Special files for public repos

Special files that use top-level markdown:

README.md
LICENSE.md with SPDX license information
CITATION.cff with ORCID citation for Joel Parker Henderson (joel@joelparkerhenderson.com) (see ~/git/assertables/assertiables/CITATION.md for template)
NEWS.md with news, update information, press contacts, etc.
COMPARISONS.md comparisons to relevant projects, context, etc.
BENCHMARKS.md with any benchmarks, speed tests, optimization profiles, etc.
INSTALL.md how to install and use any of the software
CONTRIBUTING.md how a person can contribute their time, or update code, or donate money
CODEOWNERS with joel@joelparkerhenderson.com
MAINTAINERS.md with Joel Parker Henderson (joel@joelparkerhenderson.com) as sole maintainer (use this as template: https://github.com/rubentalstra/FerroEHR/blob/develop/MAINTAINERS.md)
CHANGELOG.md with change log history summaries
AI_STATEMENT.md (use this as template: https://github.com/rubentalstra/FerroEHR/blob/develop/AI_STATEMENT.md)
GOVERNANCE.md how decisions are made, what binds them, how to disagree, how to become a maintainer
SECURITY.md how to report a vulnerability, what is in scope, response windows, known open issues
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md Contributor Covenant 2.1, plus this project's claim-accuracy clause
PHI.md what the software does and does not do with patient data, in plain language
RFC.md the open questions this project wants answered, and what feedback helps
LICENSES/ the full text of every licence the SPDX expression offers (REUSE convention)
.github/FUNDING.yml the donation routes CONTRIBUTING.md points at

Status in this repository#

All of the above exist as of 2026-08-26. Two notes:

AI_STATEMENT.md has one source — the repository root — as of 2026-08-26. A divergent full draft used to sit in this directory too; it is now a pointer at the root document, with the resolution (what the root carries that the draft lacked, and where the draft's one unique section lives) recorded in the pointer itself.
The HL7® trademark rules in spec/hl7-trademarks-fair-use/ are met by all of these files as of 2026-08-26. They require ® after the first use of HL7 and FHIR on each page, plus the endorsement disclaimer wherever the marks appear; scripts/check-trademarks.sh verifies every root *.md and runs in gates.yml. (An earlier revision of this note said only GOVERNANCE.md complied, which was true before the 2026-08-26 sweep.)

Trademarks#

HL7®, and FHIR® are the registered trademarks of Health Level Seven International and their use of these trademarks does not constitute an endorsement by HL7.