docs(contributing): add policy for AI-assisted and automated contributions

[jidulberger]

Summary

Adds a short policy section to CONTRIBUTING.md, prompted by the unsolicited bot-generated PR #688 against the needs-design issue #687:

• AI-assisted contributions are welcome when a human submitter understands the change, vouches for it under DCO, and engages with review
• Unsolicited fully-automated PRs will be closed without review
• needs-design issues are not ready for implementation by anyone — design input is the useful contribution there

Gives maintainers a linkable policy for one-line closures of future drive-by bot PRs.

Docs-only change; no changeset needed.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[operon-ensemble-reviewer]

Ensemble Code Review

Verdict: approve

Summary: Docs-only change adding an "AI-assisted and automated contributions" policy section to CONTRIBUTING.md. All three reviewers approved: the Verifier confirmed the new section is correctly placed and consistent with existing DCO / needs-design references, and no other repo prose is contradicted. No code, config, or dependency changes — no correctness, security, or contract risk.

Findings (none — all reviewers approved)

No issues found. The Verifier read the full CONTRIBUTING.md and confirmed the new section is internally consistent and doesn't contradict other files; the Pattern Matcher confirmed no executable code, build, or dependency impact; the Architect confirmed no contract or backwards-compatibility risk.

---

Suggestions (2)

• Spot-check other contributor-facing docs (README, GOVERNANCE, or any docs-site contributing pages) to ensure they don't conflict with or duplicate this new AI/automation policy. (Architect)
• If the repo has approved automation configured (e.g. dependabot, formatting bots), consider a brief note clarifying that maintainer-approved automation is distinct from the "unsolicited fully-automated PRs" this policy covers. (Architect)

---

Generated by Operon Ensemble Code Review.

[claude]

This review is outdated. See latest review below.

[operon-ensemble-reviewer]

Ensemble Code Review

Verdict: approve

Summary: Docs-only change adding an "AI-Assisted and Automated Contributions" policy section to CONTRIBUTING.md. All three reviewers approved: the Verifier read the full file and confirmed the new section is correctly placed (between the intro and Development Setup), internally consistent with the existing DCO sign-off requirements, and doesn't contradict other contributor-facing docs. No code, config, or dependency impact — no correctness, security, or contract risk.

Findings (none — all reviewers approved)

No issues found. The Verifier read the full CONTRIBUTING.md and cross-checked README.md, CLAUDE.md, and CHANGELOG.md (all reference CONTRIBUTING.md generically, no contradiction); the Pattern Matcher confirmed no executable, build, or dependency surface; the Architect confirmed no contract or backwards-compatibility risk.

---

Suggestions (2)

• If the repo runs maintainer-approved automation (e.g. Dependabot, formatting or release bots), consider a one-line carve-out clarifying this policy targets unsolicited third-party automation, not first-party maintainer-configured bots. Defensible as-is since "unsolicited" already implies the distinction. (Architect, also raised in prior review)
• Spot-check other contributor-facing entry points (README, GOVERNANCE, issue templates, docs site) so expectations stay consistent, or add a brief cross-link. (Architect)

---

Generated by Operon Ensemble Code Review.

[claude]

Review ✅

Docs-only change: adds an AI-Assisted and Automated Contributions policy to CONTRIBUTING.md:5-7. Unchanged since my prior review — same 4-line addition. Well-placed (after the intro, before Development Setup), consistent with the existing DCO sign-off requirement and the repo's needs-design framing. No code, config, dependency, or agent-contract surface touched — nothing to flag on correctness, security, stdout/stderr discipline, or demo mode. PR body correctly notes no changeset is needed. CI is still pending but not relevant to a prose-only diff.

Approve. One optional nit carried over below.

Optional nit — distinguish maintainer-approved automation

The policy closes the door on "unsolicited fully-automated PRs," which is the right call. If this repo ever runs maintainer-sanctioned automation (dependabot, formatting bots, release bots), a one-line carve-out would keep the policy from reading as if it bans all bot PRs:

> This does not apply to automation explicitly configured and approved by maintainers (e.g. dependency or release bots).

Purely optional — "unsolicited" already implies the distinction, so the current wording is defensible as-is.