SOP-OPS-sop-change-management-v1.0

1. Purpose

Define the lifecycle for creating, versioning, amending, deprecating, and archiving SOPs in the eco|monetize™ operating system. This is the meta-SOP — it governs how all other SOPs are changed.

Why this SOP must exist: Without it, SOP changes happen ad-hoc. The v1.2 system launched with agents citing SOPs that didn't exist, SOPs in the directory with no INDEX entry, and amendments applied without a defined notification path. This SOP closes those gaps permanently.

2. SOP Lifecycle Stages

Every SOP passes through these stages, in order:

Draft → Under Review → Active → (Amendment → Active) → Deprecated → Archived

Stage	Definition	Who can set
Draft	Being written; not yet reviewed; not governing any agent behavior	sop.manager
Under Review	Submitted for review; governing behavior may be previewed but is not mandatory	sop.manager
Active	CEO or COO approved; governing agent behavior; mandatory compliance	COO (approval)
Deprecated	Superseded by a newer version; not mandatory; referenced for historical context only	COO (approval)
Archived	Moved to /Claude/archive/sops/; no longer referenced in any active workflow	chief.staff (cleanup)

3. Versioning Convention

SOP-{DEPT}-{NAME}-v{MAJOR}.{MINOR}.md

Version type	When to increment	Example
Major (X.0)	Full rewrite, scope change, or mandate change that affects agent behavior materially	v1.0 → v2.0
Minor (X.Y)	Behavioral change within existing scope: new trigger row, amended criteria, new section, clarified authority	v1.0 → v1.1
Patch (X.Y.Z — in frontmatter only)	Typo fix, cross-reference correction, example added, formatting only	v1.0 → v1.0.1

Patch-level changes do not require COO approval — sop.manager applies them autonomously and notes in the change log. Minor and major changes require the full approval path in Section 4.

File naming: The filename uses MAJOR.MINOR only (e.g., SOP-EXEC-council-review-v1.1.md). Patch version tracked in frontmatter version field only.

4. Approval Path

For new SOPs (Draft → Active)

1. sop.manager authors the Draft at the correct path (/Claude/system/sops/)
2. sop.manager updates INDEX.md with Draft status entry
3. chief.staff reviews as executive sponsor (structure, governance alignment, cross-SOP consistency)
4. COO approves publication — status flips to Active, effective date set
5. sop.manager updates INDEX.md with Active status and effective date
6. Propagation — affected agents notified per SOP-OPS-protocol-amendment-propagation-v1.0
7. For high-stakes SOPs: council review invoked per SOP-EXEC-council-review-v1.0 before Step 3

For amendments to Active SOPs (minor/major version bump)

1. sop.manager authors the amendment (either in-file for minor, or new file for major version)
2. Version incremented in filename and frontmatter; previous version status set to Deprecated in frontmatter
3. chief.staff reviews (executive sponsor)
4. COO approves
5. INDEX.md updated — old entry marked deprecated, new entry added Active
6. Previous version moved to /Claude/archive/sops/ (or deprecated flag in frontmatter if archiving is premature)
7. Propagation per SOP-OPS-protocol-amendment-propagation-v1.0

For patch-level fixes

1. sop.manager applies the fix directly to the file
2. Patch version incremented in frontmatter only (filename unchanged)
3. Change log entry added to the SOP file
4. INDEX.md change log entry added

No review or approval required for patches. If a patch accidentally constitutes a behavioral change, sop.manager escalates to minor version and runs the full path.

For deprecation

1. COO directs deprecation (or sop.manager flags a stale SOP and COO confirms)
2. sop.manager sets status to Deprecated in frontmatter; adds deprecation note and superseding SOP reference
3. INDEX.md updated with Deprecated status
4. Affected agents notified per SOP-OPS-protocol-amendment-propagation-v1.0 — they must stop citing the deprecated SOP as mandatory
5. After 90 days: sop.manager moves file to /Claude/archive/sops/YYYY/ and removes from INDEX active sections

5. INDEX.md Maintenance

/Claude/system/sops/INDEX.md is the canonical registry of all SOPs. It is sop.manager's primary governance artifact.

INDEX entry format:

- [x or ~ or space] **[SOP-{ID}-v{X.Y}](./SOP-{ID}-v{X.Y}.md)** — {one-line description}. Owner: {agent}. Status: {Active/Draft/Under Review}. Effective: {date or TBD}. Priority: {P1/P2/P3}.

Checkbox convention: - [x] — Active - [~] — Draft or Under Review - [ ] — Named but not yet authored

INDEX change log: Every INDEX update appends a row to the change log at the bottom of INDEX.md with: date, SOP affected, version, change summary, approved by.

INDEX audit: sop.manager runs a quarterly INDEX audit to verify every file in /Claude/system/sops/ has an entry and every entry has a corresponding file. Gap analysis filed to /Claude/sessions/sop.manager/sop-index-gap-analysis-{YYYY-QN}.md.

6. SOP Delta Report (Section 6E)

Every behavioral change to an Active SOP (minor or major version) requires a Section 6E SOP Delta filed at the time of the amendment:

INCIDENT / SOP DELTA REPORT
──────────────────────────────
Type: SOP Delta
SOP: {SOP-ID}
Version: {old} → {new}
What Changed: {summary of behavioral change}
Affected Agents: {list}
Why: {reason for change — new policy, incident trigger, audit finding, etc.}
Propagation Status: {pending / complete}
Owner: sop.manager
Timestamp:

SOP Deltas for Active SOPs are filed to /Claude/operations/reports/sop-deltas/SOP-{ID}-delta-{YYYY-MM-DD}.md.

7. Council Review for High-Stakes SOPs

Per SOP-EXEC-council-review-v1.0, council review is mandatory before Step 3 (chief.staff review) for SOPs that: - Affect multiple departments - Codify novel governance patterns (e.g., the SOP that governs SOPs — this one) - Replace deprecated procedures where backward compatibility matters

Note on this SOP: This SOP-OPS-sop-change-management is governance-novel and cross-department. It should be subject to council review before promotion to Active. sop.manager will invoke council review on this draft before submitting to chief.staff.

8. Archive Path

Deprecated SOPs archived to: /Claude/archive/sops/{YYYY}/SOP-{ID}-v{X.Y}-deprecated-{YYYY-MM-DD}.md

Archives are read-only. They are retained indefinitely as audit trail. They must not be re-activated — if a deprecated SOP's approach is revived, a new version is authored.

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Change Log

Version	Date	Change
v1.0	2026-04-21	Initial draft — sop.manager. First authoring of the meta-SOP for SOP change management.

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Owner: sop.manager Executive sponsor: chief.staff Status: Draft — council review recommended before chief.staff submission (per this SOP's own Section 7) Version: v1.0