---
id: governance.policy-versioning
title: Policy Versioning
summary: Preserve policy changes so decisions can be interpreted against the standard used at the time.
kind: reference
product_area: governance
status: stable
updated: 2026-08-23
canonical: /docs/governance/policy-versioning
---

# Policy Versioning

## Definition

A Policy version preserves one governed statement of intended behavior together with its applicability and approval context. The durable Policy identity connects revisions; the version identity tells readers which wording and boundary informed linked Rubrics, Cases, Benchmark Versions, and evaluation results.

## Fields, states, or lifecycle rules

- Editing meaning, scope, precedence, exception handling, or applicability requires a distinguishable version.
- Draft or suggested wording is not an approved Policy version.
- Rubrics linked to a Policy must be reviewed when the Policy meaning changes; versioning the Policy does not silently repair every Rubric.
- Existing Benchmark Versions and Runs retain the Policy version admitted at their evidence boundary.
- A later current Policy does not make an older result false; it makes the result historical under the old standard.
- Activity and approval context explain why a version changed, but do not replace the version identity.
- Policy versions do not authorize downstream deployment or governance decisions.

## Related objects

Use Correctness Governance to inspect the current Policy, related Rubrics, linked Cases, approval context, and activity. Use Versioning and Staleness to route follow-up when changed Policy meaning affects current dataset readiness or future benchmark interpretation.

{% example-demo title="Adding an exception" %}
The current Policy says opened items cannot be returned. Experts confirm an exception for documented safety recalls. The revised Policy creates a new version, and its applicability and linked Rubrics are reviewed. Runs under the earlier Benchmark Version remain evidence of behavior against the old rule. A new Snapshot and Benchmark Version admit the changed standard for later evaluation.
{% /example-demo %}

## Source confidence

Code-backed: Policy types and detail routes expose durable identity, current version context, approval, activity, related Rubrics, and linked Cases. Benchmark pages define how an exact Policy version enters immutable evaluation evidence.

## Related task pages

{% related-card-grid title="Related task pages" %}
- [Policies](/docs/object-model/policies)
- [Policies and Rubrics](/docs/correctness-governance/policies-and-rubrics)
- [Versioning and Staleness](/docs/governance/versioning-and-staleness)
- [Product quickstart](/docs/quickstart)
- [Task index](/docs/operating-manual/task-index)
{% /related-card-grid %}