# Governance overview

Governance controls who can change your Ripple Custody environment, which approvals are required, and where those controls apply. It is built from four parts:

| Part | What it does |
|  --- | --- |
| [Domains](/products/custody/governance/domains) | Define the organizational boundaries where users, accounts, policies, and other entities belong. |
| [Users and roles](/products/custody/governance/users) | Define who can submit, approve, reject, or review governed actions. |
| [Policies](/products/custody/governance/policies) | Define the approval rules for each type of governed action. |
| [Intents and approvals](/products/custody/governance/intents) | Define the workflow that turns a proposed change into an approved and executed change. |



```mermaid
flowchart LR
    User["User with role"] --> Intent["Submits intent"]
    Intent --> Policy["Policy selects approval workflow"]
    Policy --> Approval["Approvers approve or reject"]
    Approval --> Domain["Change executes in target domain"]
```

## Choose your path

| Goal | Start here |
|  --- | --- |
| Learn how governance works | [Domains](/products/custody/governance/domains), [Policies](/products/custody/governance/policies), and [Intents and approvals](/products/custody/governance/intents) |
| Design the model that should exist at launch | [Design your genesis](/products/custody/governance/genesis) |
| Operate governance after launch | [Manage domains](/products/custody/governance/domains/manage-domains), [Manage users and roles](/products/custody/governance/users/manage-users-and-roles), [Manage policies](/products/custody/governance/policies/manage-policies), and [Manage intents and approvals](/products/custody/governance/intents/manage-intents-and-approvals) |
| Adapt working patterns | [Domain examples](/products/custody/governance/domains/examples), [User and role examples](/products/custody/governance/users/examples), and [Policy examples](/products/custody/governance/policies/examples) |
| Look up fields and valid values | [Domain reference](/products/custody/governance/domains/reference), [Policy reference](/products/custody/governance/policies/reference), and [Intent reference](/products/custody/governance/intents/reference) |


## How to use this section

Read the concept pages once to understand the model. Use the genesis pages when you are preparing the first environment state. Use the manage pages after the environment is running. Use examples only after you know which workflow you are trying to implement.

This structure keeps each topic in one place: concepts explain, genesis pages help you decide, manage pages tell you what to do, examples show patterns, and reference pages list fields and values.