---
name: commit-trailers
description: Commit message trailers for AI-assisted work — use when writing or reviewing a git commit message (or PR description) whose content was substantially generated by an AI tool; requires a `Generated-by: <Tool> <Version>` trailer per the ASF Generative Tooling Guidance.
---

# Commit trailers for AI-assisted work

Commits in this workspace whose content was substantially generated by
an AI tool must disclose the tooling in the commit message, per the
[ASF Generative Tooling Guidance][gen-tooling]:

```
Generated-by: <Tool> <Version>
```

- Use this token whenever the content is substantially machine-generated
  (not for a typo fix the human typed).
- The ASF guidance also accepts the alternative form
  `Co-authored-by: <Tool> <Version>`; `Generated-by:` is preferred here
  for machine-parsable provenance.
- The human commit author remains responsible for the contribution: the
  contributor is responsible for disclosing material that is not their
  original creation, and for ensuring the tool's terms grant rights
  sufficient to license the output ([ICLA][icla], sections 4-5, 7-8).

Precedent in this workspace: ocap-merkledag commit 68ffcca
("Add high-level design doc for deploying on Cloudflare.").

## Rationale

The [Apache-2.0 license][apache2] and the [ICLA][icla] both require
contributors to disclose material in a contribution that is not the
contributor's original creation. Section 7 of the ICLA (third-party
work) is not a practical route for AI output, because the source
details are not knowable; a `Generated-by:` token in the commit
message is the [ASF's recommended disclosure practice][gen-tooling],
and keeps the record honest about what the signing contributor is and
is not claiming to own. This tracks the U.S. Copyright Office's finding
that purely machine-generated output is not copyrightable
([Part 2: Copyrightability report][uspto-part2], 2025).

[gen-tooling]: https://www.apache.org/legal/generative-tooling.html
[icla]: https://www.apache.org/licenses/icla.pdf
[apache2]: https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
[uspto-part2]: https://www.copyright.gov/ai/Copyright-and-Artificial-Intelligence-Part-2-Copyrightability-Report.pdf