Governed Change

Change is the heartbeat of CAGE. Issues surface observations, insights explain gaps, changes propose action, and work plans coordinate delivery. Each artifact is governed by explicit policies so evolution stays intentional.

Without governance, the repository devolves into ad-hoc fixes and untraceable decisions. With it, every adjustment carries provenance, rationale, and measurable expectations.

Governance does not mean endless paperwork. The repository—and the AI assistants operating inside it—handle the bookkeeping, references, and policy checks. Humans stay focused on judging intent, evaluating impact, and deciding what comes next.

In practice

• Require every commit to reference an approved Change ID and associated work plan—automated templates and bots can fill in the details.
• Store decisions and approvals as append-only events with the policy version that allowed them so the audit trail builds itself.
• Promote successful patterns into directives so the next change inherits proven guidance without reinventing the process.