Re: [PATCH] scripts/checkpatch: add Assisted-by: tag validation

[Joe Perches <joe@perches.com>]

On Thu, 2026-03-26 at 17:05 -0400, Harry Wentland wrote:
> ```
> The coding-assistants.rst documentation defines the Assisted-by: tag
> format for AI-assisted contributions as:
> 
>   Assisted-by: AGENT_NAME:MODEL_VERSION [TOOL1] [TOOL2]
> 
> This format does not use an email address, so checkpatch currently
> reports a false positive about an invalid email when encountering this
> tag.
> 
> Add Assisted-by: to the recognized signature tags and standard signature
> list. When an Assisted-by: tag is found, validate it instead of checking
> for an email address. The validation accepts AGENT_NAME with an optional
> :MODEL_VERSION,

If the documented form is as shown above, the MODEL_VERSION should
not be optional and should at least emit a warning.

> followed by optional tool names which may themselves
> carry a colon-separated version. MODEL_VERSION containing dots triggers
> a warning suggesting hyphens per convention.

Why?

Assisted-by: FOO:BAR.baz

seems reasonable to me.  What's already in the logs can be ignored.

> Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-6

Why was anything assisting this?

> diff --git a/scripts/checkpatch.pl b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
[]
> @@ -3105,88 +3106,99 @@ sub process {
>  				}
>  			}
>  
> -			my ($email_name, $name_comment, $email_address, $comment) = parse_email($email);
> -			my $suggested_email = format_email(($email_name, $name_comment, $email_address, $comment));
> -			if ($suggested_email eq "") {
> -				ERROR("BAD_SIGN_OFF",
> -				      "Unrecognized email address: '$email'\n" . $herecurr);
> +# Assisted-by: uses format AGENT_NAME[:MODEL_VERSION] [TOOL1[:VER]] [TOOL2[:VER]] instead of email
> +			if ($sign_off =~ /^assisted-by:$/i) {
> +				if ($email !~ /^\S+(\s+\S+)*$/) {
> +					WARN("BAD_ASSISTED_BY",
> +					     "Assisted-by: should use format: 'Assisted-by: AGENT_NAME[:MODEL_VERSION] [TOOL1[:VER]] [TOOL2[:VER]]'\n" . $herecurr);
> +				} elsif ($email =~ /^[^:\s]+:(\S+)/ && $1 =~ /\./) {
> +					WARN("BAD_ASSISTED_BY",
> +					     "Assisted-by: MODEL_VERSION should use hyphens instead of dots: '$email'\n" . $herecurr);
> +				}
>  			} else {

