Pack Governance & Approval Process

Version: 1.0.0 Last Updated: 2025-10-01 Owner: Compliance & Platform Governance Team Classification: Internal

Purpose

This document establishes the governance framework for RulePacks and WorkflowPacks in the CORTX Platform, including approval workflows, versioning policies, certification tiers, and quality standards.

Governance Principles

1. Quality Over Speed

Thoroughly tested packs prevent downstream issues
Quality gates cannot be bypassed
Technical debt is addressed proactively

2. Compliance First

All packs must align with regulatory requirements
Compliance officer review is mandatory for regulated industries
Audit trails for all changes

3. Transparency

All pack changes are publicly visible in Git
Review feedback is documented
Rejection reasons are clear and actionable

4. Community Collaboration

Pack authors can be internal or external
Community feedback drives improvements
Knowledge sharing through documentation

Pack Lifecycle

┌──────────┐
│  Draft   │  Author creates pack
└────┬─────┘
     │
     ▼
┌──────────┐
│  Review  │  Business analyst reviews
└────┬─────┘
     │
     ▼
┌──────────┐
│Compliance│  Compliance officer certifies
└────┬─────┘
     │
     ▼
┌──────────┐
│  Testing │  QA validates with test data
└────┬─────┘
     │
     ▼
┌──────────┐
│ Approval │  Admin approves for deployment
└────┬─────┘
     │
     ▼
┌──────────┐
│Deployment│  Pushed to production registry
└────┬─────┘
     │
     ▼
┌──────────┐
│ Active   │  Available for use
└──────────┘

Approval Workflow

Stage 1: Draft

Owner: Pack Author

Activities: - Create pack (RulePack JSON or WorkflowPack YAML) - Write documentation (README, USAGE, CHANGELOG) - Create test cases - Validate against schema

Quality Gates: - [ ] Schema validation passes - [ ] Basic test cases exist - [ ] Documentation complete

Transition: Submit for review via Pull Request

Stage 2: Business Review

Owner: Business Analyst / Functional Lead

Activities: - Review functional correctness - Validate business rules align with requirements - Check error messages are clear and actionable - Verify test coverage is adequate

Quality Gates: - [ ] Business requirements met - [ ] Rules/steps logically correct - [ ] Error messages user-friendly - [ ] Edge cases handled

Duration: 2-3 business days

Outcomes: - Approved: Move to compliance review - Needs Changes: Return to author with feedback - Rejected: Close PR with explanation

Stage 3: Compliance Review

Owner: Compliance Officer

Activities: - Verify regulatory alignment - Check compliance tags are accurate - Validate control mappings (NIST, HIPAA, etc.) - Ensure audit trail requirements met

Quality Gates: - [ ] Compliance frameworks correctly tagged - [ ] Control references accurate - [ ] Regulatory requirements satisfied - [ ] Audit logging adequate

Duration: 3-5 business days

Outcomes: - Certified: Move to testing - Conditional Approval: Minor changes required - Rejected: Non-compliant, return to author

Stage 4: Testing

Owner: QA Lead

Activities: - Execute test cases - Performance testing (RulePacks: 1M records <30s) - Security scanning (no code injection, secrets) - Integration testing with platform

Quality Gates: - [ ] All test cases pass - [ ] Performance benchmarks met - [ ] No security vulnerabilities - [ ] Integration tests successful

Duration: 3-5 business days

Outcomes: - Passed: Move to final approval - Failed: Return to author with test results

Stage 5: Final Approval

Owner: Platform Admin

Activities: - Review all prior approvals - Verify pack metadata - Check versioning is correct - Approve deployment

Quality Gates: - [ ] All prior stages approved - [ ] Version number correct - [ ] Deployment plan documented - [ ] Rollback plan exists

Duration: 1-2 business days

Outcomes: - Approved: Deploy to production - Rejected: Rare; address final concerns

Stage 6: Deployment

Owner: DevOps / Platform Team

Activities: - Tag release in Git - Deploy to production registry - Update documentation - Notify stakeholders

Quality Gates: - [ ] Git tag created - [ ] Production registry updated - [ ] Documentation published - [ ] Announcement sent

Stage 7: Active

Owner: Pack Maintainers

Ongoing Activities: - Monitor pack usage - Address bug reports - Plan future enhancements - Deprecate when obsolete

