Run in the open. Or it doesn't run.
OpenKarta's governance is a small set of working groups, public-by-default decisions, and an inviolable neutrality covenant. Read the charter for the long form.
Six principles
01. Open by default
Every spec, test, RFC, and reference implementation is MIT-licensed. The wire format is documented before it is shipped.
02. No paid placement
The registry has no concept of priority placement, sponsored slots, or featured tiers. Conformance freshness is the only sort signal allowed.
03. No vendor lock-in
No backend, no SDK, no framework, no LLM is privileged. Anything that talks the 8 verbs over HTTPS is a first-class peer.
04. Reversible decisions
Major spec changes ship as a parallel package version with an 18-month deprecation window. Nothing breaks silently.
05. Public processes
RFCs, conformance changes, and registry policy edits all happen in public GitHub issues with the rfc / governance labels.
06. Conflict of interest
Working group members disclose merchant or LLM-vendor affiliations. Stewardship rotates yearly.
Working groups
Spec working group
Reviews protocol RFCs. Final word on what enters the wire format.
Public meeting every other Wednesday on the OpenKarta Discord.
Conformance working group
Owns the test packs and the badge-signing key. Approves new per-type packs.
Async on GitHub. Sweeps reviewed weekly.
Registry stewardship
Operates registry.openkarta.org and the daily verification cron. Enforces neutrality covenant.
Quarterly transparency report on every change to listing logic.
RFC process
Open issue
Tag with rfc on the GitHub repo. Include motivation, drop-in example, and a list of breaking impacts.
Reference impl
A working PR against @openkarta/spec — types, validators, and at least one reference agent updated.
Conformance update
New or amended test packs in @openkarta/conformance-tests. Failing tests must precede passing tests.
Working-group merge
Two-week comment window. Merge requires sign-off from two working-group members and no objections from any.
Want a seat?
Working-group seats rotate yearly. Express interest by opening a governance-tagged issue with your background and the group you want to join.