaPjB95+ v3K7TAZOgYKH46F6lZKgQJ78w8bfivGnt6FhybKot+hr60saYibQMxMgU hM8yz5HjBPR/RtmW34JTjqzfzZg/V/C73atDEJCqC/C3T4e0XG00rdOOJ BBJdCNKw7802hiN33lnxWzfh81lnfSXjbeCwYsPbyzpML00lk/VkKmKQv Q==; X-CSE-ConnectionGUID: +nF0oB2AQjijLsK5H7NNfA== X-CSE-MsgGUID: PSn6TEovSym+dZGfMyMk+Q== X-IronPort-AV: E=McAfee;i="6800,10657,11613"; a="64453516" X-IronPort-AV: E=Sophos;i="6.19,305,1754982000"; d="scan'208";a="64453516" Received: from orviesa010.jf.intel.com ([10.64.159.150]) by fmvoesa112.fm.intel.com with ESMTP/TLS/ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384; 14 Nov 2025 10:35:59 -0800 X-CSE-ConnectionGUID: azSFj2uBQrWHLlKro9ZSHA== X-CSE-MsgGUID: Oq03Hu1XRoOQ9EhUzJw9RQ== X-ExtLoop1: 1 X-IronPort-AV: E=Sophos;i="6.19,305,1754982000"; d="scan'208";a="189129655" Received: from smtp.ostc.intel.com ([10.54.29.231]) by orviesa010-auth.jf.intel.com with ESMTP/TLS/ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384; 14 Nov 2025 10:35:59 -0800 Received: from ray2.sr71.net (unknown [10.125.108.191]) by smtp.ostc.intel.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 242F16362; Fri, 14 Nov 2025 10:35:58 -0800 (PST) From: Dave Hansen To: dave@sr71.net Cc: Dave Hansen , Shuah Khan , Kees Cook , Greg Kroah-Hartman , Miguel Ojeda , NeilBrown , Lorenzo Stoakes , Dan Williams , Theodore Ts'o , Sasha Levin , Jonathan Corbet , Vlastimil Babka , workflows@vger.kernel.org, ksummit@lists.linux.dev Subject: [PATCH] [v3] Documentation: Provide guidelines for tool-generated content Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2025 10:35:28 -0800 Message-Id: <20251114183528.1239900-1-dave.hansen@linux.intel.com> X-Mailer: git-send-email 2.34.1 Precedence: bulk X-Mailing-List: ksummit@lists.linux.dev List-Id: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit In the last few years, the capabilities of coding tools have exploded. As those capabilities have expanded, contributors and maintainers have more and more questions about how and when to apply those capabilities. Add new Documentation to guide contributors on how to best use kernel development tools, new and old. Note, though, there are fundamentally no new or unique rules in this new document. It clarifies expectations that the kernel community has had for many years. For example, researchers are already asked to disclose the tools they use to find issues in Documentation/process/researcher-guidelines.rst. This new document just reiterates existing best practices for development tooling. In short: Please show your work and make sure your contribution is easy to review. Signed-off-by: Dave Hansen Reviewed-by: Shuah Khan Reviewed-by: Kees Cook Reviewed-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman Reviewed-by: Miguel Ojeda Cc: NeilBrown Cc: Lorenzo Stoakes Cc: Dan Williams Cc: Theodore Ts'o Cc: Sasha Levin Cc: Jonathan Corbet Cc: Vlastimil Babka Cc: workflows@vger.kernel.org Cc: ksummit@lists.linux.dev -- There has been a ton of feedback since v2. Thanks everyone! I've tried to respect all of the feedback, but some of it has been contradictory and I haven't been able to incorporate everything. Please speak up if I missed something important here. Changes from v2: * Mention testing (Shuah) * Remove "very", rename LLM => coding assistant (Dan) * More formatting sprucing up and minor typos (Miguel) * Make changelog and text less flashy (Christian) * Tone down critical=>helpful (Neil) Changes from v1: * Rename to generated-content.rst and add to documentation index. (Jon) * Rework subject to align with the new filename * Replace commercial names with generic ones. (Jon) * Be consistent about punctuation at the end of bullets for whole sentences. (Miguel) * Formatting sprucing up and minor typos (Miguel) This document was a collaborative effort from all the members of the TAB. I just reformatted it into .rst and wrote the changelog. --- Documentation/process/generated-content.rst | 96 +++++++++++++++++++++ Documentation/process/index.rst | 1 + 2 files changed, 97 insertions(+) create mode 100644 Documentation/process/generated-content.rst diff --git a/Documentation/process/generated-content.rst b/Documentation/process/generated-content.