# AI Usage Policy

The Ghostty project has strict rules for AI usage:

- **All AI usage in any form must be disclosed.** You must state
  the tool you used (e.g. Claude Code, Cursor, Amp) along with
  the extent that the work was AI-assisted.

- **The human-in-the-loop must fully understand all code.** If you
  can't explain what your changes do and how they interact with the
  greater system without the aid of AI tools, do not contribute
  to this project.

- **Issues and discussions can use AI assistance but must have a full
  human-in-the-loop.** This means that any content generated with AI
  must have been reviewed _and edited_ by a human before submission.
  AI is very good at being overly verbose and including noise that
  distracts from the main point. Humans must do their research and
  trim this down.

- **No AI-generated media is allowed (art, images, videos, audio, etc.).**
  Text and code are the only acceptable AI-generated content, per the
  other rules in this policy.

- **Bad AI drivers will be denounced** People who produce bad contributions
  that are clearly AI (slop) will be added to our public denouncement list.
  This list will block all future contributions. Additionally, the list
  is public and may be used by other projects to be aware of bad actors.
  We love to help junior developers learn and grow, but
  if you're interested in that then don't use AI, and we'll help you.
  I'm sorry that bad AI drivers have ruined this for you.

These rules apply only to outside contributions to Ghostty. Maintainers
are exempt from these rules and may use AI tools at their discretion;
they've proven themselves trustworthy to apply good judgment.

## There are Humans Here

Please remember that Ghostty is maintained by humans.

Every discussion, issue, and pull request is read and reviewed by
humans (and sometimes machines, too). It is a boundary point at which
people interact with each other and the work done. It is rude and
disrespectful to approach this boundary with low-effort, unqualified
work, since it puts the burden of validation on the maintainer.

In a perfect world, AI would produce high-quality, accurate work
every time. But today, that reality depends on the driver of the AI.
And today, most drivers of AI are just not good enough. So, until either
the people get better, the AI gets better, or both, we have to have
strict rules to protect maintainers.

## AI is Welcome Here

Ghostty is written with plenty of AI assistance, and many maintainers embrace
AI tools as a productive tool in their workflow. As a project, we welcome
AI as a tool!

**Our reason for the strict AI policy is not due to an anti-AI stance**, but
instead due to the number of highly unqualified people using AI. It's the
people, not the tools, that are the problem.

I include this section to be transparent about the project's usage about
AI for people who may disagree with it, and to address the misconception
that this policy is anti-AI in nature.
