What is Policy as Code?

Policy as Code is an innovative approach to defining, managing, and enforcing rules through code, mirroring the processes used in software development. This method enhances consistency, accuracy, and traceability across systems by automating policy enforcement, ensuring uniform application across various environments, and enabling effective scalability. Prominent tools like Open Policy Agent (OPA), AWS Cedar, and OpenFGA support policy as code by allowing developers to define logic-driven and data-driven policies suitable for diverse use cases, ranging from infrastructure management to complex application-level authorization. The practice encourages collaboration across teams, simplifies policy updates, and offers flexibility by integrating with CI/CD pipelines for automated testing and deployment. It bridges the gap between code-driven policy enforcement and centralized data management, as seen in systems like Google Zanzibar, which excels in managing relationship-based access control. Tools such as Permit.io further facilitate policy management by providing low-code/no-code interfaces, enabling non-technical stakeholders to participate in policy creation and ensuring seamless integration and real-time enforcement across distributed systems.