Merge pull request modelcontextprotocol#1598 from modelcontextprotocol/localden/contrib

(docs): Update contribution guidelines around AI usage for PRs/issues

Author: localden

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -121,6 +121,55 @@ When contributing to the documentation:
 3. Follow the pull request template
 4. Wait for review
 
+## AI Contributions
+
+> [!IMPORTANT]
+>
+> If you are using **any kind of AI assistance** to contribute to Model Context Protocol,
+> it must be disclosed in the pull request or issue.
+
+We welcome and encourage the use of AI tools to help improve Model Context Protocol. Many valuable contributions
+have been enhanced with AI assistance for code generation, issue detection, and feature definition.
+
+That being said, if you are using any kind of AI assistance (e.g., agents such as Claude Code, ChatGPT)
+while contributing to Model Context Protocol, **this must be disclosed in the pull request or issue**,
+along with the extent to which AI assistance was used (e.g., documentation comments vs. code generation).
+
+If your PR responses or comments are being generated by an AI, disclose that as well.
+
+As an exception, trivial spacing or typo fixes don't need to be disclosed, so long as the changes are
+limited to small parts of the code or short phrases.
+
+An example disclosure:
+
+> This PR was written primarily by Claude Code.
+
+Or a more detailed disclosure:
+
+> I consulted ChatGPT to understand the codebase but the solution
+> was fully authored manually by myself.
+
+Failure to disclose this is first and foremost rude to the human operators on the other end of the pull request,
+but it also makes it difficult to determine how much scrutiny to apply to the contribution.
+
+In a perfect world, AI assistance would produce equal or higher quality work than any human. That isn't the world
+we live in today, and in most cases where human supervision or expertise is not in the loop, it's generating code
+or changes that cannot be reasonably maintained or evolved.
+
+### What we're looking for
+
+When submitting AI-assisted contributions, please ensure they include:
+
+- **Clear disclosure of AI use** - You are transparent about AI use and degree to which you're using it for the contribution
+- **Human understanding** - You personally understand what the changes do
+- **Clear rationale** - You can explain why the change is needed and how it fits within Model Context Protocol goals
+- **Concrete evidence** - Include test cases, scenarios, or examples that demonstrate the improvement
+- **Your own analysis** - Share your thoughts on the end-to-end experience
+
+### What we'll close
+
+We reserve the right to close submissions that appear to not follow the disclosure policy.
+
 ## License
 
 By contributing, you agree that your contributions will be licensed under the MIT