---
id: object-model.versions-staleness-resolution
title: Versions, staleness, and resolution
summary: Track how correctness objects evolve and how teams resolve conflicting evidence.
kind: reference
product_area: object_model
status: stable
updated: 2026-08-23
canonical: /docs/object-model/versions-staleness-and-resolution
---

# Versions, staleness, and resolution

## Definition

Versions, staleness, and resolution describe how correctness artifacts evolve without making old evidence ambiguous. Cases, Policies, Rubrics, Benchmark Versions, supported Case-scoped reference outputs, and customer-owned review context can change at different times; version boundaries explain which evidence belongs to which state.

Use this reference when a result changed unexpectedly, a policy was revised, a case was refreshed, or reviewers need to know whether older benchmark evidence still applies.

## Fields, states, or lifecycle rules

- Versions preserve what changed and what evidence was produced before the change.
- Staleness means older evidence may no longer reflect the current case, standard, coverage, or candidate boundary.
- Resolution work should name whether the fix belongs to a case, output, policy, rubric, coverage plan, benchmark version, or run metadata.
- Comparisons are weak when artifact versions are hidden.
- This page describes public object semantics, not retention, audit-log completeness, or compliance guarantees.

## Related objects

Versions, staleness, and resolution should be read with [Versioning and Staleness](/docs/governance/versioning-and-staleness), [Benchmark versioning](/docs/governance/benchmark-versioning), [Case versioning](/docs/governance/case-versioning), and [Policy Conflicts and Revisions](/docs/governance/conflict-resolution).

{% example-demo title="Versions, staleness, and resolution boundary" %}
State change: Reviewers revise a compatibility policy after finding unsupported-claim failures.

Benchmark evidence: Runs against the old policy remain interpretable, but they should not be summarized as current evidence without naming the old policy version.

Interpretation: The resolution note explains whether to rerun, revise the benchmark version, or preserve the old result as historical context.
{% /example-demo %}

## Source confidence

Code-backed: Benchmark, Policy, and Rubric types carry version facts; Benchmark Datasets → Snapshots and Policy activity preserve named historical boundaries. Cross-object staleness and conflict resolution are explicit review decisions rather than a universal automatic state.

## Related task pages

{% related-card-grid title="Related task pages" %}
- [Versioning and Staleness](/docs/governance/versioning-and-staleness)
- [Conflict Resolution](/docs/governance/conflict-resolution)
- [Product quickstart](/docs/quickstart)
- [Task index](/docs/operating-manual/task-index)
{% /related-card-grid %}