RFC 035: Governed attributes and policy checkpoints

[dannymeijer]

Use this issue to track InQL RFC 035, proposed in PR #60 at docs/rfcs/035_governed_attributes_policy_checkpoints.md.

Area

• Specification (RFCs)
• Documentation

Summary

RFC 035 defines governed attributes and policy checkpoints as local evidence hooks for governance, privacy, and review workflows.

Motivation

InQL's lineage and governance direction needs structured metadata and policy decision evidence. That evidence should be attached to semantic targets without turning InQL into a hosted governance service or making backend access controls the semantic owner.

Proposal sketch

• Define governed attributes on semantic plan targets.
• Define policy checkpoint records with decision state, source, rationale, and context.
• Link checkpoint evidence to semantic profiles, sessions, and plan bundles.
• Keep policy evaluation pluggable while preserving local evidence.

Alternatives considered

• Use comments or tags with no structured meaning.
• Make a central policy engine part of InQL core.
• Treat backend permissions as the only governance mechanism.

Impact / compatibility

This is additive and should not change query semantics. Future implementations can use the evidence for review, CI, and governance reporting.

Implementation notes (optional)

Review PR #60 for the draft. This work should keep policy evidence local and inspectable while allowing future integration points.

Checklist

• I checked for an existing RFC or issue covering this.
• I can describe how this impacts existing code and how to migrate (if needed).