diff --git a/src/AMSlib/wf/policy.hpp b/src/AMSlib/wf/policy.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7d020404
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/AMSlib/wf/policy.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include "wf/pipeline.hpp"
+
+namespace ams
+{
+
+namespace ml
+{
+class InferenceModel;
+}
+
+class LayoutTransform;
+
+/// Policies are factories that construct Pipelines.
+///
+/// A Policy encodes *what* should happen (control flow, fallback strategy),
+/// while the Pipeline and Actions encode *how* it happens.
+class Policy
+{
+public:
+  virtual ~Policy() = default;
+
+  /// Construct a pipeline for the given model and layout. The, potentially
+  /// nullable, Model is a non-owning pointer.
+  ///
+  /// The returned Pipeline is ready to run.
+  virtual Pipeline makePipeline(const ml::InferenceModel* Model,
+                                LayoutTransform& Layout) const = 0;
+  virtual const char* name() const noexcept = 0;
+};
+
+}  // namespace ams
diff --git a/tests/AMSlib/wf/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/AMSlib/wf/CMakeLists.txt
index 2c825b3c..4e3f98fb 100644
--- a/tests/AMSlib/wf/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/AMSlib/wf/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -62,3 +62,6 @@ ADD_WORKFLOW_UNIT_TEST(WORKFLOW::ACTION action)
 
 BUILD_UNIT_TEST(pipeline pipeline.cpp)
 ADD_WORKFLOW_UNIT_TEST(WORKFLOW::PIPELINE pipeline)
+
+BUILD_UNIT_TEST(policy policy.cpp)
+ADD_WORKFLOW_UNIT_TEST(WORKFLOW::POLICY policy)
diff --git a/tests/AMSlib/wf/policy.cpp b/tests/AMSlib/wf/policy.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..853cba8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/AMSlib/wf/policy.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+#include "wf/policy.hpp"
+
+#include <catch2/catch_test_macros.hpp>
+#include <memory>
+#include <string>
+#include <type_traits>
+
+#include "ml/Model.hpp"
+#include "wf/action.hpp"
+#include "wf/eval_context.hpp"
+#include "wf/layout_transform.hpp"
+#include "wf/pipeline.hpp"
+
+namespace ams
+{
+
+namespace
+{
+
+class IncAction final : public Action
+{
+public:
+  const char* name() const noexcept override { return "IncAction"; }
+  AMSStatus run(EvalContext& Ctx) override
+  {
+    Ctx.Threshold = Ctx.Threshold.value_or(0.0f) + 1.0f;
+    return {};
+  }
+};
+
+class FailAction final : public Action
+{
+public:
+  const char* name() const noexcept override { return "FailAction"; }
+  AMSStatus run(EvalContext&) override
+  {
+    return AMS_MAKE_ERROR(AMSErrorType::Generic, "FailAction triggered");
+  }
+};
+
+class DummyLayout final : public LayoutTransform
+{
+public:
+  const char* name() const noexcept override { return "DummyLayout"; }
+
+  AMSExpected<IndexMap> pack(const TensorBundle&,
+                             const TensorBundle&,
+                             at::Tensor&) override
+  {
+    return IndexMap{};
+  }
+  AMSStatus unpack(const torch::jit::IValue&,
+                   TensorBundle&,
+                   TensorBundle&,
+                   std::optional<at::Tensor>&) override
+  {
+    return {};
+  }
+};
+
+class DirectLikePolicy final : public Policy
+{
+public:
+  const char* name() const noexcept override { return "DirectLikePolicy"; }
+
+  Pipeline makePipeline(const ml::InferenceModel* /*Model*/,
+                        LayoutTransform& /*Layout*/) const override
+  {
+    Pipeline P;
+    P.add(std::make_unique<IncAction>()).add(std::make_unique<IncAction>());
+    return P;
+  }
+};
+
+class FailingPolicy final : public Policy
+{
+public:
+  const char* name() const noexcept override { return "FailingPolicy"; }
+
+  Pipeline makePipeline(const ml::InferenceModel* /*Model*/,
+                        LayoutTransform& /*Layout*/) const override
+  {
+    Pipeline P;
+    P.add(std::make_unique<IncAction>())
+        .add(std::make_unique<FailAction>())
+        .add(std::make_unique<IncAction>());  // must not run
+    return P;
+  }
+};
+
+}  // namespace
+
+CATCH_TEST_CASE("Policy is an abstract factory for Pipelines", "[wf][policy]")
+{
+  CATCH_STATIC_REQUIRE(std::is_abstract_v<Policy>);
+  CATCH_STATIC_REQUIRE(std::has_virtual_destructor_v<Policy>);
+
+  DummyLayout L;
+  ml::InferenceModel* Model = nullptr;
+
+  DirectLikePolicy Pol;
+  CATCH_REQUIRE(std::string(Pol.name()) == "DirectLikePolicy");
+
+  EvalContext Ctx{};
+  auto P = Pol.makePipeline(Model, L);
+
+  auto St = P.run(Ctx);
+  CATCH_REQUIRE(St);
+  CATCH_REQUIRE(Ctx.Threshold == 2.0f);
+}
+
+CATCH_TEST_CASE("Policy-built pipeline short-circuits on Action failure",
+                "[wf][policy]")
+{
+  DummyLayout L;
+  ml::InferenceModel* Model = nullptr;
+
+  FailingPolicy Pol;
+  EvalContext Ctx{};
+
+  auto P = Pol.makePipeline(Model, L);
+  auto St = P.run(Ctx);
+
+  CATCH_REQUIRE_FALSE(St);
+  CATCH_REQUIRE(St.error().getType() == AMSErrorType::Generic);
+  CATCH_REQUIRE(Ctx.Threshold == 1.0f);
+}
+
+}  // namespace ams