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Audit Brief: Governance Document Harmonization

Status: Pending Created: 2026-01-11 Assigned: [Fresh Agent] Output: docs/governance/GovZero/audits/governance-harmonization-2026-01-11.md

Objective

Audit all documents in docs/governance/ for drift against the canonical GovZero documents. Produce a harmonization report with consolidation recommendations.

Source of Truth

The following documents in docs/governance/GovZero/ are canonical:

Document Authority
charter.md Gate definitions, lane doctrine, closeout attestation terms
adr-lifecycle.md ADR lifecycle states, closeout-to-status mapping
adr-status.md Authoritative ADR status table (uses lifecycle states from adr-lifecycle.md)
audit-protocol.md Closeout ceremony behavior, agent MUST/MUST NOT rules
adr-obpi-ghi-audit-linkage.md Relationship between ADR, OBPI, GHI, and audit artifacts

All other governance documents MUST align with these or be marked superseded.

Audit Scope

Examine every .md file in:

  • docs/governance/*.md (root level)
  • docs/governance/db28/
  • docs/governance/gzkit/
  • Any other subdirectories except GovZero/ itself

Also examine: - docs/design/adr/_TEMPLATES/ADR_TEMPLATE_SEMVER.md — Does the Status field align with adr-lifecycle.md? - Any remaining references to the old docs/design/adr/adr_status.md path (now moved to GovZero)

Audit Questions Per Document

For each document, answer:

  1. Relevance: Is this document still relevant, or has its content been absorbed into GovZero?
  2. Conflict: Does it define terms, statuses, or processes that conflict with GovZero canon?
  3. Redundancy: Does it duplicate content that exists in GovZero?
  4. Reference: Does it properly reference GovZero for canonical definitions, or does it redefine them?
  5. Disposition: Should this document be:
  6. Kept: Still relevant, no conflict
  7. Updated: Relevant but needs alignment edits
  8. Superseded: Move to _archive/ with supersession header
  9. Consolidated: Merge useful content into GovZero, then archive

Consolidation Strategy (Moderate)

  1. Centralize: If a document has useful content not in GovZero, propose where to add it
  2. Archive: Move superseded documents to docs/governance/_archive/ with header:
Markdown
> **SUPERSEDED**: This document is superseded by [GovZero/{doc}.md](GovZero/{doc}.md).
> Retained for historical reference only. Do not use for current guidance.
  1. Update references: Any document referencing an archived doc should be updated to point to GovZero

Output Format

Produce a report at docs/governance/GovZero/audits/governance-harmonization-2026-01-11.md with:

Section 1: Executive Summary

  • Total documents audited
  • Counts by disposition (Kept / Updated / Superseded / Consolidated)
  • Critical conflicts found

Section 2: Document-by-Document Analysis

For each document:

Markdown
### {filename}
- **Path**: `docs/governance/{path}`
- **Disposition**: {Kept | Updated | Superseded | Consolidated}
- **Conflicts**: {None | List of conflicts}
- **Action Required**: {None | Specific edits | Archive | Merge into X}
- **Notes**: {Any additional context}

Prioritized list of changes to make, grouped by: - Immediate (conflicts with GovZero canon) - Near-term (redundancy cleanup) - Deferred (nice-to-have consolidation)

Section 4: Open Questions

Any unresolved questions for human decision (e.g., "where should ADR templates live?")

Agent Instructions

  1. Read GovZero canon first: Before auditing other docs, read all four canonical GovZero documents to internalize the source of truth.

  2. Do not modify files during audit: This is a read-only audit. Produce the report only.

  3. Flag ambiguity: If a document's disposition is unclear, mark it as "Needs Human Decision" with rationale.

  4. Note template drift: The ADR template defines valid statuses. These MUST match adr-lifecycle.md.

  5. Find stale references: Search for any docs still pointing to docs/design/adr/adr_status.md (old path).

  6. Preserve useful content: If a document has unique, useful content not in GovZero, recommend consolidation rather than deletion.

Success Criteria

  • [ ] All documents in docs/governance/ (except GovZero/) have been audited
  • [ ] adr_status.md and ADR template have been checked for alignment
  • [ ] Report is written to specified output path
  • [ ] Each document has a clear disposition
  • [ ] Conflicts are explicitly listed
  • [ ] Recommended actions are prioritized