Versioning Policy

Semantic Versioning

Format: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH

MAJOR Version (X.0.0): - Breaking changes to pack structure - Rule operator changes - Workflow step type changes - Requires re-certification

MINOR Version (x.Y.0): - Backward-compatible additions - New rules or workflow steps - Optional field additions - Standard review process

PATCH Version (x.y.Z): - Bug fixes - Error message improvements - Documentation updates - Fast-track approval

Examples:

1.0.0 → 1.0.1: Fixed typo in error message (PATCH)
1.0.1 → 1.1.0: Added 5 new rules (MINOR)
1.1.0 → 2.0.0: Changed rule operator from '==' to 'matches' (MAJOR)

Version Compatibility

Backward Compatibility: - MINOR and PATCH versions must be backward compatible - Existing integrations must not break - Default behavior unchanged

Breaking Changes: - Require MAJOR version bump - Documented in CHANGELOG - Migration guide provided - Deprecation notice (if replacing older pack)

Deprecation Policy

Deprecation Timeline: 1. Announce: Deprecation notice 90 days before removal 2. Mark: Tag pack as deprecated in metadata 3. Migrate: Provide migration guide to newer version 4. Remove: After 90 days, remove from active registry

Example:

{
  "metadata": {
    "pack_id": "legacy-gtas-v1",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "deprecated": true,
    "deprecated_at": "2025-10-01",
    "replacement": "federal-gtas-v2",
    "deprecation_reason": "Replaced by v2 with enhanced validation"
  }
}

Certification Tiers

Tier 1: Official Packs

Definition: Created and maintained by regulatory authorities or Sinergy Solutions

Criteria: - Source: Treasury, IRS, CMS, Sinergy platform team - Funding: Government contracts or platform core - Pricing: Free (publicly funded) - Support: Official support SLA

Examples: - federal-gtas-v1: Treasury-verified GTAS rules - hipaa-security-v1: Official HIPAA compliance pack - nist-800-53-ac: NIST access control mapping

Badge: ✅ Official

Tier 2: Certified Packs

Definition: Community-created packs that passed rigorous certification

Criteria: - Source: Third-party developers, consultancies - Testing: Comprehensive test suite (>90% coverage) - Review: Passed all governance stages - Support: Author provides support - Pricing: Author-defined (70/30 revenue split)

Certification Requirements: - [ ] All test cases pass - [ ] Documentation complete (README, USAGE, CHANGELOG) - [ ] Compliance review passed - [ ] Security scan clean - [ ] Performance benchmarks met - [ ] Author support commitment (email, SLA)

Examples: - healthcare-claims-verification-v1: Third-party healthcare pack - realestate-title-search-v1: Certified title verification

Badge: 🏆 Certified

Tier 3: Community Packs

Definition: User-contributed packs, not certified

Criteria: - Source: Any community member - Testing: Basic schema validation - Review: Automated checks only - Support: Best-effort by author - Pricing: Author-defined (70/30 split)

Requirements: - [ ] Schema validation passes - [ ] Basic test cases exist - [ ] No critical security issues - [ ] Documentation present

Examples: - custom-agency-workflow-v1: Agency-specific workflow - experimental-ml-validation-v1: Experimental features

Badge: 🧪 Community

Tier 4: Private Packs

Definition: Enterprise or agency-specific packs (not in public marketplace)

Criteria: - Source: Enterprise customer or agency - Visibility: Private to tenant/agency - Pricing: Enterprise license - Support: Dedicated account team

Use Cases: - Proprietary business logic - Sensitive compliance rules - Custom integrations - Trade secrets

Badge: 🔒 Private

Quality Standards

RulePack Quality Standards

Schema Compliance: - [ ] Valid JSON format - [ ] Matches RulePack JSON Schema - [ ] All required fields present

Rule Quality: - [ ] Unique rule IDs - [ ] Clear, actionable error messages - [ ] Appropriate severity levels (FATAL/WARNING/INFO) - [ ] Compliance references included - [ ] Safe operators only (no code injection)

Testing: - [ ] Minimum 10 test cases per pack - [ ] Edge cases covered (null, empty, special chars) - [ ] Performance tested (1M records <30s) - [ ] All test cases pass

Documentation: - [ ] README with overview and use cases - [ ] USAGE guide with examples - [ ] CHANGELOG with version history

WorkflowPack Quality Standards

Schema Compliance: - [ ] Valid YAML format - [ ] Matches WorkflowPack schema - [ ] All required fields present

