Compliance & Auditing

RCOS-Core compliance is binary: a community is either compliant or non-compliant.

Compliance MUST be evaluated per layer (Layers 0–6).

For each layer, the Compliance Checklist MUST verify:

• Presence of mandatory artifacts
• Explicitness and accessibility of required rules
• Adoption through authorized governance processes

Partial compliance or “intent to comply” MUST NOT be considered compliant.

Optional Modules MUST NOT be included in RCOS-Core compliance evaluation.

Test Cases are structured scenarios used to validate whether RCOS mechanisms behave as intended.

Test Cases MAY be:

• Hypothetical scenarios
• Historical community failures
• Simulated stress tests

Test Cases SHOULD cover, at minimum:

• Power concentration attempts
• Exit and separation scenarios
• Governance deadlock
• Economic capture attempts
• Safety-critical conflicts

Test Cases are informative but SHOULD be used during audits, onboarding, and periodic reviews.

A community MUST be considered non-compliant if:

• Any mandatory artifact is missing
• Layer 0 invariants are violated
• Decisions are repeatedly made outside authorized governance structures
• Exit is blocked or informally constrained

Non-compliance MUST be explicitly acknowledged once detected.

A community MAY regain compliance only through:

• Corrective action
• Formal adoption of missing or corrected artifacts
• Documentation of remediation

Claims of RCOS compliance MUST be withdrawn during periods of known non-compliance.