Document public policy adoption and licensing

README.md

@@ -1,3 +1,39 @@
-# policy
+# Standard Repository Policies
 
-A collection of standard repository policy documents that should be applied across each of my personal projects.
+Reusable policies for application and library repositories, written for human
+maintainers and coding agents. They emphasize proportionate implementation,
+classical behavioral testing, clear documentation ownership, simple releases,
+and consistent licensing notices. The policies are language-independent, with
+Go-specific testing guidance where useful.
+
+## Adopt The Policies
+
+Start with the [adoption and update guide](docs/adoption.md). Select an upstream
+commit, copy the policies that apply, customize them locally, and add the supplied
+attribution entry. Downstream repositories own their adopted rules; upstream
+updates are incorporated deliberately.
+
+| Policy | Purpose |
+| --- | --- |
+| [Agents](docs/policy/agents.md) | Implementation discipline and local commit practices. |
+| [Testing](docs/policy/testing.md) | Meaningful behavioral coverage with proportionate maintenance cost. |
+| [Architecture](docs/policy/architecture.md) | A framework for application-specific boundaries and constraints. |
+| [Documentation](docs/policy/documentation.md) | Canonical ownership and document lifecycle. |
+| [Releases](docs/policy/release.md) | Minimal justified gates and a clear publication completion point. |
+| [Open source licensing and attribution](docs/policy/oss.md) | Project grants and factual upstream notices. |
+
+Use the [licensing examples](examples/licensing/) as references when writing
+actual notices. Copy needed texts from the [license collection](docs/oss/licenses/README.md).
+Applications do not need their own copy of this project's example collection.
+
+## Work On This Project
+
+Read the [contributor guide](docs/development.md) before editing templates or
+reference assets. The [public repository](https://gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/policy)
+is the upstream source; commit-specific links identify adoption baselines.
+
+Standard Repository Policies is licensed under [CC-BY-SA 4.0](COPYRIGHT), with
+original format examples dedicated under CC0 as specified there.
+
+Sources and terms for reproduced license texts are documented in the
+[reference collection](docs/oss/licenses/README.md).