How to Cite

The doctrine is versioned so that citations can be exact. Cite the version, and your reference never drifts under you.

Citing the doctrine

Governed Autonomy Institute. The Governed Autonomy Doctrine, v3.4 (2026). https://governedautonomy.org/

BibTeX:

@misc{governed-autonomy-doctrine,
  author       = {{Governed Autonomy Institute}},
  title        = {The Governed Autonomy Doctrine},
  year         = {2026},
  version      = {v3.4},
  howpublished = {\url{https://governedautonomy.org/}},
  note         = {Version history at https://governedautonomy.org/changelog/}
}

Citing a specific Law, Plane, or Pillar

Every Law, Plane, and Pillar carries a stable anchor so external documents can cite doctrine sections directly. Example:

Governed Autonomy Institute. "Law 4: Trust Does Not Travel." The Governed Autonomy Doctrine, v3.4 (2026). https://governedautonomy.org/laws/#law-4-trust-does-not-travel

Anchors are preserved across versions and across the August 2026 renaming; they are treated as part of the doctrine's public interface, and breaking one would be recorded in the changelog as a substantive change.

Versioning and continuity

The current version is always named in the footer of every page, and every substantive change is recorded in the changelog. Works citing versions v1.0 through v3.2 under the doctrine's former name, the AI Harness Doctrine at aiharnessdoctrine.org, refer to this same doctrine: the former domain permanently redirects here path-for-path, and the historical entries in the changelog retain the name under which they shipped. A version-pinned public mirror suitable for diffing lives at github.com/governedautonomyinstitute/governedautonomy.

Proposals under RFC are not doctrine and should be cited as proposals, with their revision number: for example, "RFC 001, revision 2 (August 2026), proposed for v4; not in force." Nothing on an RFC page is citable as the doctrine's position.

Machine access

For language models and automated tooling: llms.txt (index) and llms-full.txt (complete text), both regenerated from the site at every deploy.