{
  "schema": "vedokrok.public-item.v1",
  "release_id": "MHC-RPUB-20260920-75ad787a",
  "url": "/knowledge/version-the-configuration-that-changes-behavior",
  "id": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0354",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "title": "Version the configuration that changes behavior",
  "summary": "If configuration can change production, it deserves a history as serious as code.",
  "kind": "checklist",
  "body": "Store important configuration as versioned data with validation, change identity and a known previous version. Record which version each running environment uses. Make promotion and rollback explicit rather than editing values in place without a trace. This turns 'nothing changed in code' from a dead end into an inspectable statement.",
  "limits": [
    "Secrets may need separate protected storage; version references rather than exposing sensitive values in ordinary configuration history."
  ],
  "topics": [
    "union-safe-change-operations"
  ],
  "intents": [],
  "source_ids": [
    "RS-2DF67D7590E081DA"
  ],
  "evidence": [
    {
      "claim": "Current AWS Agentic AI guidance recommends centralized versioned configuration with validation so behavior can be traced and rolled back by version.",
      "source_id": "RS-2DF67D7590E081DA",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "Centralization can create its own failure domain; configuration systems still need redundancy and access control.",
      "locator": "Desired outcome; configuration versioning and validation"
    }
  ],
  "use_when": [
    "Runtime behavior can change without a code deployment because configuration is mutable."
  ],
  "avoid_when": [
    "Secrets may need separate protected storage; version references rather than exposing sensitive values in ordinary configuration history."
  ],
  "example": "Version an AI agent's tool policy, thresholds and prompt configuration together so a behavior shift can be tied to a concrete configuration snapshot.",
  "check": "Given an incident timestamp, you can identify the exact configuration version that was active.",
  "checklist": [
    "Behavior-affecting configuration has a stable version or change identity.",
    "Changes pass validation before promotion.",
    "The running version can be observed for each relevant environment.",
    "A previous known-good version remains recoverable.",
    "The configuration history names what changed and why."
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "RS-2DF67D7590E081DA",
      "title": "AGENTREL08-BP01 Establish consistent configuration management practices",
      "url": "https://docs.aws.amazon.com/wellarchitected/latest/agentic-ai-lens/agentrel08-bp01.html"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "from": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0354",
      "to": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0355",
      "type": "useful_with",
      "url": "/knowledge/detect-configuration-drift-instead-of-assuming-sameness"
    }
  ],
  "collections": [
    {
      "id": "RC-4F77BDBBF2481574",
      "title": "Change live systems without turning one mistake into a large one",
      "url": "/collections/change-live-systems-without-turning-one-mistake-into-a-large-one"
    }
  ]
}