COMMUNITY

Community

GovSchema is being built in the open. The draft specification, the schema registry, and the verification practices all live in a public source repository that is open now — the same repository linked from the top of every page. Standards are stronger when more jurisdictions and more builders shape them, so if you work on agents or know a government process well, you can read the draft spec, review the registry, and propose schemas today.

Propose a schema on GitHubRead the specification

CONTRIBUTE

Three ways to help build the standard

Propose a new schema

Describe a government form or process the registry doesn't cover yet — pick its registry path, author it against the schema format, and cite the live source you checked it against.

  • Start at version 0.1.0 for a new, not-yet-stable schema
  • Name a real verification practice and the source you checked
  • Validate locally before opening a pull request

Correct or re-verify one

Published schema versions are never edited in place — a correction or a fresh check against the live source ships as a new version directory, following the same PATCH/MINOR/MAJOR rules as any other change.

  • PATCH for a re-verify with no field changes
  • MINOR for an additive field, MAJOR for a breaking one
  • The prior version stays published; mark a retired one deprecated

Shape the specification

See a gap in the format itself, not just one schema? Spec and tooling changes affect every published schema, so they start as an issue and, for anything breaking, a written proposal.

WORKFLOW

How a schema gets proposed and verified

  1. 1

    Author

    Write schema.json against the published meta-schema, using an existing reference schema in the registry as a template.

  2. 2

    Cite & verify

    Record the live government URL you checked it against and name the verification practice you used, with the date you checked.

  3. 3

    Validate

    Run node tools/validate.mjs locally — it checks the schema against the meta-schema before a human ever has to.

  4. 4

    Review & merge

    Open a pull request against the schema checklist. A maintainer reviews it in the open — the same two-way-door process as any other schema change.

GROUND RULES

Two rules every contribution follows

No personal data

Schemas describe a form's fields and rules — never a real applicant's data or a filled-in submission.

No affiliation claims

A schema describes a public process. It must never state or imply that it is endorsed, certified, or operated by the government that runs that process.

Ready to contribute?

Every contribution — a new schema, a correction, or a specification change — starts on GitHub, under the same contribution guide and code of conduct as any other.

Read the contribution guideCode of Conduct