System76 Updates COSMIC PR Template to Block AI-Generated Code Contributions

System76 has updated the Pull Request (PR) template for its COSMIC project, adding a mandatory checklist that requires contributors to confirm their submissions contain no AI-generated code, comments, or descriptions. Contributions that do not meet the requirement cannot be submitted. Currently, cosmic-flatpak is the only repository exempt from the “No LLM contributions” rule.

COSMIC is a Rust-based Linux desktop environment developed by System76. Before COSMIC, the company's Pop!_OS distribution had long relied on a heavily customized GNOME desktop. System76 ultimately decided to build its own environment after ongoing design and feature disagreements with upstream GNOME developers.

System76 has previously criticized AI-generated code for being overly complex. The team argues that AI often lacks the full context needed to understand deep integration relationships in large projects, which can produce code that appears usable but is difficult to maintain and significantly increases review time. The Ladybird browser project took similar action in June 2026 after a wave of AI-assisted submissions pushed code review costs beyond what maintainers could sustain.