Original Petition on Github

We, the undersigned, petition the Node.js Technical Steering Committee (TSC) to vote NO on "Is AI-assisted development allowed?" and not accept LLM generated rewrites of core internals.

Node.js is a critical infrastructure running on millions of servers online and supporting engineers through command-line utilities that they use daily. We believe that diluting the core hand-written with care and diligence over the years is against the mission and values of the project and should not be allowed. Accepting LLM generated changes to Node.js core would break the reputational bedrock of public contributions that have brought Node.js to its current public standing and societal value.

Background

A 19k lines-of-code Pull Request was opened in January, 2026. The author is a well known and long time contributor to Node.js core, but the Pull Request description has listed this sentence as a disclaimer:

I've used a significant amount of Claude Code tokens to create this PR. I've reviewed all changes myself.

The blog post that surfaced on Hacker News that started a debate over whether a change like that even satisfies the requirements of Developer's Certificate of Origin (DCO):

By making a contribution to this project, I certify that:

 (a) The contribution was created in whole or in part by me and I
     have the right to submit it under the open source license
     indicated in the file; or

 (b) The contribution is based upon previous work that, to the best
     of my knowledge, is covered under an appropriate open source
     license and I have the right under that license to submit that
     work with modifications, whether created in whole or in part
     by me, under the same open source license (unless I am
     permitted to submit under a different license), as indicated
     in the file; or

 (c) The contribution was provided directly to me by some other
     person who certified (a), (b) or (c) and I have not modified
     it.

 (d) I understand and agree that this project and the contribution
     are public and that a record of the contribution (including all
     personal information I submit with it, including my sign-off) is
     maintained indefinitely and may be redistributed consistent with
     this project or the open source license(s) involved.

 
and even though the legal opinion of OpenJS foundation is that LLM assisted changes are not in violation of DCO, we believe that this is only a small part of the issue with large LLM-written changes to the Node.js core.

Additional Concerns

• Ethical: major LLM companies use unethically sourced material for their training. This includes copyrighted works, and unattributed Open Source code of varying licensing
• Educational: there is evidence that use of LLM hinders learning process for students. Since Open Source projects frequently on-board new contributors lowering the quality bar of accepted code could lead to decreased understanding of the Node.js core and risk project's longevity
• Privilege: LLM use requires paid subscription or significant investment into hardware to run it locally (albeit, with lower quality of output). Submitted generated code should be reproducible by reviewers without having to go through the paywall of subscription based LLM tooling.

Sign the Petition

Your signature is important in making sure our voices are heard and the decision that TSC makes reflects the opinion of Node.js community.

You can sign this petition here or by opening a Pull Request and adding your name at the bottom of this README.md file or alternatively opening an issue.

Pull Requests will be merged throughout the day, but might be merged in bulk to speed up the process.