OpenSSL AI Code and Documentation Contribution Policy

Overview

OpenSSL welcomes contributions from all developers, including those who use AI-assisted coding tools. This policy sets out the rules for using such tools when creating commits for submission to OpenSSL. It applies to anyone that creates such commits (including both project committers and non-committers).

This policy applies to all public OpenSSL repositories, including all repositories under https://github.com/openssl.

These rules exist to protect OpenSSL’s users, its license integrity, and the legal clarity of its codebase.

The Two Core Requirements

If a non-trivial portion of your submission has been created using an AI tool, you must:

  1. declare it in your commit message using an Assisted-by trailer, and
  2. have signed a Contributor License Agreement (CLA) that includes the AI clauses.

Both requirements apply together. Neither alone is sufficient.

1. Declaring AI Contributions

What counts as “non-trivial”?

A non-trivial portion of a submission has been created with an AI tool when it has generated meaningful code, logic, or documentation — not merely assisted with trivial tasks like autocompletion of a single line, reformatting, or spell-checking.

If in doubt, declare it as a non-trival contribution.

How to declare it

Add an Assisted-by trailer to your commit message in the format Assisted-by: {agent}:{model}, where {agent} is the tool or interface you used and {model} is the specific underlying model. Always include the model name and version where known, so that the declaration is meaningful:

Assisted-by: Claude:claude-sonnet-4-6
Assisted-by: ChatGPT:gpt-4o
Assisted-by: GitHub Copilot:gpt-4.1

A commit may have more than one Assisted-by trailer if multiple tools were used.

Where to put it

Trailers go at the end of the commit message, separated from the body by a blank line:

Fix memory leak in EVP_PKEY handling

Rewrite the cleanup path in evp_pkey_free() to correctly release
resources when an error occurs during initialisation.

Assisted-by: Claude:claude-sonnet-4-6

2. The CLA Requirement

OpenSSL has issued a new version of its CLA, which includes clauses related to AI. Before submitting any contribution that includes non-trivial AI-generated content, you must have signed this new CLA.

Signing the old CLA is not sufficient for AI-assisted contributions, even if you have previously signed it. You must sign the new CLA in full — it is not possible to simply agree to the AI clause in isolation.

The old CLA remains valid for contributions that do not include non-trivial AI-generated content. If you are not using AI assistance, there is no need to re-sign.

The new CLA requires that you confirm you have the right to submit the AI-generated content and that you accept full responsibility for it.

Your Responsibility

You are responsible for everything you submit, whether or not AI helped write it.

This means:

The OpenSSL project maintainers may reject or request revision of any submission, including AI-assisted ones, that does not meet project standards.

What This Policy Does Not Do

This policy does not prohibit the use of AI tools. You are free to use whatever tools help you contribute effectively.

This policy does not create a lower bar for AI-assisted contributions. All code is held to the same quality, legal and security standards regardless of how it was written.

This policy does not permit submissions where no human has reviewed the content. AI tools may assist, but a human must direct the work, review the output, and be accountable for what is submitted.

Summary

Situation What you must do
AI tool used to write non-trivial parts of the submission Add Assisted-by trailer; have signed the new CLA
AI only used to help with trivial tasks (e.g. single-line completion, spell-check) No special action required
Unsure whether the contribution is “non-trivial” Declare it anyway

Questions

If you are unsure whether your use of AI tools requires declaration, or if you have questions about the CLA, please ask in the OpenSSL GitHub Discussions Q&A forum before submitting.

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