Constitution authoring | Gospel in Action

The governing document of Gospel in Action. It is loaded by the API at startup, hashed, and rendered into per-agent policy packs. No agent operates from memory of doctrine.

Files

File	Role
`current.json`	pointer to the active version
`versions/<semver>.json`	immutable, ratified policy text
`CHANGELOG.md`	rationale for every change, with authorisation
`schemas/constitution.schema.json`	shape required for a new version

Rules

Never edit a released version file. Corrections create a new version (1.0.1, 1.1.0, …).
Every change is authorised. Add an entry to CHANGELOG.md naming who authorised it and why.
Hashes are permanent. Every audit and agent run records constitution_sha256, so any past output remains explainable even after policy changes.
Tightening is safe; loosening is not. Removing a prohibition or downgrading a blocker is a policy change requiring explicit sign-off, not an implementation detail.
Theology is not a variable. Agents, prompts, models, and providers may change. The constitution changes only by the process above.

Authoring a new version

cp constitution/versions/1.0.0.json constitution/versions/1.0.1.json
# edit, bump "version", update CHANGELOG.md
echo '{"version": "1.0.1"}' > constitution/current.json
cd services/api && ./.venv/bin/pytest -q

Startup registers the new version in constitution_versions; existing audits keep pointing at the version that governed them.

Structure (what each block does)

Block	Enforced where
`core_claim`	injected into every policy pack
`doctrines[]`	filtered per agent role; becomes binding requirements
`prohibitions[].detectors`	regex execution in the audit engine
`terminology.avoid`	scanned in every artifact, negation-aware
`validation_rules[]`	required attestations per document kind
`statuses` / `publication_gate`	workflow gate and API responses
`disputed_interpretations[]`	injected when a role touches contested topics
`approved_sources`	citation checks; corpus manifest path
`dispensationalism_rejection`	blocking across all audit points

Current version

1.0.0, ratified 2026-11-01. Framework: Relational Oneness Theology.