Workflow Quality: - [ ] Unique step IDs - [ ] Logical step ordering - [ ] Error handling defined - [ ] Compensation logic (for sagas) - [ ] Environment variables for secrets

Testing: - [ ] Simulation tests pass - [ ] Integration tests pass (dev environment) - [ ] Error scenarios tested - [ ] Performance benchmarks met

Documentation: - [ ] README with workflow description - [ ] Step-by-step USAGE guide - [ ] Architecture diagram (for complex workflows) - [ ] CHANGELOG with version history

Review Guidelines

For Business Analysts

Focus Areas: - Functional correctness - Business rule accuracy - User experience (error messages) - Test coverage completeness

Checklist: - [ ] Business requirements documented - [ ] Rules/steps match specifications - [ ] Error messages are clear - [ ] Edge cases identified and handled - [ ] Test cases validate requirements

Approval Criteria: - All checklist items satisfied - No critical functional issues - Author responsive to feedback

For Compliance Officers

Focus Areas: - Regulatory alignment - Compliance tagging accuracy - Control mapping correctness - Audit trail adequacy

Checklist: - [ ] Compliance frameworks correctly identified - [ ] Control references accurate (NIST, HIPAA, etc.) - [ ] Regulatory requirements satisfied - [ ] Audit logging implemented - [ ] Data privacy considerations addressed

Approval Criteria: - Compliance requirements met - No regulatory risks - Adequate documentation

For QA Leads

Focus Areas: - Test coverage - Performance - Security - Integration

Checklist: - [ ] All test cases pass - [ ] Code coverage >80% - [ ] Performance benchmarks met - [ ] No security vulnerabilities - [ ] Integration tests successful

Approval Criteria: - All tests pass - No critical issues - Performance acceptable

Marketplace Governance

Submission Process

1. Prepare Pack: - Complete all documentation - Add examples and test cases - Ensure quality standards met

2. Submit for Review:

cortx marketplace submit <pack-id> \
  --tier certified \
  --category compliance \
  --pricing free

3. Automated Checks: - Schema validation - Security scanning - Test execution - Documentation completeness

4. Human Review: - Compliance certification (if applicable) - Quality review - Pricing review

5. Approval/Rejection: - Approved: Published to marketplace - Rejected: Feedback provided, resubmit allowed

Revenue Model

Certified Packs (Paid): - Author: 70% of revenue - Platform: 30% of revenue

Free Packs: - No revenue (official or free certified packs)

Private Packs: - Enterprise licensing (custom pricing)

Payment Schedule: - Monthly payouts for authors - Minimum payout threshold: $100 - Payment via Stripe, PayPal, or ACH

Monitoring & Metrics

Pack Health Metrics

Usage: - Downloads per month - Active installations - Execution count - Error rate

Quality: - User ratings (1-5 stars) - Bug reports - Support tickets - Test pass rate

Performance: - Average execution time - p95/p99 latency - Resource consumption

Dashboards

Pack Author Dashboard: - Usage analytics - Revenue tracking (if paid) - User feedback - Issue tracker

Platform Dashboard: - Total packs by tier - Certification pipeline status - Quality metrics across all packs - Security vulnerability trends

Incident Response

Security Vulnerability

Process: 1. Report: User or security scan detects vulnerability 2. Triage: Security team assesses severity 3. Notify: Author notified within 24 hours 4. Fix: Author provides patch within SLA 5. Redeploy: Patched version deployed 6. Communicate: Users notified of update

SLA: - Critical: 24-hour patch - High: 3-day patch - Medium: 7-day patch - Low: 30-day patch

Pack Failure

Process: 1. Detect: Monitoring alerts on high error rate 2. Investigate: Root cause analysis 3. Mitigate: Rollback or hotfix 4. Communicate: Users notified 5. Postmortem: Document lessons learned

Appeals Process

If Pack Rejected: 1. Review rejection reason 2. Address feedback 3. Resubmit with changes documented 4. Escalate to governance committee (if disagreement)

Governance Committee: - Platform architect - Compliance officer - QA lead - Product manager

Contact

Pack Governance Team: - Email: pack-governance@sinergysolutions.ai - Slack: #pack-governance - Office Hours: Fridays 1-2 PM ET

Document Control - Version: 1.0.0 - Last Updated: 2025-10-01 - Review Cycle: Quarterly - Next Review: 2026-01-01 - Approvers: Compliance & Platform Governance Team