Linux Kernel Officially Adopts AI Coding Assistant Guidelines: No Signed-off-by, Mandatory Human Review

Linux Kernel Officially Publishes AI Coding Assistant Policy

Linus Torvalds' kernel repository now includes an official document guiding AI tools and developers who use AI assistance when contributing to the Linux kernel. The policy establishes clear rules for the world's most prominent open-source project's relationship with artificial intelligence.

Key Rules

AI Must Follow Standard Kernel Process:

AI tools contributing to Linux kernel development must follow the standard kernel development process, including:

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

Licensing Compliance:

All code must be compatible with GPL-2.0-only, use appropriate SPDX license identifiers, and follow the kernel's license rules.

AI Cannot Sign Off:

The policy explicitly states that AI agents MUST NOT add Signed-off-by tags. Only humans can legally certify the Developer Certificate of Origin (DCO). The human submitter bears full responsibility for:

• Reviewing all AI-generated code
• Ensuring compliance with licensing requirements
• Adding their own Signed-off-by tag
• Taking full responsibility for the contribution

New Attribution System

The kernel introduces a new Assisted-by tag format:

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

For example: Assisted-by: Claude:claude-3-opus coccinelle sparse

Basic development tools (git, gcc, make, editors) should not be listed as tools.

Significance

This is a landmark decision for open-source development. The Linux kernel — powering virtually all cloud infrastructure, Android devices, and supercomputers — has formally acknowledged AI's role in development while maintaining that humans remain legally and ethically responsible for all contributions.

The policy strikes a pragmatic balance: it welcomes AI assistance but refuses to delegate accountability to machines. This framework may serve as a template for other major open-source projects navigating the AI coding revolution.