Document public policy adoption and licensing

docs/development.md

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+# Developing Standard Repository Policies
+
+This repository maintains reusable policy templates and reference materials.
+For adopting them into another project, use the [adoption guide](adoption.md).
+
+## Orientation
+
+Read the [agent policy](policy/agents.md) and inspect the working tree before
+editing. Preserve unrelated work. Follow explicit task instructions, including
+requests to leave changes uncommitted. This repository's policy files retain
+their template adoption sections because they are distributed as templates.
+Application-specific template examples do not require this repository to acquire
+application interfaces or infrastructure.
+
+| Task | Read |
+| --- | --- |
+| Change a policy | The affected policy, its related policies, and the [documentation policy](policy/documentation.md). |
+| Change adoption or provenance guidance | The [adoption guide](adoption.md), [OSS policy](policy/oss.md), and root [COPYRIGHT](../COPYRIGHT). |
+| Change licensing examples | The [OSS policy](policy/oss.md), [COPYRIGHT](../COPYRIGHT), and affected examples. |
+| Add or update reference license texts | The [reference collection README](oss/licenses/README.md) and the selected publisher or recorded upstream source. |
+
+## Editing And Validation
+
+Keep reusable instructions portable. Put adoption instructions in template
+sections and project-specific contributor procedures here. Original licensing
+examples belong under `examples/licensing/`; explanatory instructions belong in
+their guide or policy so they are not copied into notices.
+
+Increment the affected template's `Base Policy Version` and update its date when
+changing its substantive rules or adoption instructions. Preserve the licensing
+scope defined in `COPYRIGHT`; reproduced license texts must remain verbatim.
+
+Review the diff, run `git diff --check` for changed prose, and check affected links
+and examples. Example placeholders and destination-relative links should be
+validated against the documented downstream layout, not treated as published
+URLs or missing local dependencies. No application build or new test suite is
+needed for prose-only changes. Retain upstream formatting in verbatim license
+texts even where it would trigger whitespace warnings.
+
+Pin upstream reference links to commits that contain the referenced files. New
+assets can use local links within this repository until a containing commit is
+available; do not invent a future hash or publish changes merely to obtain one.
+Before publication, confirm that public reference links are accessible. This is
+change validation, not a recurring downstream release gate.