audita/docs/roadmap/policy.md

# Standard Policy Alignment

**Last updated:** 2026-09-28

**Status:** Implemented. This roadmap replaces its earlier licensing-only scope
and records the accepted end state. [implementation.md](implementation.md)
records the ordered work and verification; the adopted policies are in
`docs/policy/`.

## Purpose and Review Revision

Align Audita with [Standard Repository Policies](https://gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/policy),
using identical policy language except where a substantive, locally significant
requirement or decision justifies a variation. Adopt upstream wording verbatim
for non-substantive differences. Perform the required template customizations
without inventing application contracts, restrictions, or guarantees.

The accepted review compared Audita's current documents directly against upstream
commit **`d84a38ebab26f048cafbe59a2246700c35d29843`**, beginning with the
[adoption and update guide at that revision](https://gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/policy/src/commit/d84a38ebab26f048cafbe59a2246700c35d29843/docs/adoption.md).
Use that revision for this adoption. Historical adoption baselines need not be
reconstructed or assessed. A later upstream revision requires deliberate review,
not an automatic substitution during implementation.

The public upstream repository, discovery links, and copied-policy attribution
are part of the accepted direction. This supersedes the earlier instruction to
omit references to the policy repository.

## Current Baseline

- Audita has five adopted policies: agents 1.0, architecture 1.0, documentation
  1.1, testing 1.0, and release 1.0. None has per-document `Upstream Source`
  metadata. `meta.md` and `oss.md` are absent.
- [AGENTS.md](../../AGENTS.md) routes readers to the contributor guide and agent
  policy. [docs/development.md](../development.md) has component-specific reading
  guidance, but lacks the upstream selective Policy Reading Guide and currently
  directs all tasks to the architecture policy.
- [COPYRIGHT](../../COPYRIGHT) and [LICENSE](../../LICENSE) already establish
  Audita's GPL-3.0-or-later application grant and full GPLv3 text. The grant does
  not yet identify the scope of separately licensed copied policy documents.
- There is no canonical `docs/oss/attribution.md` or local dependency license-text
  collection. Relevant component notices still require an evidence-based inventory.
- The [README](../../README.md) lacks the prescribed final licensing statements.
  The [release procedure](../release.md) lacks licensing-footer instructions, and
  the [release workflow](../../.woodpecker/release.yml) does not explicitly reuse
  checked-in release notes as hosted release bodies.
- Audita already releases through one publication command with an atomic source
  and tag push. Linux amd64 and arm64 are required; macOS arm64 is best-effort
  development support. Successful publication completes the release without
  waiting for CI or artifact delivery.

## Targeted Policy Set and Justified Customizations

All seven policy files belong under `docs/policy/`. The versions below are those
at the selected upstream revision. No existing policy is wholly unchanged;
existing architectural decisions and platform commitments need no substantive
revision merely to align the text.

| Policy | Target version | Required alignment and justified local treatment |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `agents.md` | 1.3 | Adopt upstream substantive language verbatim. Retain Audita's graph-first Codebase Discovery section because it is an explicitly selected repository workflow. |
| `architecture.md` | 1.3 | Adopt general ownership, boundary, and constraint guidance, then perform the template's required application-specific customization. Preserve Audita's ordered pipeline, ConfigKit/PromptKit responsibilities, deterministic processing, recovery, concurrency, and secret-handling decisions. These describe real project requirements rather than stylistic preferences. |
| `documentation.md` | 1.11 | Adopt upstream prose and applicable ownership rows. Retain concrete output-contract ownership, contributor change recipes, and the decision to place operating/recovery guidance in operations instead of restoring troubleshooting documentation. Omit HTTP API and public Go API ownership rows because Audita has neither responsibility. |
| `testing.md` | 1.3 | Adopt substantive text verbatim. Its distinction between established contracts and invented test requirements needs no local exception. |
| `release.md` | 1.4 | Adopt upstream substantive language. Preserve Linux amd64/arm64 requirements, best-effort macOS arm64, unsupported Windows/macOS amd64, and Audita's explicit decision against human release gates. These are selected support and workflow commitments. |
| `meta.md` | 1.0 | Adopt provenance, local authority, and public discovery guidance with accurate metadata and local attribution navigation. No additional substantive exception is needed. |
| `oss.md` | 1.8 | Adopt the House Format and maintenance rules, with required project-specific facts and reference links. Preserve Audita's GPL-3.0-or-later application grant, Gitea host, and existing distribution channels. |

Remove each `Base Policy Template` section after carrying out its instructions.
Keep local customizations identifiable and explain their project-specific reason
in the appropriate policy; do not maintain alternate paraphrases of shared rules.
Architecture customization does not authorize a package redesign or additional
threat-model guarantees. Supporting documents are warranted by existing
responsibilities and substantive content, not by unused template examples.

