RFC: centralized policy framework with PolicyDecisionEvent

[krokoko]

Context: ROADMAP.md → Centralized policy framework
Related: #230 (event-driven governance), Cedar HITL (shipped)

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Primary area

Cross-cutting / multiple

Related issue or feature request

#230 (Event-Driven Governance and Actions), shipped Cedar HITL gates

Summary

Unified Cedar-based policy framework with PolicyDecisionEvent audit schema. Three enforcement modes with observe-before-enforce rollout across tool calls, lifecycle events, and future event-driven governance.

Use case and motivation

Policy decisions today are fragmented (PreToolUse Cedar, guardrails, bash allowlists). Compliance needs a single auditable decision stream and consistent observe/enforce rollout.

Proposal

1. Define PolicyDecisionEvent schema: decision, policy_id, matching_rule_ids, context, task_id, timestamp.
2. Emit on every Cedar evaluation + lifecycle policy hook (RFC: Event-Driven Governance and Actions #230).
3. Modes: observe, enforce, disabled per policy pack.
4. Export to immutable audit (RFC: Governance planes — analytics and compliance export #237) when available.
5. Operator dashboard: deny rates by repo/policy.

Out of scope

• Replacing Bedrock Guardrails (input/output screening stays separate).
• Full implementation of all RFC: Event-Driven Governance and Actions #230 semantic gates in v1.

Potential challenges

• cedarpy/cedar-wasm parity (see AGENTS.md cedar pin rules).
• Volume of decision events at high task throughput.
• Migration from current HITL-only audit shape.

Dependencies and integrations

• TaskEventsTable, FanOutConsumer, RFC: Event-Driven Governance and Actions #230 RFC.
• docs/design/CEDAR_HITL_GATES.md.

Alternative solutions

• Extend current HITL audit only—less unified for non-tool policies.
• OPA/Cedar split—rejected for dual engine maintenance.

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Note: Non-triaged RFCs may not get timely review.

• RFC PR:
• Approved by:
• Reviewed by: