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Quorum / preview · Elastic License 2.0 · Open Source · MCP
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non-negotiable

Governance is architecture. Not configuration.

Most tools have governance settings you can turn off. Quorum's constitutional rules are enforced in code. There is no setting that bypasses them.

SECTION 01 · the constitutional rules
10 rules · enforced in code
On Write
Rules that govern every write to the graph.
01
Never hard delete
Always supersede with reason. History is preserved forever.
03
Always require reason
On every state change. Enforced in code, not convention.
09
Provenance on every write
author · timestamp · session_id · agent_id · triggered_by — always.
On Conflict
Rules that govern disagreement between authors.
02
Never silent conflict resolution
Always notify, log, and require a human decision.
04
No self-approval
Conflict parties cannot resolve their own conflicts, ever.
07
Dissent is preserved
Overruled concerns stored permanently. Never deleted.
On Agents
Rules that bound AI authority inside the graph.
05
Human at genuine forks
Agents operate within known knowledge. Humans decide at ambiguity.
08
Draft knowledge never used
Claude never injects unreviewed knowledge into context.
On Governance
Rules about the rules themselves.
06
Governance is architecture
Invariants are code, not config, not policy.
10
Constitution changes require community
No single person changes Layer 1 unilaterally.
SECTION 02 · who audits the auditor?

Five layers of accountability, from code to community.

The innermost layer is the hardest to bypass. The outermost takes the longest to settle. Together they make Quorum self-correcting at every timescale.

L1
Protocol
Constitutional rules enforced in code. Non-bypassable.
L2
Peers
Distributed review. Dissent preserved permanently.
L3
Graph
Decision history audits the decision makers themselves.
L4
Public
Open source. Transparent design. Community scrutiny.
L5
Time
Outcomes are the ultimate truth. Good decisions survive scrutiny.
SECTION 03 · in practice

What the rules look like when they activate.

ENFORCEMENT · 01 / 03

An agent tries to delete a record

The server rejects the call. No hard deletes, ever. The agent must supersede with a reason — which itself becomes an auditable record.

→ reject: use forget(topic, key, reason) instead
ENFORCEMENT · 02 / 03

Two records contradict each other

Both are placed in HOLD. Neither is used in agent context. A human resolves the conflict — the resolution itself is hash-chained.

→ conflict_detected · routed to @original-author
ENFORCEMENT · 03 / 03

A PR removes a pinned requirement

Quorum flags the contradiction at CI time. The PR is blocked. Override requires the requirement owner or two principals.

→ BLOCKED · requires @owner OR 2 principals
SECTION 04 · open source governance

The source is the specification.

Every constitutional rule is implemented in the open. You can read the enforcement code, propose changes, and run your own governance review. No trust required.

Why open source governance matters →
Closed governance tools ask you to trust their promises. Quorum asks you to read the code. The enforcement layer is auditable by anyone.
Elastic License 2.0
Use commercially, modify freely. Cannot offer as a hosted service to third parties.
Constitutional rules in code
Server-enforced, not convention. Read the source.
Community change process
Layer 1 changes require consensus — no unilateral amendments.
Public audit exports
Export the full hash chain. Hand it to auditors.
SECTION 05 · audiences

Governance for everyone on the chain.

👩‍💻

Engineering Teams

Stop re-litigating decisions. Stop losing context when people leave. Your AI agents build on what's already been decided.

📊

Product Managers

Your requirements are first-class governed records. Engineers cannot silently remove them. Authority is explicit and auditable.

⚖️

Compliance & Legal

Export the full audit chain for SOC 2. Pin requirements that regulatory changes mandate. Every decision has a defensible record.

🏛️

Engineering Leaders

Knowledge compounds across teams and quarters. New hires onboard faster. Senior engineers leave — their reasoning doesn't.

Governance that works because it can't be turned off.