---
title: Governance
description: How Cratis decisions are discussed, shaped, captured, reviewed, merged, released, and documented.
---

import { CardGrid, LinkCard, Aside } from '@astrojs/starlight/components';

Cratis is an open-source project, but not every decision belongs in the same channel. Small fixes can move directly through issues and pull requests. Larger design choices need discussion, context, and a durable record.

<CardGrid>
  <LinkCard title="Share a suggestion" description="Use the feedback page for product ideas, rough edges, documentation gaps, and feature suggestions." href="/feedback/" />
  <LinkCard title="Join the community" description="Use Discord for early discussion and questions that need context." href="/community/" />
  <LinkCard title="Contribute" description="Read the contribution workflow, code standards, and project values." href="/contributing/" />
</CardGrid>

## Decision path

| Change | Path |
|---|---|
| Small documentation fix | Pull request or documentation issue |
| Reproducible bug | Product issue, then pull request |
| Small feature | Product issue with motivation and expected behavior |
| Cross-product design | Discord discussion, then a durable GitHub issue or design note |
| Breaking change | Design discussion, migration notes, release note, and documentation update |
| Security fix | Private report first, public disclosure only after coordination |

## How proposals become work

1. Start with the problem, not the implementation.
2. Discuss early in [Community and help](/community/) when the shape is unclear.
3. Capture actionable work in the repository that owns the behavior.
4. Link related docs, examples, issues, and pull requests.
5. Update documentation and release notes when behavior changes.

## Maintainer judgment

Maintainers may ask for narrower scope, more context, tests, documentation, migration guidance, or a different product boundary. The goal is to keep Cratis coherent across Chronicle, Arc, Components, CLI, Fundamentals, tools, and the docs.

<Aside type="note" title="The project favors connected changes">
Cratis spans backend, frontend, storage, operations, and documentation. A good proposal explains where the change lands in that loop and what it means for users.
</Aside>

## Community standards

The [Code of Conduct](/contributing/code_of_conduct/) applies across repositories, Discord, issues, pull requests, and project spaces. Security reports use the private process on [Security](/security/).