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Policy Card

By Updated

A JSON-schema, machine-readable governance artefact that declares an agent's allowed and forbidden behaviours for runtime enforcement 1.

Developed in
ch. 05, Pattern: Policy Card
Chapters
ch. 04, The Stack · ch. 05, Patterns · ch. 10, Reading List · ch. 23, AI Agents
In the open reference
Open control profiles
Source
1 numbered reference, listed below

Where it is used

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

Policy Card: mentions per chapter23 mentions of the term across 13 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapter04 The Stack: 2 mentions04 The Stack205 Patterns: 3 mentions05 Patterns306 The Role: 2 mentions06 The Role210 Reading List: 1 mention10 Reading List111 AI Defined: 5 mentions11 AI Defined512 Governance Program: 1 mention12 Governance Program113 Risk Management: 1 mention13 Risk Management115 Deployment: 1 mention15 Deployment116 Fairness & XAI: 2 mentions16 Fairness & XAI217 Incidents: 2 mentions17 Incidents218 EU AI Act: 1 mention18 EU AI Act120 Existing Law: 1 mention20 Existing Law123 AI Agents: 1 mention23 AI Agents1No mentions in the other 10 chaptersSource: the Body of Knowledgev0.5.0
Policy Card: mentions per chapter23 mentions of the term across 13 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapter0001020304 The Stack: 2 mentions20405 Patterns: 3 mentions30506 The Role: 2 mentions206070810 Reading List: 1 mention11011 AI Defined: 5 mentions51112 Governance Program: 1 mention11213 Risk Management: 1 mention1131415 Deployment: 1 mention11516 Fairness & XAI: 2 mentions21617 Incidents: 2 mentions21718 EU AI Act: 1 mention1181920 Existing Law: 1 mention120212223 AI Agents: 1 mention123Source: 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 Card per chapter
ChapterMentionsCross-referenced
00 Preface0No
01 Definition0No
02 Why Now0No
03 Values & Principles0No
04 The Stack2Yes
05 Patterns3Yes
06 The Role2No
07 Maturity Model0No
08 Regulatory Map0No
10 Reading List1Yes
11 AI Defined5No
12 Governance Program1No
13 Risk Management1No
14 Development0No
15 Deployment1No
16 Fairness & XAI2No
17 Incidents2No
18 EU AI Act1No
19 Privacy & AI0No
20 Existing Law1No
21 AI Laws Worldwide0No
22 Principles & Standards0No
23 AI Agents1Yes

Patterns that use this term

12 pattern pages use the term; the 10 that use it most:

Policy Card: 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.RelatedColour: stack layer of the pattern01 Govern-as-Code02 Inventory04 Runtime ControlsPolicy CardRelated terms (1)Failure posture · RelatedFailure posturePatterns using it most (6)Downstream Use Register, 4 mentions · Uses the termDownstream Use RegisterFRIA-as-Code, 2 mentions · Uses the termFRIA-as-CodeFramework Crosswalk, 3 mentions · Uses the termFramework CrosswalkPolicy Card, 6 mentions · Uses the termPolicy CardRuntime Guardrail, 7 mentions · Uses the termRuntime GuardrailSanctioned AI Gateway, 3 mentions · Uses the termSanctioned AI Gateway
Policy Card: 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.RelatedColour: stack layer of the pattern01 Govern-as-Code02 Inventory04 Runtime ControlsRelated terms (1)Failure posture · RelatedFailure posturePatterns using it most (6)Downstream Use Register, 4 mentions · Uses the termDownstream Use RegisterFRIA-as-Code, 2 mentions · Uses the termFRIA-as-CodeFramework Crosswalk, 3 mentions · Uses the termFramework CrosswalkPolicy Card, 6 mentions · Uses the termPolicy CardRuntime Guardrail, 7 mentions · Uses the termRuntime GuardrailSanctioned AI Gateway, 3 mentions · Uses the termSanctioned AI GatewayPolicy Card
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 Card
FamilyItemRelation
Related termsFailure postureRelated
Patterns using it mostDownstream Use Register, 4 mentionsUses the term
Patterns using it mostFRIA-as-Code, 2 mentionsUses the term
Patterns using it mostFramework Crosswalk, 3 mentionsUses the term
Patterns using it mostPolicy Card, 6 mentionsUses the term
Patterns using it mostRuntime Guardrail, 7 mentionsUses the term
Patterns using it mostSanctioned AI Gateway, 3 mentionsUses the term
  • Failure posture

    What a guardrail, guardian agent or tool gateway does when it cannot reach a decision: fail open lets the call through, fail closed blocks it.

Sources

  1. [1] Policy Cards: machine-readable runtime governance artefacts for agents. arXiv 2510.24383. 2025-10. https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.24383 (verified: primary)

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

Cite this term

García Aibar, J. (2026). Policy Card. 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-card. CC BY 4.0

BibTeX

@misc{aige2026policycard,
  author  = {Jorge García Aibar},
  title   = {{Policy Card}},
  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-card}
}