CheckMarK RAI Lint

A dual-language commit-message validation framework designed to enforce consistent, AI-responsible development practices across repositories.

Overview

CheckMarK RAI Lint introduces a standardized RAI (Responsible AI) footer rule that ensures every commit explicitly signals AI-assisted or AI-generated content under clearly documented guidelines.

The project is implemented as a monorepo containing two native packages:

• Node/ESM plugin for @commitlint (JavaScript and multi-language projects)
• Python plugin for Gitlint (Python ecosystems)

Supported AI Attribution Formats

All commits must include one of the following Git trailer footers:

1. Authored-by (Human Only)

Authored-by: Jane Doe <jane@example.com>

Use when: Human only, no AI involvement

2. Commit-generated-by (Trivial AI)

Commit-generated-by: ChatGPT <chatgpt@openai.com>

Use when: Trivial AI contribution - typically not code (docs, commit messages, advice, reviews, etc.)

3. Assisted-by (AI Helped)

Assisted-by: GitHub Copilot <copilot@github.com>

Use when: AI helped, but code is primarily human-written

4. Co-authored-by (50/50 Split)

Co-authored-by: Verdent AI <verdent@verdent.ai>

Use when: Roughly 50/50 AI and human contributions (40-60 range with leeway)

5. Generated-by (AI Majority)

Generated-by: GitHub Copilot <copilot@github.com>

Use when: Majority of code was AI-generated

---

All patterns are case-insensitive and follow the Git trailer format.

Installation

Node.js / Commitlint

npm install --save-dev @checkmark/commitlint-plugin-rai

Configure in commitlint.config.js:

export default {
  extends: ['@commitlint/config-conventional'],
  plugins: ['@checkmark/commitlint-plugin-rai'],
  rules: {
    'ai-attribution-exists': [2, 'always'],
  },
};

Python / Gitlint

uv add checkmark-rai-lint

Configure in .gitlint:

[general]
contrib = checkmark_rai_lint.rules.RaiFooterExists

Hook Integration

Lefthook

commit-msg:
  commands:
    commitlint:
      run: npx commitlint --edit {1}

Husky

npx husky add .husky/commit-msg 'npx commitlint --edit $1'

pre-commit

repos:
  - repo: local
    hooks:
      - id: gitlint
        name: gitlint
        entry: gitlint
        args: [--msg-filename]
        language: python
        stages: [commit-msg]

License

Polyform Shield 1.0.0