---
id: governance.rubric-versioning
title: Rubric Versioning
summary: Track changes to pass/fail criteria and the evidence they produce.
kind: reference
product_area: governance
status: stable
updated: 2026-08-23
canonical: /docs/governance/rubric-versioning
---

# Rubric Versioning

## Definition

A Rubric version preserves one observable binary evaluation criterion and its relationship to a Policy, applicability boundary, and normative force. The durable Rubric identity connects revisions; the version identity explains which exact criterion produced a historical result.

## Fields, states, or lifecycle rules

- Change the version when criterion meaning, pass/fail threshold, applicability, Policy relationship, or normative force changes.
- Editorial cleanup that genuinely preserves meaning should not be described as a new correctness rule without evidence.
- A Rubric must remain testable as one binary criterion; combining several independent requirements makes failures ambiguous.
- Suggested or contributed wording is not admitted evaluation authority until the owning workflow approves it.
- Existing Runs retain the exact Rubric version they evaluated.
- A new Rubric version can require a new Benchmark Version before it affects future evidence.
- Prefer-level improvement does not cancel a must-level regression.

## Related objects

Use Correctness Governance to inspect criterion text, Policy linkage, applicability, Cases, and approval state. Use Binary Rubrics when authoring or splitting a criterion. Use Benchmark Versioning when the revised Rubric should become part of future evaluation evidence.

{% example-demo title="Splitting an ambiguous criterion" %}
A Rubric currently passes only when an answer cites the controlling source and states uncertainty when no source is available. Reviewers find that the combined criterion produces unclear failures. They retain the original historical version and approve two narrower Rubrics for citation support and missing-source uncertainty. Future Benchmark Versions admit the new criteria; old Runs keep their original result meaning.
{% /example-demo %}

## Source confidence

Code-backed: Rubric types and detail routes expose criterion, version, Policy relationship, applicability, normative force, linked Cases, and evaluation context. Linked authoring and Benchmark pages define approval and admission boundaries.

## Related task pages

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