Perhaps all of the changes below should be removed and next used above

> -				my $dequoted = $suggested_email;
> -				$dequoted =~ s/^"//;
> -				$dequoted =~ s/" </ </;
> -				# Don't force email to have quotes
> -				# Allow just an angle bracketed address
> -				if (!same_email_addresses($email, $suggested_email)) {
> -					if (WARN("BAD_SIGN_OFF",
> -						 "email address '$email' might be better as '$suggested_email'\n" . $herecurr) &&
> -					    $fix) {
> -						$fixed[$fixlinenr] =~ s/\Q$email\E/$suggested_email/;
> +				my ($email_name, $name_comment, $email_address, $comment) = parse_email($email);
> +				my $suggested_email = format_email(($email_name, $name_comment, $email_address, $comment));
> +				if ($suggested_email eq "") {
> +					ERROR("BAD_SIGN_OFF",
> +					      "Unrecognized email address: '$email'\n" . $herecurr);
> +				} else {
> +					my $dequoted = $suggested_email;
> +					$dequoted =~ s/^"//;
> +					$dequoted =~ s/" </ </;
> +					# Don't force email to have quotes
> +					# Allow just an angle bracketed address
> +					if (!same_email_addresses($email, $suggested_email)) {
> +						if (WARN("BAD_SIGN_OFF",
> +							 "email address '$email' might be better as '$suggested_email'\n" . $herecurr) &&
> +						    $fix) {
> +							$fixed[$fixlinenr] =~ s/\Q$email\E/$suggested_email/;
> +						}
>  					}
> -				}
>  
> -				# Address part shouldn't have comments
> -				my $stripped_address = $email_address;
> -				$stripped_address =~ s/\([^\(\)]*\)//g;
> -				if ($email_address ne $stripped_address) {
> -					if (WARN("BAD_SIGN_OFF",
> -						 "address part of email should not have comments: '$email_address'\n" . $herecurr) &&
> -					    $fix) {
> -						$fixed[$fixlinenr] =~ s/\Q$email_address\E/$stripped_address/;
> +					# Address part shouldn't have comments
> +					my $stripped_address = $email_address;
> +					$stripped_address =~ s/\([^\(\)]*\)//g;
> +					if ($email_address ne $stripped_address) {
> +						if (WARN("BAD_SIGN_OFF",
> +							 "address part of email should not have comments: '$email_address'\n" . $herecurr) &&
> +						    $fix) {
> +							$fixed[$fixlinenr] =~ s/\Q$email_address\E/$stripped_address/;
> +						}
>  					}
> -				}
>  
> -				# Only one name comment should be allowed
> -				my $comment_count = () = $name_comment =~ /\([^\)]+\)/g;
> -				if ($comment_count > 1) {
> -					WARN("BAD_SIGN_OFF",
> -					     "Use a single name comment in email: '$email'\n" . $herecurr);
> -				}
> +					# Only one name comment should be allowed
> +					my $comment_count = () = $name_comment =~ /\([^\)]+\)/g;
> +					if ($comment_count > 1) {
> +						WARN("BAD_SIGN_OFF",
> +						     "Use a single name comment in email: '$email'\n" . $herecurr);
> +					}
>  
>  
> -				# [stable@vger.kernel.org](mailto:stable@vger.kernel.org) or [stable@kernel.org](mailto:stable@kernel.org) shouldn't
> -				# have an email name. In addition comments should strictly
> -				# begin with a #
> -				if ($email =~ /^.*stable\@(?:vger\.)?kernel\.org/i) {
> -					if (($comment ne "" && $comment !~ /^#.+/) ||
> -					    ($email_name ne "")) {
> -						my $cur_name = $email_name;
> +					# [stable@vger.kernel.org](mailto:stable@vger.kernel.org) or [stable@kernel.org](mailto:stable@kernel.org) shouldn't
> +					# have an email name. In addition comments should strictly
> +					# begin with a #
> +					if ($email =~ /^.*stable\@(?:vger\.)?kernel\.org/i) {
> +						if (($comment ne "" && $comment !~ /^#.+/) ||
> +						    ($email_name ne "")) {
> +							my $cur_name = $email_name;
> +							my $new_comment = $comment;
> +							$cur_name =~ s/[a-zA-Z\s\-\"]+//g;
> +
> +							# Remove brackets enclosing comment text
> +							# and # from start of comments to get comment text
> +							$new_comment =~ s/^\((.*)\)$/$1/;
> +							$new_comment =~ s/^\[(.*)\]$/$1/;
> +							$new_comment =~ s/^[\s\#]+|\s+$//g;
> +
> +							$new_comment = trim("$new_comment $cur_name") if ($cur_name ne $new_comment);
> +							$new_comment = " # $new_comment" if ($new_comment ne "");
> +							my $new_email = "$email_address$new_comment";
> +
> +							if (WARN("BAD_STABLE_ADDRESS_STYLE",
> +								 "Invalid email format for stable: '$email', prefer '$new_email'\n" . $herecurr) &&
> +							    $fix) {
> +								$fixed[$fixlinenr] =~ s/\Q$email\E/$new_email/;
> +							}
> +						}
> +					} elsif ($comment ne "" && $comment !~ /^(?:#.+|\(.+\))$/) {
>  						my $new_comment = $comment;
> -						$cur_name =~ s/[a-zA-Z\s\-\"]+//g;
>  
> -						# Remove brackets enclosing comment text
> -						# and # from start of comments to get comment text
> -						$new_comment =~ s/^\((.*)\)$/$1/;
> +						# Extract comment text from within brackets or
> +						# c89 style /*...*/ comments
>  						$new_comment =~ s/^\[(.*)\]$/$1/;
> -						$new_comment =~ s/^[\s\#]+|\s+$//g;
> +						$new_comment =~ s/^\/\*(.*)\*\/$/$1/;
>  
> -						$new_comment = trim("$new_comment $cur_name") if ($cur_name ne $new_comment);
> -						$new_comment = " # $new_comment" if ($new_comment ne "");
> -						my $new_email = "$email_address$new_comment";
> +						$new_comment = trim($new_comment);
> +						$new_comment =~ s/^[^\w]$//; # Single lettered comment with non word character is usually a typo
> +						$new_comment = "($new_comment)" if ($new_comment ne "");
> +						my $new_email = format_email($email_name, $name_comment, $email_address, $new_comment);
>  
> -						if (WARN("BAD_STABLE_ADDRESS_STYLE",
> -							 "Invalid email format for stable: '$email', prefer '$new_email'\n" . $herecurr) &&
> +						if (WARN("BAD_SIGN_OFF",
> +							 "Unexpected content after email: '$email', should be: '$new_email'\n" . $herecurr) &&
>  						    $fix) {
>  							$fixed[$fixlinenr] =~ s/\Q$email\E/$new_email/;
>  						}
>  					}
> -				} elsif ($comment ne "" && $comment !~ /^(?:#.+|\(.+\))$/) {
> -					my $new_comment = $comment;
> -
> -					# Extract comment text from within brackets or
> -					# c89 style /*...*/ comments
> -					$new_comment =~ s/^\[(.*)\]$/$1/;
> -					$new_comment =~ s/^\/\*(.*)\*\/$/$1/;
> -
> -					$new_comment = trim($new_comment);
> -					$new_comment =~ s/^[^\w]$//; # Single lettered comment with non word character is usually a typo
> -					$new_comment = "($new_comment)" if ($new_comment ne "");
> -					my $new_email = format_email($email_name, $name_comment, $email_address, $new_comment);
> -
> -					if (WARN("BAD_SIGN_OFF",
> -						 "Unexpected content after email: '$email', should be: '$new_email'\n" . $herecurr) &&
> -					    $fix) {
> -						$fixed[$fixlinenr] =~ s/\Q$email\E/$new_email/;
> -					}
>  				}
>  			}
>  
> 
> ```