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10 changes: 10 additions & 0 deletions CONTRIBUTING.md
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* [Code of Conduct](#code-of-conduct)
* [Issues](#issues)
* [Pull Requests](#pull-requests)
* [AI Use Policy and Guidelines](#ai-use-policy-and-guidelines)
* [Developer's Certificate of Origin 1.1](#developers-certificate-of-origin-11)

## [Code of Conduct](./doc/contributing/code-of-conduct.md)
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* [Reviewing Pull Requests](./doc/contributing/pull-requests.md#reviewing-pull-requests)
* [Notes](./doc/contributing/pull-requests.md#notes)

## [AI Use Policy and Guidelines](./doc/contributing/ai-guidelines.md)

Node.js expects contributors to understand and take full responsibility for
every change they propose. Pull requests consisting of AI-generated code the
contributor has not personally understood, tested, and verified will be closed
without review.

See [details on our AI use policy and guidelines](./doc/contributing/ai-guidelines.md).

## Developer's Certificate of Origin 1.1

```text
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# AI use policy and guidelines

* [Core principle](#core-principle)
* [Using AI for code contributions](#using-ai-for-code-contributions)
* [Using AI for communication](#using-ai-for-communication)

## Core principle

Node.js expects contributors to understand and take full responsibility for
every change they propose. The answer to "Why is X an improvement?" should
never be "I'm not sure. The AI did it."

Pull requests that consist of AI-generated code the contributor has not
personally understood, tested, and verified waste collaborator time and
will be closed without review.

## Using AI for code contributions

AI tools may assist contributors, but must not replace contributor judgment.
When using AI as a coding assistant:

* **Understand the codebase first.** Do not skip familiarizing yourself with
the relevant subsystem. LLMs frequently produce inaccurate descriptions of
Node.js internals — always verify against the actual source. When using an AI
tool, ask it to cite the exact source files/PRs/docs it’s relying on, and then
match the claim against that resource to verify if it holds up in the current
code.

* **Own every line you submit.** You are responsible for all code in your
pull request, regardless of how it was generated. Be prepared to explain
any change in detail during review.

* **Keep logical commits.** Structure commits coherently even when an LLM
generates multiple changes at once. Follow the existing
[commit message guidelines][].
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I would recommend removing this. I prefer to keep a long commit history and then squash when the work is done (even without AI). So I can keep a history of the changes/review done.

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Maybe the wording is not ideal but what I read corresponds to what you say.


* **Test thoroughly.** AI-generated code must pass the full test suite and
any manually written tests relevant to the change. Existing Tests should not
be removed or modified without human verification. Do not rely on the LLM
to assess correctness.

* **Edit generated comments critically.** LLM-produced comments are often
verbose or inaccurate. Remove comments that simply restate what the code
does; add comments only where the logic is non-obvious.
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I would add a "do not disappear" section. Fly-by PRs are problematic. It's ok to close PRs if one cannot pursue them further, while stalling block progress.


## Using AI for communication

Node.js values concise, precise communication that respects collaborator time.

* **Do not post AI-generated messages** in pull requests, issues, or the
project's communication channels.
Comment on lines +50 to +51
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What is the intended action to take when this occurs? This currently comprises a significant proportion of GH traffic on the core repo; if we are making this a guideline, I would anticipate it applying to a lot of issues/PRs.

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@RafaelGSS RafaelGSS Mar 5, 2026

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If that recurring, we should ping the author to stop that, if that doesn't work, we escalate it to TSC/Moderation.

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I would recommend allowing pull requests descriptions and commit messages. It's quite useful for those. I would limit this to "when responding to humans".

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I generally disagree with pull requests descriptions. I find them too verbose and stating the obvious.

* **Verify accuracy** of any LLM-generated content before including it in a
PR description or comment.
* **Complete pull request templates fully** rather than replacing them with
LLM-generated summaries.
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Do we have a template? I thought those are for issues, not PRs.

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* **Link to primary sources** — code, documentation, specifications — rather
than quoting LLM answers.
* Grammar and spell-check tools are acceptable when they improve clarity and
conciseness.

[commit message guidelines]: ./pull-requests.md#commit-message-guidelines
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