Governance Decision Snapshots
Every permit evaluation, on every plan (Starter included), produces a governance decision snapshot — a persisted record of the captured decision context at evaluation time. Snapshots capture not just the outcome, but the policy, budget, routing, and firewall state recorded at that point.
Current boundaries
- snapshot records are write-protected at the database layer after creation, subject to the narrow tenant-detach operation during project deletion
- that write-protection applies to snapshot records, not to every audit record in the system
- snapshots are part of Keel’s stored-record integrity boundary, not an external proof system
- Keel does not claim external verification or universal cross-surface tamper-evidence for snapshots or the broader audit model
What is captured
Each snapshot contains these decision dimensions:
| Dimension | Contents |
|---|---|
| Canonical request | The normalized permit request, including subject, action, resource, optional context, and estimate/redaction metadata needed to interpret the decision later. |
| Decision outcome | The recorded decision plus actions, reason code, and structured detail where those fields apply. |
| Policy context | The policy state that contributed to the decision, including the rule and version context needed for later review. |
| Routing and budget context | The routing and spend state captured at evaluation time. |
| Firewall context | Route-bound firewall findings when that part of the decision path applies. |
| Delegation context | Parent-permit context when the decision was delegated from an upstream permit. |
| System context | Limited system metadata needed to interpret the decision later inside Keel’s stored record boundary. |
Integrity hash
Every snapshot includes a snapshot_hash for stored-record integrity checking. Treat this as part of Keel’s integrity boundary, not as an external proof artifact.
When snapshots are created
Snapshots are created at permit-evaluation time and reflect the recorded state used for that decision event.
Use cases
- Historical decision reconstruction — Review which rules and policy state governed a historical decision
- Compliance evidence — Provide regulators with the full decision context, not just the outcome
- Incident investigation — Determine whether a permit was evaluated under the intended policy version
- Policy drift detection — Compare snapshots across time to identify when policy changes affected decisions
Availability
Keel writes a snapshot for every permit evaluation on every plan. Each snapshot is scoped to a single permit evaluation and a single project.
Reading snapshots requires Production or Enterprise: they are included in the signed compliance exports that carry decision context and in the dashboard evidence export, and both of those require Production or higher. Starter projects have snapshots written but no export that includes them.
What this does not mean
- it does not mean every audit record in Keel is write-protected
- it does not mean Keel provides externally verifiable audit proofs
- it does not mean every storage surface shares the same integrity guarantees
- it does not mean every surrounding audit or evidence record carries the same guarantees as a decision snapshot