October 3, 2026
Pop!_OS no longer accepts contributions with AI-generated code: System76 formalizes the ban
System76 bans AI-generated code, comments and descriptions in issues and PRs, but keeps an exception for cosmic-flatpak.
In cosmic-epoch, PRs will be closed unless the contributor checks the box confirming compliance with the requirements, including the absence of AI-generated content.
The ban covers contributions to System76 projects, including COSMIC, the Pop!_OS desktop environment. Writing the code yourself is not enough: the Pop!_OS contribution guidelines also ban AI-generated comments and descriptions in issues.
Disclosure used to be enough. On Apr 14, 2026, Michael Murphy asked the author of PR #1741 in cosmic-files to identify the AI-generated lines and commits. The author revised the commit messages. By Aug 3, Jacob Gkau said engineers generally rejected substantial PRs written by LLMs, although there were no plans to change the policy at the time.
On Oct 2, System76 engineer Jeremy Soller explained that the ban was driven by the burden on reviewers. Newcomers had started submitting more AI-generated changes, often unplanned, and the team accepted only a small fraction of them. System76 wants to devote its time to its own team and regular contributors.
An exception for apps. The ban does not apply to cosmic-flatpak: authors of third-party projects maintain their own manifests, files that describe how an app is built and packaged. The COSMIC team mainly checks the app's sandbox permissions.
The cosmic-flatpak README provides commands for adding the repository and building a test package:
1. Add the apps and applets repository: `flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists --user cosmic https://apt.pop-os.org/cosmic/cosmic.flatpakrepo`. 2. Install the build dependencies: `sudo apt-get install flatpak flatpak-builder just`. 3. Build a test package: `just build com.example.app`, replacing `com.example.app` with your app's ID.
Regular contributions to Pop!_OS go through the relevant repository: contributors fork it and open a PR. For a major feature, the guidelines recommend agreeing on it in an issue first.
Original source: [System76 bans AI-generated code across several COSMIC projects, Neowin, Oct 3, 2026](https://www.neowin.net/news/system76-bans-ai-generated-code-across-many-of-its-cosmic-codebases/).
In cosmic-flatpak, third-party app authors remain responsible for maintaining their apps, while the COSMIC team reviews the packaging.
