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Governance Models

Sage Protocol supports multiple governance models to fit different community sizes and trust requirements. Understanding these models helps you choose the right structure for your use case.

Why Multiple Models?

One size doesn't fit all:

  • A solo creator needs instant control, not voting delays
  • A small team needs consensus, but can trust each other
  • A large community needs formal voting with safeguards

Sage provides three governance axes that combine to create different patterns.

The Three Axes

Axis Options Question It Answers
Governance Kind OPERATOR or TOKEN Who decides - a controller or token holders?
Proposal Access COUNCIL_ONLY or COMMUNITY_THRESHOLD Who can create proposals?
Execution Access COUNCIL_ONLY or ANYONE Who can execute passed proposals?

Common Configurations

Personal (Solo Creator)

Config: OPERATOR + COUNCIL_ONLY + COUNCIL_ONLY

You ──propose──▶ Governor ──execute──▶ Registry
      (instant)            (instant)

Best for: Individual prompt creators who want full control.

Characteristics: - Single wallet controls everything - No voting required - Instant updates - Can evolve to team/community later

CLI: 

sage dao create-playbook --playbook personal --name "My Library" --yes

Council (Small Team)

Config: OPERATOR + COUNCIL_ONLY + COUNCIL_ONLY (with Safe multisig)

Team Member ──propose──▶ Safe ──threshold──▶ Governor ──execute──▶ Registry
                        (2-of-3)

Best for: Teams of 3-10 who trust each other but want consensus.

Characteristics: - Safe multisig controls proposals - Requires threshold signatures (e.g., 2-of-3) - Fast execution (hours, not days) - No token voting required

CLI: 

sage dao create-playbook --playbook council-closed \
  --name "Team Library" \
  --owners "0xAlice,0xBob,0xCarol" \
  --threshold 2 \
  --yes

Community (Token Voting)

Config: TOKEN + COMMUNITY_THRESHOLD + ANYONE

Anyone ──propose──▶ Governor ──vote──▶ Timelock ──delay──▶ Registry
   (proposalThreshold)     (3-7 days)         (24h)

Best for: Open communities with 50+ participants.

Characteristics: - Anyone with enough effective votes can propose (proposalThreshold) - Token-weighted voting (requires delegation; minVotesToVote prevents 0-weight vote spam) - Time delays for review - Permissionless execution after delay

CLI: 

sage dao create-playbook --playbook community \
  --name "Community Library" \
  --voting-period "3 days" \
  --quorum-bps 400 \
  --yes

Council Drafts (Hybrid)

Config: TOKEN + COMMUNITY_THRESHOLD + COUNCIL_ONLY

Anyone ──propose──▶ Governor ──vote──▶ Council ──execute──▶ Registry
   (proposalThreshold)   (token voting)  (review)

Best for: Communities that want input but controlled execution.

Characteristics: - Community proposes and votes - Council reviews and executes - Prevents malicious proposals from auto-executing - Good transition from council → full community

CLI: 

sage dao create-playbook --playbook council-drafts \
  --name "Hybrid DAO" \
  --owners "0xAlice,0xBob" \
  --yes

Choosing a Model

If you... Use Why
Work alone Personal Full control, instant updates
Have a small trusted team Council Consensus without overhead
Have an open community Community Democratic, permissionless
Want community input + safety Council Drafts Community voice, controlled execution

Governance Parameters

Voting Period

How long proposals are open for voting.

Setting Duration Use Case
Fast 1-2 days Small teams, urgent changes
Standard 3-5 days Most DAOs
Long 7+ days Major decisions, large communities

Quorum

Minimum participation required for a vote to be valid.

Setting Percentage Use Case
Low 1-2% Large token supply, active community
Standard 4% Most DAOs
High 10%+ Critical decisions

Proposal Threshold

SXXX tokens required to create a proposal. Note: This checks raw wallet balance, not voting power.

Setting Amount Use Case
Zero 0 Anyone can propose
Low 100-1,000 Filter spam, low barrier
High 10,000+ Serious proposals only

See Proposal Threshold for detailed semantics including cancel rules and balance vs voting power.

Timelock Delay

Time between proposal passing and execution.

Setting Duration Use Case
None 0 Personal/operator mode
Short 1 day Team DAOs
Standard 2-3 days Community DAOs
Long 7+ days Critical upgrades

Checking Your DAO's Governance

# Full governance diagnostics
sage governance diag --subdao 0x...

# Quick readiness check
sage governance preflight --subdao 0x...

# View current parameters
sage dao info 0x...

Evolving Governance

DAOs can change their governance model over time:

  1. Personal → Council: Add Safe multisig as executor
  2. Council → Community: Enable token voting
  3. Community → Council Drafts: Restrict execution to council

All governance changes go through the existing governance process - you can't bypass voting to change voting rules.