The Cardano Constitution Amendment Proposals (CAP) repository contains two complementary types of documents that form the foundation of Cardano’s off-chain governance documentation. Because these documents are stored as Markdown files in a versioned repository, their history serves as the authoritative record of Cardano’s evolving governance system.
- Cardano Amendment Proposals (CAP): Formal proposals to amend, clarify, or extend Cardano’s Constitution.
- Constitution Issue Statements (CIS): Structured descriptions of Constitution problems, ambiguities, or risks that require community attention and may guide future CAPs.
A Cardano Amendment Proposal (CAP) is a governance design document proposing changes, additions, or clarifications to Cardano’s Constitution or guardrails.
- Amendment Focus: Each CAP proposes a constitutional amendment or standard.
- Structure: Describes the motivation, specification, and path to ratification.
- Review Process: Undergoes open community discussion, editorial review, and eventual on-chain governance action.
📌 Note: CAPs do not themselves enact constitutional changes. They serve as the community input layer for governance actions that are ultimately ratified on-chain.
For new CAPs, a template is available here: .github/CAP-TEMPLATE.md
A Constitution Issue Statement (CIS) is a formal document that articulates a constitutional problem, its context, and its impact. Where CAPs propose solutions, CISs define the problems those solutions aim to solve.
- Context: Provides historical and procedural context for a constitutional challenge.
- Scope: Describes the problem’s scope, impact, and stakeholder relevance.
- Future Work: Lists open questions and potential directions for future CAPs.
CISs and CAPs are complementary: a single CIS may inspire multiple CAPs, and a CAP may address multiple CISs.
To ensure quality and transparency, all contributors must follow one of these two paths. Every submission is subject to a mandatory 30-day deliberation period before it can be moved to "Active" or submitted for on-chain voting.
- Open a Form: Navigate to the Issues tab and click "New Issue".
- Select Template: Choose the New CAP Proposal or New CIS Issue form.
- Submit: Fill out the web-based form and click submit. This officially starts your 30-day deliberation period.
- Fork & Branch: Create a fork of this repository and a new branch for your work.
- Add File: Place your proposal in a folder (
CAPs/CAP-XXXX/orCISs/CIS-XXXX/) using the provided templates. - Pull Request: Submit a PR. The date the PR is opened marks the start of your 30-day deliberation period.
- Proposed: A CAP or CIS merged into the repository but not yet ratified or resolved. These remain in "Proposed" for at least 30 days.
- Active: A CAP ratified through governance action, or a CIS that remains relevant and open.
- Inactive: A CAP or CIS that has been superseded, withdrawn, or deemed obsolete.
✏️ Drafts are not listed here. Proposals are considered drafts while they are still in open pull requests.
| Name | GitHub |
|---|---|
| Thomas Lindseth | @Thomas-nada |
| Larisa Mcfarlane | @LallyMack |
CAPs/CAP-0001/ (Each proposal has its own folder)
CISs/CIS-0001/ (Each issue has its own folder)
constitution/ (The currently active Constitution)
CAPSLOCK/ (CAP Editors Meeting records)
.github/ (Forms and templates)
All documents in this repository are licensed under CC-BY-4.0.