docs: add AI-assisted contribution policy

.github/workflows/compliance.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems, EONERC, RWTH Aachen University
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
+
+name: Compliance checks
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [master, main]
+
+jobs:
+  no-merge-commits:
+    name: No merge commits
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: Fail if branch contains merge commits
+        run: |
+          BASE=${{ github.event.pull_request.base.sha }}
+          HEAD=${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}
+          MERGES=$(git log --merges "$BASE".."$HEAD" --oneline)
+          if [ -n "$MERGES" ]; then
+            echo "Error: merge commits found in this branch:"
+            echo "$MERGES"
+            echo ""
+            echo "Please rebase your branch instead of merging the target branch:"
+            echo ""
+            echo "  git fetch upstream"
+            echo "  git rebase upstream/master"
+            echo "  git push --force-with-lease"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+  clean-notebook-outputs:
+    name: Notebooks have no saved outputs
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: '3.x'
+
+      - name: Fail if a notebook touched by this PR has saved outputs
+        run: |
+          BASE=${{ github.event.pull_request.base.sha }}
+          HEAD=${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}
+          NOTEBOOKS=$(git diff --name-only --diff-filter=d "$BASE" "$HEAD" -- '*.ipynb')
+          if [ -z "$NOTEBOOKS" ]; then
+            exit 0
+          fi
+          pip install nbconvert
+          python -m nbconvert --ClearOutputPreprocessor.enabled=True --inplace $NOTEBOOKS
+          if ! git diff --quiet -- $NOTEBOOKS; then
+            echo "Error: the following notebooks have saved outputs committed:"
+            git diff --name-only -- $NOTEBOOKS
+            echo ""
+            echo "Strip outputs before committing:"
+            echo ""
+            echo "  jupyter nbconvert --ClearOutputPreprocessor.enabled=True --inplace <notebook.ipynb>"
+            echo ""
+            echo "Or install pre-commit hooks (see CONTRIBUTING.md) to do this automatically."
+            exit 1
+          fi

.pre-commit-config.yaml

@@ -48,3 +48,29 @@ repos:
     hooks:
       - id: markdownlint
         args: [-r, "~MD013,~MD033,~MD024"]
+
+  - repo: local
+    hooks:
+      - id: clear-notebook-outputs
+        name: clear notebook outputs
+        language: python
+        additional_dependencies: ["nbconvert"]
+        entry: python -m nbconvert --ClearOutputPreprocessor.enabled=True --inplace
+        files: \.ipynb$
+
+      - id: no-merge-commits
+        name: no merge commits (use rebase)
+        language: system
+        entry: >-
+          bash -c '[ ! -f .git/MERGE_HEAD ] || {
+          echo "";
+          echo "Error: merge commits are not allowed in DPsim.";
+          echo "Please rebase your branch onto the target branch instead:";
+          echo "";
+          echo "  git rebase upstream/master";
+          echo "  git push --force-with-lease";
+          echo "";
+          exit 1; }'
+        stages: [pre-commit]
+        always_run: true
+        pass_filenames: false

