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Add AI-disclosure and quality requirements to the contribution guidelines #2143

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Add AI-disclusure and quality requirements to the contribution guidel…
Byron May 6, 2026
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Separate quality paragraphs and adjust decline wording
EliahKagan May 6, 2026
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Expand Up @@ -9,6 +9,37 @@ The following is a short step-by-step rundown of what one typically would do to
- Feel free to add yourself to AUTHORS file.
- Create a pull request.

## Quality expectations

Contributions must be made with care and meet the quality bar of the surrounding code.
That means a change should not leave GitPython worse than it was before: it should be
readable, maintainable, tested where practical, documented and consistent with the
existing style and behavior.

A contribution that works only narrowly but lowers the quality of the
codebase may be declined. The maintainers may not always be able to provide
detailed feedback.

## AI-assisted contributions

If AI edits files for you, disclose it in the pull request description and commit
metadata. Prefer making the agent identity part of the commit, for example by using
an AI author such as `$agent $version <ai-agent@example.invalid>` or a co-author via
a `Co-authored-by: <agent-identity>` trailer.
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@EliahKagan EliahKagan May 6, 2026 •
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It's very unclear to me why having the agent listed as the author and the human listed as a coauthor would be less safe than any other approach, with respect to the specific concerns raised here.

With that said, the core of Copilot's point here is actually a good point: there are some advantages to the use of an Assisted-by or related trailer. But the guidelines as written here actually permit most such approaches already, since they present the other approaches as examples rather than a closed menu of options. I think the option of using Assisted-by or related trailers should likely be added explicitly in the future, but that this can be deferred. I'm going to want to look into how major projects that have recently begun to ask contributors to use such trailers, especially the Linux kernel, recommend that it be used.


Agents operating through a person's GitHub account must identify themselves. For
example, comments posted by an agent should say so directly with phrases like
`AI agent on behalf of <person>: ...`.

Fully AI-generated comments on pull requests or issues must also be disclosed.
Undisclosed AI-generated comments may lead to the pull request or issue being closed.

AI-assisted proofreading or wording polish does not need disclosure, but it is still
courteous to mention it when the AI materially influenced the final text.

Automated or "full-auto" AI contributions without a human responsible for reviewing
and standing behind the work may be closed.

## Fuzzing Test Specific Documentation

For details related to contributing to the fuzzing test suite and OSS-Fuzz integration, please
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