From ac80bed084365877d05b7b0d62b18dbf0f60eee6 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Sylvia van Os Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2025 21:24:19 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] Explain why LLM contributions are discouraged --- CONTRIBUTING.md | 24 ++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 24 insertions(+) diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md index 42e37ee99..8fee55887 100644 --- a/CONTRIBUTING.md +++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md @@ -23,6 +23,30 @@ for good reason. ## Code Changes +Note: submitting LLM ("AI") generated code is strongly discouraged, as such +code is often (subtly) incorrect or overcomplicated (for example: unnecessarily +pulling in extra libraries for functionality already covered by existing +libraries). It also often makes unrelated changes that increase the risk of +introducing new issues and complicates reviewing. Even when it doesn't do any +of the before mentioned things, it will often not fit the coding style and flow +of existing code, requiring excessive refactoring. + +While we cannot ever control or be sure if LLMs were used to generate the +submitted code, it is your responsibility to ensure that whatever code you +submit is correct and fits within the design of existing code. It is never +acceptable to defend a change by stating a LLM suggested it. + +This is a personal plea more than anything: please understand that writing code +is the easy part. The hard part is making sure the code fits the design of the +rest of the application and is maintainable. Reviewing is a very time-consuming +task for this reason. Please do not use LLMs to quickly generate a "fix" and +moving the cost of labor to me as a reviewer. If you do use LLMs to generate +part of your code, please be open about this, explain what was generated how +and how you confirmed and refactored the code to fit the project and minimized +risk. + +Please never submit LLM-generated code as-is. + ### Test Your Code There are four possible tests you can run to verify your code. The first