APS Project Governance¶

1. Introduction¶

This document defines the governance model for the Agent Packaging Standard (APS) project.
It establishes transparent processes for community participation, technical decision-making, and release management.

The APS governance model is designed to ensure: - Open and inclusive participation, - Technical meritocracy based on consensus, - Predictable versioning and release cycles, and - Long-term sustainability independent of any single vendor or organization.

2. Project Structure¶

The APS project operates under a Working Group model, consisting of:

Role	Description
Maintainers	Core contributors responsible for technical direction, specification evolution, and release management.
Contributors	Community members submitting issues, pull requests, or discussions.
Reviewers	Experienced contributors designated to review proposals or specifications.
Adopters	Organizations or individuals implementing APS-compliant runtimes, registries, or tools.

Participation in all roles is open to the community.

3. Governance Principles¶

APS governance follows these guiding principles:

Open — All discussions, proposals, and releases are public.
Transparent — Decisions and votes are documented in the public repository.
Consensus-driven — Technical direction is based on rough consensus among maintainers and contributors.
Vendor-neutral — No single entity may control direction or release gating.
Stable evolution — Specification changes follow a versioned, review-based process.

4. Decision-Making Process¶

4.1 Proposals¶

Proposals for new features, revisions, or policies MUST be submitted as GitHub issues or pull requests in the main APS repository.

Each proposal should include: - Problem statement
- Technical rationale
- Proposed solution
- Backward-compatibility impact
- Security and governance considerations

4.2 Review and Consensus¶

Proposals are discussed openly via GitHub Issues and Discussions.
Maintainers aim for rough consensus — defined as general agreement without sustained objection.
If consensus cannot be reached, a formal vote may be initiated.

4.3 Voting¶

When voting is required: - Each maintainer has one vote.
- A proposal passes with a 2/3 majority of active maintainers.
- Votes are recorded in the corresponding GitHub issue or PR.
- Inactive maintainers (no participation for >90 days) are excluded from quorum calculations.

5. Release Management¶

APS follows semantic versioning (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH).

Type	Example	Description
Major	`v1.0.0`	Incompatible schema or behavior changes.
Minor	`v0.2.0`	Backward-compatible additions or clarifications.
Patch	`v0.1.1`	Non-breaking fixes or editorial updates.

5.1 Release Procedure¶

Draft change proposal merged into the main branch.
Maintainer consensus to designate a Release Candidate (RC).
Public review period of at least 7 days.
Formal version tag and publication at agentpackaging.org.
Announcement via project communication channels.

6. Specification Evolution¶

Each APS specification document includes a version header and changelog.
Changes to normative sections (e.g., manifest schema or registry API) require:

Maintainer review and approval,
Backward-compatibility analysis, and
Updated version designation (v0.x → v0.y or v1.x → v2.x).

Editorial or non-normative changes (grammar, examples) may be merged with maintainer review but do not require version increments.

7. Working Group Meetings¶

Regular working sessions MAY be held virtually as needed.
Meeting notes and recordings (if any) MUST be published in the public repository.
Decisions made in meetings MUST be recorded in GitHub for transparency.

8. Security and Disclosure Policy¶

APS follows a responsible disclosure process for security vulnerabilities.

Contact	Purpose
security@agentpackaging.org	Confidential security disclosures.
contact@agentpackaging.org	General inquiries.

Reports are acknowledged within 72 hours and handled privately until mitigation is available.
Security-related updates are communicated publicly once resolved.

9. Code of Conduct¶

All contributors are expected to adhere to the APS Community Code of Conduct, adapted from the Contributor Covenant.
Respectful, inclusive participation is required for all interactions within the community.

Violations may result in removal from communication channels or revocation of maintainer privileges.

10. Maintainer Responsibilities¶

Responsibility	Description
Review proposals	Evaluate and merge contributions based on technical merit.
Manage releases	Tag and publish official versions of APS specifications.
Ensure transparency	Record all decisions and votes publicly.
Uphold neutrality	Prevent conflicts of interest and ensure open participation.
Onboard contributors	Help new members understand process and structure.

Maintainers are listed in MAINTAINERS.md in the root of the repository.

11. Amendment and Ratification¶

This governance document may be amended by: 1. Opening a pull request with proposed revisions.
2. Public discussion period of at least 7 days.
3. Maintainer vote requiring 2/3 majority approval.

Amendments take effect upon merge and publication at agentpackaging.org.

12. References¶

13. Contact¶

📬 General inquiries: contact@agentpackaging.org
🧑‍💻 Community contributions: community@agentpackaging.org
🧠 Governance and policy: governance@agentpackaging.org