---
title: "Override doctrine | Glossary"
description: "Override doctrine is the written list of decisions an agent may never take: spending above a ceiling, speaking as the company, changing production data, or…"
image: "https://lenvanderhof.com/photos/len-portrait-1.jpg"
---

Term

# Override doctrine

Override doctrine is the written list of decisions an agent may never take: spending above a ceiling, speaking as the company, changing production data, or closing a judgment the founder still owns. It is the complement of a charter. The charter says what the agent does. The doctrine says what it must refuse. A refuse-list that lives in a Slack thread is not doctrine. It is a hope. Write it before the first tool that can send, spend, or delete.

## When to use it

Use it before an agent gets a tool that can send, spend, or delete. If the refuse-list is oral, the first expensive mistake will be the documentation.

## Do not confuse with

Not a safety lecture and not the charter itself. The charter assigns work. The doctrine names what must be refused even when the charter is silent.

## Essays on this site

- [Version the agent OS](https://lenvanderhof.com/en/blog/stack-version-the-agent-os/)
- [LLM integration is an operating-design problem](https://lenvanderhof.com/en/blog/llm-integration-is-operating-design/)

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