phase-memory/workplans/PMEM-WP-0004-policy-audit-and-review-gates.md

id, type, title, domain, repo, status, owner, topic_slug, planning_priority, planning_order, related_workplans, created, updated, state_hub_workstream_id

id	type	title	domain	repo	status	owner	topic_slug	planning_priority	planning_order	related_workplans	created	updated	state_hub_workstream_id
PMEM-WP-0004	workplan	Policy, Audit, And Review Gates	markitect	phase-memory	finished	phase-memory	policy-audit	P1	40	PMEM-WP-0002 PMEM-WP-0003	2026-05-18	2026-05-18	e8d405a3-3ddd-4353-81a2-518850033b8e

PMEM-WP-0004: Policy, Audit, And Review Gates

Goal

Make policy-aware memory behavior concrete enough that phase-memory can safely plan and apply memory lifecycle changes.

The project intent calls for provenance, confidence, freshness, policy metadata, reauthorization, audit, redaction, and trust-zone boundaries. The current implementation surfaces policy gates, but it does not yet enforce review gates beyond planner metadata.

Current Evidence

Current code includes:

• PolicyDecision
• PolicyGateway protocol
• AuditSink protocol
• AllowAllPolicyGateway
• RecordingAuditSink
• policy gate strings in profile execution plans
• review-required flags on stabilization, compaction, refresh, and deletion proposals

The next step is an explicit authorization and audit workflow for reads, activations, writes, compactions, and phase transitions.

Non-Goals

• Do not build a full identity platform.
• Do not implement enterprise authorization policy languages.
• Do not make flex-auth a hard dependency.
• Do not store or expose secrets in test fixtures.

Implementation Update - 2026-05-18

The policy, audit, and review-gate slice is complete.

Implemented outputs:

• phase_memory.policy defines canonical memory operation points, audit event schema helpers, review-record helpers, activation policy checks, and deterministic redaction.
• ReviewRecord and ReviewDecision model structured local approvals and rejections for review-gated lifecycle actions.
• Runtime audit events now use phase_memory.audit.event.v1 and carry policy decisions, source references, dry-run flags, actor labels, and subjects.
• apply_lifecycle_actions rejects review-required actions unless the caller provides a matching approved review record or explicit local approval marker.
• Activation planning can evaluate required labels, denied labels, trust zones, secret denial, reauthorization, and freshness policy context before package selection.
• Policy-denied activation nodes are omitted and returned as redacted denial records with diagnostics.
• docs/policy-audit.md documents operation points, review records, activation policy, audit envelopes, and ownership boundaries.

Validation:

• python3 -m pytest -> 36 passed.

T01 - Define memory operation policy points

id: PMEM-WP-0004-T01
status: done
priority: high
state_hub_task_id: "1231b7bf-b23c-498d-a9d6-a6ee307aa3d4"

Define the canonical policy check points for:

• profile import
• graph import
• node read
• event read
• activation
• stabilization
• compaction
• refresh
• delete request
• archive
• export

Output: operation vocabulary and tests that runtime operations call policy at the right boundary.

T02 - Add review authorization records

id: PMEM-WP-0004-T02
status: done
priority: high
state_hub_task_id: "b989d43c-eb25-4663-afd1-a54673ad565a"

Add structured review records for actions that move memory into stabilized or rigid states, compact source records, refresh source-backed facts, or request deletion.

Records should capture:

• reviewer id or local reviewer label
• reviewed action id
• approval or rejection
• timestamp
• reason
• policy obligations
• source digests

Output: review record model and approval checks in the runtime facade.

T03 - Enforce durable write gates

id: PMEM-WP-0004-T03
status: done
priority: high
state_hub_task_id: "6b677c18-7135-4d54-9e46-5116645d2ebe"

Make durable write operations fail closed when profile policy declares review-gated durable writes.

Output: runtime tests proving that stabilization, rigid updates, compaction, and deletion requests cannot be applied silently.

T04 - Add activation policy checks

id: PMEM-WP-0004-T04
status: done
priority: high
state_hub_task_id: "6f07087b-e6e2-469a-9bce-71bfd21cb633"

Before memory nodes or events are included in activation packages, check:

• required labels
• denied labels
• trust zone compatibility
• secrets allowance
• reauthorization requirements
• source freshness requirements

Output: activation planner/runtime policy tests and omitted-item diagnostics for policy-denied records.

T05 - Add audit event schema

id: PMEM-WP-0004-T05
status: done
priority: medium
state_hub_task_id: "bb6461a8-9181-4b88-a152-334668b22208"

Define a stable audit event envelope for memory operations:

• operation id
• operation kind
• subject id
• profile id
• graph id
• policy decision
• dry-run flag
• planned action id
• actor label
• timestamp
• source contract references

Output: audit schema helpers and tests for profile, lifecycle, activation, and apply operations.

T06 - Add redaction and denial diagnostics

id: PMEM-WP-0004-T06
status: done
priority: medium
state_hub_task_id: "dcdec3af-d20f-43ba-b12e-6febc4347d38"

Add deterministic redaction behavior for denied fields and policy-sensitive metadata. Redaction should be visible in diagnostics and audit events.

Output: redaction utility, denied activation examples, and regression tests.

T07 - Document policy and audit guarantees

id: PMEM-WP-0004-T07
status: done
priority: medium
state_hub_task_id: "c4e0bdff-5047-4fe5-ab86-e422d4b1a17e"

Document what the local runtime guarantees and what remains delegated to external policy infrastructure.

Output: policy architecture note with examples of allowed, denied, and review-required operations.

Acceptance Criteria

• python3 -m pytest passes.
• Every apply-capable operation has policy and audit coverage.
• Activation explains policy-denied and redacted items.
• Review-required actions fail closed without an explicit review record.
• The policy layer remains adapter-based and does not become an identity platform.

Closure Review - 2026-05-18

Outcome: All tasks completed.

Completed

• PMEM-WP-0004-T01 - Define memory operation policy points
• PMEM-WP-0004-T02 - Add review authorization records
• PMEM-WP-0004-T03 - Enforce durable write gates
• PMEM-WP-0004-T04 - Add activation policy checks
• PMEM-WP-0004-T05 - Add audit event schema
• PMEM-WP-0004-T06 - Add redaction and denial diagnostics
• PMEM-WP-0004-T07 - Document policy and audit guarantees

Cancelled

None.

Carried Forward

Optional Markitect validation and context-package compiler bridge behavior remain in PMEM-WP-0005.