Successful-tag-push completion, asynchronous artifacts, minimal automated gates,
and proportionate validation are now shared upstream rules. Replace Audita's
parallel explanations with the upstream language rather than describing these
as continuing exceptions. Keep concrete commands, remotes, build targets, and
publication mechanics in the release procedure with appropriate policy links.

## Provenance and Selective Reading

For every adopted policy, retain the selected upstream `Base Policy Version`,
set `Last Updated` to its actual local adoption date, and introduce `Upstream
Source` linking to that exact file at the selected full commit. The URL pattern is:

```text
https://gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/policy/src/commit/d84a38ebab26f048cafbe59a2246700c35d29843/docs/policy/<filename>.md
```

Substitute each of `agents`, `architecture`, `documentation`, `testing`, `release`,
`meta`, and `oss`; a repository-root or shared generic source link is insufficient.
These links describe the source actually incorporated, not a reconstructed claim
about older local documents. Git and per-document metadata are sufficient; no
separate synchronization registry or recurring check is required.

In `meta.md`, retain these public discovery destinations:

- [Standard Repository Policies](https://gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/policy).
- [Current adoption and update guide](https://gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/policy/src/branch/main/docs/adoption.md).

Discovery links follow the current upstream project and guide. Adopted-source,
notice, and example links remain commit-pinned. Preserve valid pinned example
references supplied by the selected policy, or pin them to this review revision
after checking the referenced assets; do not turn them into moving-branch links.

Adapt upstream `agents/AGENTS.md` into Audita's root orientation, retaining its
existing applicable instructions. Add the adoption guide's Policy Reading Guide
to `docs/development.md` and retain the component-specific task guide. Route
policy adoption and updates to `meta.md`, repository recommendations and changes
to agents, application-code or structure work to architecture, validation choices
to testing, documentation work to documentation, dependency/licensing work to
OSS, and release/versioning work to release policy. Read applicable policies
before their decisions, reuse unchanged context, and expand reading with scope.
Do not require reading the entire suite for every task.

## Copied Policy Licensing and Local Material

Follow the selected revision's
[canonical policy attribution entry](https://gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/policy/src/commit/d84a38ebab26f048cafbe59a2246700c35d29843/examples/licensing/policy-attribution.md)
and [project grant](https://gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/policy/src/commit/d84a38ebab26f048cafbe59a2246700c35d29843/COPYRIGHT).
Insert the entry beneath the title in `docs/oss/attribution.md`, substitute the
full review commit in all three URLs, and accurately identify copied/adapted
material, including orientation or reading-guide text where copied. Preserve
supplied creator, copyright, license, disclaimer notices, and modification
indications. Keep the material statement concise.

Copy `CC-BY-SA-4.0.txt` into `docs/oss/licenses/`. Add the adoption guide's scoped
notice to `COPYRIGHT`, identifying the adapted policies as CC-BY-SA-4.0 and
routing readers to attribution for the affected material. Account accurately for
other copied guidance in that scope. Audita's application code remains
GPL-3.0-or-later; unrelated documentation is not automatically relicensed.
The root GPLv3 `LICENSE` needs no change.

| Material | Destination or treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Applicable policies, including `meta.md` and `oss.md` | Copy and customize under `docs/policy/`, retaining provenance. |
| Upstream `agents/AGENTS.md` | Adapt into root `AGENTS.md`. |
| Selective reading guidance | Integrate into Audita's own `docs/development.md`. |
| Upstream README, root AGENTS.md, developer guide, and adoption guide | Keep upstream and consult through links; do not copy as local guides. |
| Licensing example collection | Keep upstream with commit-pinned references; use it to create actual notices. Original example formatting is CC0 and alone needs no policy attribution entry. |
| Applicable standard and companion license texts | Copy complete, unmodified texts locally; no blanket collection. |

## Component Attribution

Complete the previously agreed inventory of relevant incorporated or distributed
components: direct and transitive dependencies, copied code/documentation/assets,
and applicable Go runtime notices. Determine inclusion from actual material and
use, not simply presence in `go.mod`; tooling or consultation alone does not
require an entry. Inspect selected sources directly rather than copying a
dependency's attribution document wholesale.

Use the exact House Format in OSS policy 1.8: the prescribed title followed by
component entries, factual identification, applicable supplied copyrights and
SPDX expressions, standard license/notice labels, and `[Source](COMMIT_URL).`
links. Omit unavailable optional fields instead of adding explanatory filler.
Preserve required upstream material, license alternatives, and exceptions.
Keep research narratives, compliance conclusions, and exception reasoning out
of attribution; place reasoning in the OSS policy or an appropriate decision
record. This replaces the older roadmap's permission to put exception reasoning
in a component entry.

