---
id: troubleshooting.overly-broad-policies
title: Overly Broad Policies
summary: Narrow policies that are too vague to guide review, rubrics, or human reviews.
kind: error
product_area: troubleshooting
status: stable
updated: 2026-08-23
canonical: /docs/troubleshooting/overly-broad-policies
---

# Overly Broad Policies

Use this when a policy is too general to guide review, rubric writing, or human reviews.

## Symptom

Reviewers agree with the policy in principle but cannot decide whether a specific output satisfies it. Rubrics derived from the policy become vague, noisy, or impossible to apply consistently.

## Likely causes

- The policy describes a value such as “be helpful” without a behavioral boundary.
- Several domain rules were combined into one policy.
- The policy lacks linked cases that show pass and fail examples.
- The policy was approved from one expert comment without broader review.

## Diagnostic checks

- Ask whether the policy can produce a binary rubric without adding new assumptions.
- Find linked cases that should pass and fail the policy.
- Compare the policy to existing standards for duplicate or conflicting scope.
- Review benchmark failures to see whether the policy explains the evidence.

## Fix

- Narrow the policy to one behavior boundary.
- Split unrelated requirements into separate policies.
- Add linked cases and applicability before approval.
- Use the Policy's own governed approval and version controls after revision. A Contribution Checkpoint confirms Contribution progress; it is not automatically Policy approval.

## Prevention

- Draft policies from repeated judgments, not one-off comments.
- Require applicability and examples before approval.
- Review policy overlap during standards maintenance.
- Version revisions so old benchmark evidence remains interpretable.

## Related task pages

{% related-card-grid title="Related task pages" %}
- [Create a policy](/docs/correctness-governance/policies-and-rubrics)
- [Using expert judgment](/docs/concepts/correctness-elicitation)
- [Resolve conflicting correctness evidence](/docs/governance/conflict-resolution)
{% /related-card-grid %}

## Related reference pages

{% related-card-grid title="Related reference pages" %}
- [Policies](/docs/object-model/policies)
- [Policy versions](/docs/governance/policy-versioning)
- [Correctness Elicitation](/docs/concepts/correctness-elicitation)
{% /related-card-grid %}

## Source confidence

Code-backed: Policy list and detail routes expose governed Policy content, approval, versions, linked Cases, and Rubrics. This page keeps Contribution Checkpoints separate from Policy approval.