AI-Generated Contribution Policy

Our Stance

We only accept pull requests that are authored and submitted by human contributors who fully understand the changes they are proposing. Pull requests that are not clearly owned and understood by a human contributor may be closed. All contributions must be submitted, reviewed, and understood by human contributors.

Why This Policy Exists

At MongoDB, we understand the power and prevalence of AI tools in software development. With that being said, many MongoDB libraries are foundational tools used in production systems worldwide. The nature of these libraries requires:

  • Deep domain expertise: Django MongoDB Backend bridges Django’s ORM and MongoDB. The aggregation pipeline compilation, query generation, migration system, and connection management require an understanding that AI alone cannot substantiate.

  • Long-term maintainability: Contributors need to be able to explain why code is written a certain way, explain design decisions, and be available to iterate on their contributions.

  • Security responsibility: Query generation, authentication handling, and data serialization cannot be left to probabilistic code generation.

What This Means for Contributors

Required:

  • A full understanding of every line of code you submit.

  • The ability to explain and defend your implementation choices.

  • A willingness to iterate and maintain your contributions.

Encouraged:

  • Using AI assistants as learning tools to understand concepts.

  • IDE autocomplete features that suggest standard patterns.

  • AI help for brainstorming approaches (but write the code yourself).

  • Writing code using AI tools, reviewing each line and revising code as necessary.

Not allowed:

  • Submitting PRs generated solely by AI tools.

  • Copy-pasting AI-generated code without full understanding.

Disclosure

If you used AI assistance in any way during your contribution, please disclose what the AI assistant was used for in your PR description. We would love to know what tools developers have found useful in their development process.

Questions?

If you’re unsure whether your contribution complies with this policy, please ask for guidance within the PR and clarify any uncertainty. We’re happy to guide contributors toward successful contributions.

Note

This policy helps us maintain the reliability, security, and trustworthiness that production applications depend on. Thank you for understanding and for contributing thoughtfully to Django MongoDB Backend.