diff --git a/docs/evidence/COMPONENT_ABLATION_RULE.md b/docs/evidence/COMPONENT_ABLATION_RULE.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7b942182
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/evidence/COMPONENT_ABLATION_RULE.md
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+# Component Ablation Rule
+
+OpenAMP Foundry should not accept added complexity unless the useful part of that complexity can be isolated.
+
+This rule defines when a new scoring, ranking, filtering, adapter, report, or selection component needs an ablation note.
+
+It is an evidence-governance document only. It does not add biological protocols, candidate-generation instructions, or optimization objectives.
+
+## Why this matters
+
+A pipeline can improve after a change for the wrong reason.
+
+The useful gain may come from a small preprocessing fix, a stricter filter, a changed threshold, a changed dataset, or random variation rather than the new component being promoted.
+
+Ablation protects the repo from rewarding complexity that does not carry its own weight.
+
+## When ablation is required
+
+Add an ablation note when a PR:
+
+- adds a new scoring component;
+- changes score weights;
+- adds an external predictor or adapter;
+- changes ranking or selection behavior;
+- changes filters that affect downstream evaluation;
+- claims improvement from a multi-part change;
+- promotes exploratory logic into decision-relevant logic.
+
+Ablation can be skipped when the change is documentation-only, clearly mechanical, or explicitly not decision-relevant.
+
+## Minimum ablation note
+
+```markdown
+## Component ablation
+
+**Component:** What was added or changed?
+
+**Decision affected:** Ranking, filtering, evidence certificate, handoff packet, benchmark, or report.
+
+**Baseline condition:** What happens without this component?
+
+**Component-only effect:** What changes when only this component is added?
+
+**Interactions:** Which other changes might explain the result?
+
+**Failure slice:** Where the component does not help or makes the result worse.
+
+**Decision impact:** exploratory only | lower weight | keep | promote | remove.
+
+**Reproduction artifact:** Command, report, run manifest, or reason not run.
+```
+
+## Reviewer guidance
+
+Reviewers should ask whether the claimed improvement belongs to the component or to something else in the PR.
+
+If the PR cannot isolate the effect, the component may still be merged as exploratory, but it should not become load-bearing.
+
+## Agent guidance
+
+Agents should avoid bundling multiple decision-relevant changes in one PR unless they include an ablation note.
+
+If an agent cannot isolate which part helped, it should split the PR or lower the proposed decision impact.
+
+## Anti-patterns
+
+Avoid:
+
+- adding a component and changing the dataset in the same claim without separation;
+- reporting only the final pipeline result;
+- promoting a component because the combined PR improved;
+- ignoring slices where the component worsens behavior;
+- treating complexity as evidence.
+
+## Acceptance test
+
+An ablation note is useful when a reviewer can answer:
+
+1. What changed without the component?
+2. What changed because of the component alone?
+3. Where did it fail?
+4. Should it remain exploratory or become decision-relevant?
+
+If those answers are missing, the complexity is not yet justified.