policy.updated

The autonomy level or the rules changed. Takes effect on the next action, not retroactively.

Direction: Chips → Harness
Sent by: a person
Requires a run: no
Schema: policy.updated.json

Fields

Every event also carries the envelope.

Field	Required	Type	Description
`v`	yes	`1`	Protocol major version.
`type`	yes	`"policy.updated"`
`id`	yes	`string`	The event’s own id. Stable across a retry of the same event.
`ts`	yes	`string`	When it happened, by Chips’ clock. Stamped on the way in; a value the sender writes is replaced.
`workspace_id`	yes	`string`	A workspace identifier: `ws_` followed by a ULID.
`space_id`	no	`string`	The space, when the event belongs to one.
`run_id`	no	`string`	The run, when the event belongs to one.
`seq`	no	`number`	Assigned by the server on append, monotonic per workspace. Absent on the way in.
`idempotency_key`	no	`string`	Required on every client-originated write. Sending the same key twice is a no-op.
`actor`	yes	object	The participant an event is attributed to.
`actor.kind`	yes	`"person" \| "harness" \| "agent" \| "system"`	Whether a person, a harness, one of a harness’s agents or Chips itself acted.
`actor.id`	yes	`string`	The participant id, or `system` for Chips.
`actor.harness_id`	no	`string`	For an agent: the harness it speaks through, whose budget and runs are the agent’s (ADR 0087). Filled in by Chips.
`harness_id`	yes	`string`	A harness identifier: `hrn_` followed by a ULID.
`policy`	yes	object	A harness’s autonomy level and the rules that fill in the details.
`policy.autonomy`	yes	`0 \| 1 \| 2 \| 3`	0 observe, 1 ask first, 2 ask when it matters, 3 autonomous and report back. Presets that expand to rules.
`policy.rules`	yes	object[]	Evaluated in order; the workspace cap always wins.
`policy.rules[].match`	yes	`string`	A glob over action kinds, for example `payment.*`.
`policy.rules[].when`	no	object	Extra conditions on the action’s flags, and for a command, how its parts start.
`policy.rules[].when.external`	no	`boolean`
`policy.rules[].when.irreversible`	no	`boolean`
`policy.rules[].when.money_usd_over`	no	`number`
`policy.rules[].when.risk`	no	enum[]	One of `external`, `external_communication`, `irreversible`, `destructive`, `financial`, `credential`, `privacy`, `legal`.
`policy.rules[].when.starts_with`	no	`string[]`	For an action that carries a command (ADR 0239): the words a part of it starts with. A command goes ahead on such rules only when every part starts with one that allows it.
`policy.rules[].decision`	yes	`"allow" \| "ask" \| "deny"`	What to do when the rule matches.
`policy.rules[].approvers`	no	`string[]`	Who may answer, when the decision is `ask`.
`policy.rules[].reason`	no	`string`	Shown to the harness, and recorded in the audit log.
`policy.rules[].off`	no	`boolean`	Turned off by a person (ADR 0195): kept in the list to turn back on, and skipped by the policy engine until then.
`policy.rules[].made_by`	no	`string`	Who made it by answering an ask with Always (ADR 0195). Filled in by Chips.
`policy.rules[].made_at`	no	`string`	When a person’s answer made it (ADR 0195): Always, or This session. Filled in by Chips. A rule a person’s answer made never allows an action that matters.
`workspace_max_autonomy`	yes	`0 \| 1 \| 2 \| 3`	The workspace cap. It always wins.
`budget_usd`	no	`number`	The harness’s spending ceiling, in US dollars. Absent leaves it as it was; the harness’s spend is what `usage` has added up.
`changed_by`	yes	`string`	Who changed it, or `system` for an earned promotion. Filled in by Chips from the credential that sent it.
`reason`	no	`string`	Why it changed.

Example

{
  "v": 1,
  "type": "policy.updated",
  "id": "evt_01K4ZQPX00000000000000007C",
  "ts": "2026-09-02T14:22:24.004Z",
  "workspace_id": "ws_01K4ZQPX000000000000000001",
  "space_id": "spc_01K4ZQPX000000000000000002",
  "actor": {
    "kind": "system",
    "id": "system"
  },
  "harness_id": "hrn_01K4ZQPX000000000000000004",
  "policy": {
    "autonomy": 2,
    "rules": [
      {
        "match": "email.send",
        "when": {
          "external": true
        },
        "decision": "ask",
        "approvers": ["owner"]
      }
    ]
  },
  "workspace_max_autonomy": 2,
  "budget_usd": 25,
  "changed_by": "system",
  "reason": "Six approvals in a row with no edits."
}