---
title: "System card"
description: "Documentation of a deployed AI system as a whole (models, prompts, retrieval, tools, guardrails and oversight), where a model card documents one model."
canonical: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/system-card
author: "Jorge García Aibar"
license: "CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)"
doi: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197
version: "0.5.0"
updated: 2026-09-24
---

# System card

Documentation of a deployed AI system as a whole (models, prompts, retrieval, tools, guardrails and oversight), where a model card documents one model [1]. Its audience is deployers, authorities and the public; its evidence is the registry entry, the guardrail configuration and red-team results.

- Developed in: [ch. 14, Model cards, system cards and datasheets](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/governing-development#model-cards-system-cards-and-datasheets)
- Chapters: [ch. 14, Development](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/governing-development) · [ch. 15, Deployment](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/governing-deployment)
- Contrast with: [Model card](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/model-card)
- In the glossary chapter: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/glossary#t-system-card

## Commonly confused

- **Model card** vs **System card**: One model's documentation, against the deployed system's: models, prompts, retrieval, tools, guardrails and oversight Deployers and authorities need the system view; a model card alone misses the controls around the model

## Sources

[1] "System Cards, a new resource for understanding how AI systems work" (documents a whole system of models, AI and non-AI components, where a model card documents one model). Meta AI. 2022-02-23. https://ai.meta.com/blog/system-cards-a-new-resource-for-understanding-how-ai-systems-work/ (verified: primary)