## ADDED Requirements

### Requirement: Feature-flag resolution SHALL use shared helper semantics
Environment/config/default feature-flag resolution logic SHALL be implemented through shared helper utilities instead of duplicated per-module parsing.

#### Scenario: Feature-flag evaluation in app and policy modules
- **WHEN** modules resolve boolean feature flags from environment variables and Flask config
- **THEN** they SHALL use a shared helper that enforces consistent precedence and truthy/falsey parsing behavior

### Requirement: Cached policy payloads SHALL protect against shared mutable-state corruption
Policy loader functions that cache JSON payloads in-process SHALL prevent downstream callers from mutating the shared cached object reference.

#### Scenario: Cached policy payload consumed by multiple callers
- **WHEN** multiple callers read cached policy payloads during process lifetime
- **THEN** one caller's accidental mutation SHALL NOT alter another caller's observed policy state through shared reference side effects

#### Scenario: Policy cache behavior documentation
- **WHEN** maintainers inspect cached policy loader code
- **THEN** they SHALL find explicit comments describing refresh/invalidation behavior expectations
