On October 9, 2026, a patch posted to the Linux kernel mailing list proposed removing the documentation requirement for the Assisted-by: tag, Phoronix reported. The report also said key maintainers had agreed to deprecate the requirement at a Prague summit during the preceding week. Phoronix described the change as a proposal likely to proceed, not an adopted policy.
What the tag records
As of October 14, 2026, the Linux kernel’s coding-assistant guidance calls for contributions made with AI tools to include an Assisted-by: tag. Its example format is Assisted-by: LLM [TOOL1] [TOOL2]: specialized analysis tools can be listed optionally, while basic tools such as git, gcc, make and editors are excluded.
The reported proposal targets that documentation requirement. The existing guidance addresses AI-assisted contributions and sets out separate responsibilities for the person submitting the code.
Human review and sign-off remain separate duties
The guidance assigns the human submitter responsibility for reviewing AI-generated code and checking licensing compliance. It says contributions must be compatible with GPL-2.0-only, requires a human Signed-off-by for the Developer Certificate of Origin (DCO), and prohibits AI agents from adding that sign-off.
