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Policy-as-code

By Updated

Governance policy expressed in an executable policy language (OPA/Rego, Cedar) that evaluates in CI/CD and at admission; the narrower, pipeline subset of governance-as-code.

Developed in
ch. 06, Policy-as-code and gates
Chapters
ch. 04, The Stack · ch. 05, Patterns · ch. 06, The Role
Contrast with
Governance-as-code
Source
Defined by this Body of Knowledge: the section it is developed in is the source

Where it is used

15 chapters of the Body of Knowledge use the term. Each link opens the first section that does.

Policy-as-code: mentions per chapter34 mentions of the term across 15 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapter00 Preface: 2 mentions00 Preface201 Definition: 2 mentions01 Definition202 Why Now: 1 mention02 Why Now104 The Stack: 1 mention04 The Stack105 Patterns: 1 mention05 Patterns106 The Role: 8 mentions06 The Role807 Maturity Model: 2 mentions07 Maturity Model208 Regulatory Map: 8 mentions08 Regulatory Map810 Reading List: 1 mention10 Reading List113 Risk Management: 1 mention13 Risk Management114 Development: 1 mention14 Development116 Fairness & XAI: 1 mention16 Fairness & XAI120 Existing Law: 1 mention20 Existing Law121 AI Laws Worldwide: 1 mention21 AI Laws Worldwide122 Principles & Standards: 3 mentions22 Principles & Standards3No mentions in the other 8 chaptersSource: the Body of Knowledgev0.5.0
Policy-as-code: mentions per chapter34 mentions of the term across 15 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapter00 Preface: 2 mentions20001 Definition: 2 mentions20102 Why Now: 1 mention1020304 The Stack: 1 mention10405 Patterns: 1 mention10506 The Role: 8 mentions80607 Maturity Model: 2 mentions20708 Regulatory Map: 8 mentions80810 Reading List: 1 mention110111213 Risk Management: 1 mention11314 Development: 1 mention1141516 Fairness & XAI: 1 mention11617181920 Existing Law: 1 mention12021 AI Laws Worldwide: 1 mention12122 Principles & Standards: 3 mentions32223Source: the Body of Knowledge v0.5.0
Mentions per chapter How often each chapter names the term, with the chapters the glossary cross-references drawn solid. The longest bar is where to read the term in use; bars spread across many chapters mark a term that runs through the discipline.
Mentions as a table
Mentions of Policy-as-code per chapter
ChapterMentionsCross-referenced
00 Preface2No
01 Definition2No
02 Why Now1No
03 Values & Principles0No
04 The Stack1Yes
05 Patterns1Yes
06 The Role8Yes
07 Maturity Model2No
08 Regulatory Map8No
10 Reading List1No
11 AI Defined0No
12 Governance Program0No
13 Risk Management1No
14 Development1No
15 Deployment0No
16 Fairness & XAI1No
17 Incidents0No
18 EU AI Act0No
19 Privacy & AI0No
20 Existing Law1No
21 AI Laws Worldwide1No
22 Principles & Standards3No
23 AI Agents0No

Patterns that use this term

One pattern page uses the term.

Policy-as-code: related terms and patternsThe term at the centre; related terms on solid edges, the terms it is contrasted with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer.RelatedContrastColour: stack layer of the pattern01 Govern-as-CodePolicy-as-codeRelated terms (2)Cedar · RelatedCedarOPA/Rego · RelatedOPA/RegoContrast with (1)Governance-as-code · ContrastGovernance-as-codePatterns using it (1)Dataset Admission Gate, 2 mentions · Uses the termDataset Admission Gate
Policy-as-code: related terms and patternsThe term at the centre; related terms on solid edges, the terms it is contrasted with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer.RelatedContrastColour: stack layer of the pattern01 Govern-as-CodeRelated terms (2)Cedar · RelatedCedarOPA/Rego · RelatedOPA/RegoContrast with (1)Governance-as-code · ContrastGovernance-as-codePatterns using it (1)Dataset Admission Gate, 2 mentions · Uses the termDataset Admission GatePolicy-as-code
The term's neighbourhood Terms related to this one on solid edges, terms it is often confused with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer. Follow a dashed edge to check the distinction before you use either term.
Neighbourhood as a table
Neighbourhood of Policy-as-code
FamilyItemRelation
Related termsCedarRelated
Related termsOPA/RegoRelated
Contrast withGovernance-as-codeContrast
Patterns using itDataset Admission Gate, 2 mentionsUses the term
  • Cedar

    An open-source policy language for fine-grained authorization, used as a policy-as-code engine for runtime access decisions; a schema-typed, analysable…

  • OPA/Rego

    The Open Policy Agent and its Rego policy language, a general-purpose policy-as-code engine that evaluates governance rules in CI/CD and at runtime admission…

Sources

No external source: the term is coined or used in a specific sense by this Body of Knowledge, and the section linked under "Developed in" is its source.

Definitions of legal terms paraphrase the cited text, which governs. Dated statements are as of .

Cite this term

García Aibar, J. (2026). Policy-as-code. In AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis & Body of Knowledge (v0.5.0), Glossary. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197. https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/policy-as-code. CC BY 4.0

BibTeX

@misc{aige2026policyascode,
  author  = {Jorge García Aibar},
  title   = {{Policy-as-code}},
  note    = {Glossary, AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis \& Body of Knowledge, version 0.5.0},
  year    = {2026},
  doi     = {10.5281/zenodo.22956197},
  url     = {https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/policy-as-code}
}