Upstream component and notice links identify exact imported commits. Local
standard texts include directly reachable companions, such as GPLv3 for LGPLv3.
Apply the adopted house interpretation of notice links without blanket extra
local-copy requirements or repeated approval. Concrete obligations beyond notice
reproduction receive their own applicable treatment; the format alone does not
certify compatibility or resolve every distribution obligation.

The reviewed dependency revisions remain useful starting evidence, subject to
checking the dependencies selected when implementation occurs:

| Component | Reviewed version | Source commit |
| --- | --- | --- |
| ConfigKit | v0.4.1 | `0adb94f59e44827908eff401d4381a398fe17107` |
| PromptKit | v0.11.1 | `15e40679546f2e21b6f51cc84b6f0a087a8486db` |
| OpenRouter catalog | v2.20260926.0 | `4f731d217e0bc39151c010f50fb5912706e7b6b3` |
| Rakestrawhome catalog | v2.20260926.0 | `48918a3ad39fd99843cda94a86133b1b3881d596` |

These library patches changed licensing/documentation rather than library code
or catalog profiles. ConfigKit and PromptKit identify LGPL-3.0-or-later; the
selected catalogs identify MIT. Other relevant dependencies still need inventory.

## Discoverability and Release Integration

End README with the project-license and attribution statements prescribed by the
OSS policy, using Audita's actual grant. `COPYRIGHT` owns the separately licensed
policy scope; README links to that grant and the attribution document.

Update `docs/release.md` to specify the final `COPYRIGHT | LICENSE | ATTRIBUTION`
links in every new release note and hosted download page. Use absolute Gitea URLs
at the release's immutable tag or source commit. Reuse the checked-in note as the
hosted body where supported; verify the publication plugin's supported mechanism
and make the necessary focused `.woodpecker/release.yml` change. Avoid separately
maintained release prose or notice lists.

Preserve the current atomic source/tag publication approach, supported targets,
and completion point. Align procedure wording with upstream's preparation,
ambiguous-push recovery, and asynchronous retry rules. Handle completed-roadmap
retirement during preparation, preserving planned/deferred work and repairing
links; this roadmap update does not authorize deleting other roadmaps now.

Check intended future-tag paths against the candidate source without requiring
the tag to resolve before publication. Apply the formatting convention
prospectively; leave published tags, notes, artifacts, and checksums intact.
Concrete historical omissions, if discovered, receive deliberate treatment under
their applicable terms and release correction rules.

## Work Required and Acceptance Criteria

Implementation covers the seven policy documents, `AGENTS.md`,
`docs/development.md`, `COPYRIGHT`, `docs/oss/attribution.md`, applicable files in
`docs/oss/licenses/`, README, the release procedure, and focused hosted-body
publication wiring. Update this roadmap's implementation status when appropriate.
The [implementation plan](implementation.md) owns the editing sequence and
verification steps.

The work is complete when:

- Shared policy language matches the selected upstream revision after required
  template removal and customization; retained variations have substantive
  Audita-specific reasons as identified above.
- All seven policies have accurate versions, adoption dates, and file-specific
  commit-pinned source links. Public discovery links and selective orientation
  are in place, with no leftover template-only instructions or broken links.
- Copied policy/guidance scope, modification status, credit, CC-BY-SA text, and
  root grant notice follow the documented upstream arrangement while preserving
  Audita's application license.
- Relevant components have verified House Format entries, exact source/notice
  commits, and complete applicable license texts, without editorial commentary.
- README and future release documentation provide the required navigation, and
  hosted release content comes from the checked-in note through a verified
  publication mechanism.
- Audita's application contracts, architectural decisions, platform commitments,
  release completion semantics, and published history are preserved.
- Affected text, links, license copies, metadata, and publication configuration
  pass proportionate review and validation. No release is needed solely to test
  adoption; behavioral workflow changes receive focused validation if required.

## Scope Boundaries and Open Questions

No policy decisions remain open for the agreed scope. Component-specific notices
and the publication plugin's supported release-body mechanism require factual
verification during implementation. Raise a decision only for a concrete
unresolved obligation or material tradeoff uncovered by that work.

This feature does not require application refactoring, dependency upgrades,
mandatory scanners, a full SBOM, recurring legal approvals, synchronization
checks, additional human release gates, publication-time network checks, or CI
waiting. The documentation convention alone does not require downloadable
license assets, source bundles, or a different binary package format.