Purpose: Define ownership, version control, review triggers, and deprecation processes. Nodes and edges are never deleted — only deprecated. A graph without active governance has a decay clock running from day one.
Core governance rule: Nodes and edges are never deleted — they are deprecated. Deprecated nodes carry deprecated:true and a deprecated_date. Most queries should filter on deprecated:false. Deprecation requires: reviewing all incident edges, deprecating or redirecting each, then deprecating the node itself.
Ownership Model
Entity Type
Type Steward (approves new nodes)
Population Owner (ensures correct data)
Review Trigger Owner
Version Control Policy
Semantic versioning: MAJOR = schema change that breaks backward compatibility. MINOR = schema addition that is backward compatible. PATCH = data update with no schema change.