# Governance

Axern is maintained in the open under a maintainer-led model.

## Decisions

Routine changes are decided through issues and pull requests. Changes to public
APIs, security boundaries, storage models, or component ownership must explain
their long-term design and update the relevant architecture documentation.
The lead maintainer has final responsibility for resolving disagreements and
cutting releases.

## Maintainers

Maintainers are listed in [MAINTAINERS.md](./MAINTAINERS.md). New maintainers are
added based on sustained technical contribution, review quality, operational
judgment, and conduct. Maintainer changes are recorded by pull request.

## Pre-1.0 Compatibility

Before 1.0, Axern may revise early APIs and configuration when a coherent
long-term design requires it. User-visible changes must be documented in the
release notes; silent compatibility layers are not a project goal.