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[Policy Proposal] Exempt "Copilot" and automated tools from CLA signing requirements #8071

@ylevental

Description

@ylevental

Preamble:

While I am satisfied with the results of #8014, I believe that the Codecademy docs repository owners and contributors should have also responded to the conversation. I do hope that they respond here.

Description:
I am proposing a modification to the CLA Assistant configuration to exempt the "Copilot" user and other GitHub Apps from the requirement to sign the Contributor License Agreement.

The Problem:
Currently, when a commit is attributed to GitHub Copilot (or similar AI assistive tools), the CLA Assistant flags the PR as failing checks. It treats "Copilot" as a distinct human contributor that has not yet signed the agreement.

As seen in recent PRs, the check fails with:

1 out of 2 committers have signed the CLA.
[x] Copilot

Example that I just created: #8070 (comment)

Rationale:

  1. Legal Validity: A specific GitHub App or AI tool (like Copilot) is a software utility, not a legal entity capable of entering into a binding contract or holding copyright. The human user utilizing the tool is the one responsible for the contribution and the one who has already signed the CLA.
  2. Workflow Consistency: We do not require other automated tools (such as Linters, Formatters, or CI/CD bots) to sign a CLA. Copilot should be treated with the same distinction as these utility tools.

Proposed Solution:
Please update the CLA Assistant configuration (usually via the .cla-assistant.json file or the CLA Assistant dashboard) to add Copilot (and potentially dependabot or others) to the whitelist/ignore list.

This will prevent friction for contributors who utilize AI-assisted tooling while maintaining the legal integrity of the project for actual human contributors.

@mamtawardhani @dakshdeepHERE @avdhoottt

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