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000000000..acdf23819d685 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/process/generated-content.rst @@ -0,0 +1,96 @@ +============================================ +Kernel Guidelines for Tool Generated Content +============================================ + +Purpose +======= + +Kernel contributors have been using tooling to generate contributions +for a long time. These tools can increase the volume of contributions. +At the same time, reviewer and maintainer bandwidth is a scarce +resource. Understanding which portions of a contribution come from +humans versus tools is helpful to maintain those resources and keep +kernel development healthy. + +The goal here is to clarify community expectations around tools. This +lets everyone become more productive while also maintaining high +degrees of trust between submitters and reviewers. + +Out of Scope +============ + +These guidelines do not apply to tools that make trivial tweaks to +preexisting content. Nor do they pertain to AI tooling that helps with +menial tasks. Some examples: + + - Spelling and grammar fix ups, like rephrasing to imperative voice + - Typing aids like identifier completion, common boilerplate or + trivial pattern completion + - Purely mechanical transformations like variable renaming + - Reformatting, like running Lindent, ``clang-format`` or + ``rust-fmt`` + +Even if your tool use is out of scope you should still always consider +if it would help reviewing your contribution if the reviewer knows +about the tool that you used. + +In Scope +======== + +These guidelines apply when a meaningful amount of content in a kernel +contribution was not written by a person in the Signed-off-by chain, +but was instead created by a tool. + +Detection of a problem and testing the fix for it is also part of the +development process; if a tool was used to find a problem addressed by +a change, that should be noted in the changelog. This not only gives +credit where it is due, it also helps fellow developers find out about +these tools. + +Some examples: + - Any tool-suggested fix such as ``checkpatch.pl --fix`` + - Coccinelle scripts + - A chatbot generated a new function in your patch to sort list entries. + - A .c file in the patch was originally generated by a coding + assistant but cleaned up by hand. + - The changelog was generated by handing the patch to a generative AI + tool and asking it to write the changelog. + - The changelog was translated from another language. + +If in doubt, choose transparency and assume these guidelines apply to +your contribution. + +Guidelines +========== + +First, read the Developer's Certificate of Origin: +Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst. Its rules are simple +and have been in place for a long time. They have covered many +tool-generated contributions. Ensure that you understand your entire +submission and are prepared to respond to review comments. + +Second, when making a contribution, be transparent about the origin of +content in cover letters and changelogs. You can be more transparent +by adding information like this: + + - What tools were used? + - The input to the tools you used, like the Coccinelle source script. + - If code was largely generated from a single or short set of + prompts, include those prompts. For longer sessions, include a + summary of the prompts and the nature of resulting assistance. + - Which portions of the content were affected by that tool? + - How is the submission tested and tools used to test the fix? + +As with all contributions, individual maintainers have discretion to +choose how they handle the contribution. For example, they might: + + - Treat it just like any other contribution. + - Reject it outright. + - Treat the contribution specially like reviewing with extra scrutiny, + or at a lower priority than human-generated content + - Suggest a better prompt instead of suggesting specific code changes. + - Ask for some other special steps, like asking the contributor to + elaborate on how the tool or model was trained. + - Ask the submitter to explain in more detail about the contribution + so that the maintainer can feel comfortable that the submitter fully + understands how the code works. diff --git a/Documentation/process/index.rst b/Documentation/process/index.rst index aa12f26601949..e1a8a31389f53 100644 --- a/Documentation/process/index.rst +++ b/Documentation/process/index.rst @@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ beyond). stable-kernel-rules management-style researcher-guidelines + generated-content Dealing with bugs ----------------- -- 2.34.1