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+<!--
+SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems, EONERC, RWTH Aachen University
+SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
+-->
+
+# Contributing to DPsim
+
+Thanks for your interest in contributing! Below are the essentials to get a pull request merged. For full detail see the [Development Guidelines](https://dpsim.fein-aachen.org/docs/development/guidelines/).
+
+## Quick start
+
+1. Fork the repository and clone your fork.
+1. Run `pre-commit install` to activate automated checks (formatting, linear history guard, notebook output stripping).
+1. Create a branch with a descriptive prefix (`feature/`, `fix/`, `docs/`).
+1. Make your changes and commit using the conventional commit style (`feat:`, `fix:`, `docs:`, ...) with a sign-off:
+
+   ```shell
+   git commit -s -m "fix: correct node voltage initialization in DiakopticsSolver"
+   ```
+
+1. Keep your branch up to date by rebasing; do not merge the target branch into your branch:
+
+   ```shell
+   git fetch upstream
+   git rebase upstream/master
+   git push --force-with-lease
+   ```
+
+1. Open a pull request against `sogno-platform/dpsim:master`.
+
+## Key requirements
+
+- **Linear history**: merge commits in a feature branch are blocked by CI; rebase instead.
+- **Sign-off**: every commit must include `Signed-off-by` via `git commit -s` ([DCO](https://developercertificate.org/)).
+- **Formatting**: clang-format 17 for C++, black for Python, markdownlint for Markdown; all enforced by pre-commit.
+- **SPDX headers**: new files must include a license header (see [guidelines](https://dpsim.fein-aachen.org/docs/development/guidelines/)).
+- **No `std::cout` in C++**: use `SPDLOG_LOGGER_*` macros.
+- **No saved notebook outputs**: strip outputs from `.ipynb` files before committing; pre-commit and CI both enforce this.
+- **Contributions in forks only**: do not push feature branches to the main repository.
+
+## AI-assisted contributions
+
+DPsim follows the Linux Foundation [policy guidance on generative AI tools](https://www.linuxfoundation.org/legal/generative-ai), which permits AI-generated contributions and sets out what to check before making one. Two of its requirements bear directly on this project: the tool's terms must not restrict its output in ways that conflict with the [MPL-2.0](https://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/), and where the output carries pre-existing third-party material you must have permission to contribute it and must supply the corresponding notice and attribution alongside your change. That guidance invites projects to add their own; the rest of this section is ours.
+
+Using an assistant changes nothing about who is accountable for the result, and none of this is peculiar to AI. Code you adapted from a forum answer, a blog post or another project has always carried the same obligations, and an assistant is not a special case. You are the author of everything you submit: read it, build it, run the tests, and be ready to defend it in review exactly as if you had typed it. Do not open a pull request containing code you cannot explain. Your `Signed-off-by` line is a statement under the [DCO](https://developercertificate.org/) that you have the right to submit the work, so sign it only once the checks above hold.
+
+Say so in the pull request description when a change is largely generated, so reviewers know where to look harder. Do not add AI co-author trailers to commit messages; the sign-off already identifies the author. Numerical results, validation notebooks and physical reasoning need the same scrutiny as code, and plausible-looking output is not evidence a model is correct.
+
+Do not paste unpublished research, confidential data or third-party code you do not own into an external service.
+
+## License
+
+By contributing you agree your work is released under the [Mozilla Public License 2.0](https://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/).

docs/hugo/content/en/docs/Contribution guidelines/index.md

@@ -8,4 +8,20 @@ description: >
 ---
 
 We'd love to accept your patches and contributions to this project.
-Please send us a [pull request](https://github.com/sogno-platform/dpsim/pulls) or get in touch with us via mail or [slack](https://lfenergy.slack.com/archives/C054GB551TL) if you would like to contribute.
+Please send us a [pull request](https://github.com/sogno-platform/dpsim/pulls) or get in touch with us via mail or [Slack](https://lfenergy.slack.com/archives/C054GB551TL) if you would like to contribute.
+
+For detailed requirements on code style, pull request format, and the linear history policy, see [Development Guidelines]({{< relref "/docs/Development/guidelines" >}}).
+
+# Quick start
+
+1. Fork the repository and clone your fork.
+1. Run `pre-commit install` to activate the automated checks (formatting, linear history guard, etc.).
+1. Create a feature branch and make your changes.
+1. Keep your branch up to date by rebasing; do not merge the target branch into your branch:
+
+    ```bash
+    git rebase upstream/master
+    git push --force-with-lease
+    ```
+
+1. Open a pull request from your fork.

docs/hugo/content/en/docs/Development/guidelines.md

@@ -51,6 +51,30 @@ There are no strict formal requirements besides the following:
     */
     ```
 
+1. **Linear History (no merge commits)**
+
+    DPsim maintains a linear git history.
+    Never merge the target branch into your feature branch — rebase instead:
+
+    ```bash
+    git rebase upstream/master
+    git push --force-with-lease
+    ```
+
+    A `pre-commit` hook enforces this automatically once you have run `pre-commit install`.
+
+1. **No Saved Notebook Outputs**
+
+    Jupyter notebooks must be committed without saved cell outputs (images, plots, printed text).
+    Saved outputs bloat diffs and can break the notebook test collector, which re-executes notebooks and re-extracts their outputs.
+    Strip outputs before committing:
+
+    ```bash
+    jupyter nbconvert --ClearOutputPreprocessor.enabled=True --inplace <notebook.ipynb>
+    ```
+
+    A `pre-commit` hook does this automatically once you have run `pre-commit install`; CI also rejects any notebook that still has outputs saved.
+
 # Creating New Releases (info for maintainers)
 
 DPsim currently uses to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/). The periodic creation of