> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.getlynk.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.getlynk.ai/concepts/policy.md). # Policy An eager, always-apply behavioral commitment that governs how the agent operates and presents. Output format and clarification behavior are policies. ## What it is Policies are eager prose rules for *how the agent behaves* — not what the data is, not how to reason through an analysis, but how to operate and present. The defining test: a policy is an **eager, always-apply behavioral commitment**. That rule is what keeps `policies/` coherent and stops it from becoming a catch-all. Policies come in two layers that look identical structurally: * **Lynk policies** — types Lynk defines and ships defaults for (`output-format` and `clarification` at launch, more over time). You override a default by creating a policy of that type; your file fully replaces Lynk's default. * **Custom policies** — types you author for needs Lynk hasn't covered (compliance disclosures, regulatory caveats, team-specific behavior). No Lynk default — pure customer content. The distinction matters at authoring time (am I overriding or extending?), not at runtime — the agent loads both the same way. ## Where it lives A folder per policy inside a [domain](/concepts/domain.md): ``` .lynk/domains//policies//POLICY.md ``` ## Format `POLICY.md` follows the shared [frontmatter contract](/reference/markdown-format.md#frontmatter-contract) — `name` (matching the folder), `description`, optional `enabled` — over a prose body describing the behavior. ```markdown --- name: output-format description: How the agent presents query results to the user enabled: true --- # Output Format When presenting query results: - Lead with the answer, not the methodology. - Show numbers with appropriate precision — never more decimal places than the data supports. - For comparisons, always say which direction the change goes (up/down, gained/lost). - When data is missing or partial, name it explicitly rather than presenting incomplete numbers as complete. ``` **Overriding a Lynk default fully replaces it — it does not merge.** Name the policy folder after the Lynk type (`output-format`, `clarification`) and your file becomes the whole policy; the default bullets are gone, not extended. Setting `enabled: false` on an override falls back to Lynk's default. **Composition is per domain.** Policies don't merge across scopes. For behavior shared across domains, put the prose in a [reference file](/concepts/reference-files.md) (outside `domains/`, reachable by every domain) and inject it from each domain's policy with an [`@` file reference](/reference/markdown-format.md#references); a policy can also inject from the shared `core` domain, per [topology](/concepts/lynk-yml.md#topology). **Naming collisions.** If Lynk later ships a policy type whose name you already use for a custom policy, the build surfaces a collision; rename your file or treat the new Lynk type as an override target. ## Examples **A custom policy.** ```markdown --- name: compliance-disclaimer description: Required disclaimer appended to any answer involving financial projections --- # Compliance Disclaimer When an answer includes a forward-looking financial projection, append: "Projections are estimates, not guarantees, and are not financial advice." ``` **A `sales`-domain clarification policy** overriding the Lynk default and referencing another policy in the same domain. ```markdown --- name: clarification description: When the agent asks a clarifying question before answering enabled: true --- # Clarification Ask one clarifying question before answering when: - a time range is implied but not stated ("recently", "lately"); - a metric name maps to more than one definition in the glossary; - the question spans entities this domain doesn't contain. Otherwise, state your assumption inline and proceed. For how to present the answer once resolved, see @/.lynk/domains/sales/policies/output-format/POLICY.md. ``` ## Validation * `POLICY.md` declares `name` and `description`; `name` matches the folder. * A custom policy whose name later collides with a new Lynk type surfaces a build collision. ## Related * [Markdown format](/reference/markdown-format.md) — the frontmatter contract and `@` operator * [Skill](/concepts/skill.md) — *how to reason*, versus a policy's *how to operate* * [LYNK.md](/concepts/lynk-md.md) — identity and orientation, which is not protocol * [Domain](/concepts/domain.md) — the scope a policy applies within * Guides: [Placing knowledge in a layer](/guides/where-knowledge-goes.md) --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. 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