--- title: Versions and history description: When a rule gets a new version, what happens to the old one, and why a draft is always judged against the version its author was given. --- Core concepts # Versions and history A rule starts at version 1 and gains a version each time its document's wording changes. Old versions are kept, never deleted. ## What makes a new version | What happened | Result | |---|---| | You edited the document's wording | **New version.** The rule shows `v2`, `v3` and so on | | You renamed or moved the file | Nothing. Vythos notes it looked, and moves on | | You re-saved the file without changing a word | Nothing. Same text, same version | | You uploaded the same file again, changed | **New version** | | You added a *different* file that replaces this rule | This rule is retired; the new document's rule starts its own history | | You retired the rule and later added the document again | The history carries on — a retired v3 is followed by v4, not a second v1 | The test is the words, not the timestamp. Vythos checks each rule's document about every ten minutes, and an untouched file costs nothing. A file that was touched but still says the same thing changes nothing either. ## What's kept Every past version keeps its own text, its values, and the moment it stopped governing. That matters for more than tidiness: - **A draft is checked against the version its author was given.** When an AI tool asks for context, Vythos records exactly which rules and which versions it handed over. If the rule changes while the work is in progress, the check still judges the draft against what the writer actually had. A checker that cried wolf about a rule nobody had seen would be ignored within a week. - **You can reconstruct the past.** What did our terms say in March? The Playbook can answer that, because nothing was overwritten. ## Dates on a rule A rule row shows the **document's own date** where it has one — "effective 1 July 2025", taken from the document's text — and otherwise the date the rule was added. The document's date is the more useful of the two: it's the date your team would quote, not the day someone got round to adding it. ## Replacing one document with another Editing a document updates its rule. A *new* document is a new rule, and Vythos will not silently transfer governance from one file to another. So when you save this year's rate card as a new file: 1. Add the new file with **Add rule**. 2. Where the card asks, tick **replaces** against the old rate card. The old rule is retired with its history, the new one takes over, and nothing in between is ambiguous. If you don't tick it, both stay in force — and Vythos tells your tools they disagree rather than picking one. See [Update a rule](/using-vythos/update-a-rule). ::: info Same title, different file If you add a document whose rule would have the same name and category as one already in force, Vythos stops and asks whether this replaces it. A same-named takeover is the one case where silently following the newest file would be indistinguishable from a mistake. ::: ## Retiring Retiring stands a rule down. It stops reaching your team and their AI tools immediately; its text and history remain. See [Retire a rule](/using-vythos/retire-a-rule). Next: [Memory](/concepts/memory).