From 1df2fc3a0a0d1202e7d47a22b2c647c7cc62ee30 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Mathias Hauser <mathias.hauser@env.ethz.ch>
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2025 14:22:27 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 1/3] document optional `overrides`, `exclude` and
 `ignored_validations`

---
 README.md | 10 ++++++++++
 1 file changed, 10 insertions(+)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 69ac401..41aaa40 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -32,6 +32,16 @@ policy:
     - package4
 ```
 
+if there are no packages with `overrides`, `exclude`, or `ignored_violations`, you can set
+them to an empty dictionary or list, respectively:
+
+```yaml
+  ...
+  overrides: {}
+  exclude: []
+  ignored_violations: []
+```
+
 then add a new step to CI:
 
 ```yaml

From e4f3c87e3be9ce3a4d53fd3ed019470659414816 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Mathias Hauser <mathias.hauser@env.ethz.ch>
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2025 14:22:38 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 2/3] add test

---
 .github/workflows/ci.yml     |  8 +++++++-
 policy_no_extra_options.yaml | 14 ++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 21 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 policy_no_extra_options.yaml

diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index c911e61..09197c2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -50,14 +50,20 @@ jobs:
             envs/env1.yaml
             envs/env2.yaml
         expected-failure: ["false"]
+        policy-file: ["policy.yaml"]
         include:
           - env-paths: |
               envs/failing-env1.yaml
+            policy-file: "policy.yaml"
             expected-failure: "true"
           - env-paths: |
               envs/env1.yaml
               envs/failing-env1.yaml
+            policy-file: "policy.yaml"
             expected-failure: "true"
+          - env-paths: "envs/env1.yaml"
+            policy-file: policy_no_extra_options.yaml
+            expected-failure: "false"
 
     steps:
       - name: clone the repository
@@ -67,7 +73,7 @@ jobs:
         id: action-run
         continue-on-error: true
         with:
-          policy: policy.yaml
+          policy: ${{ matrix.policy-file }}
           environment-paths: ${{ matrix.env-paths }}
           today: 2024-12-20
       - name: detect outcome
diff --git a/policy_no_extra_options.yaml b/policy_no_extra_options.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b89a03f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/policy_no_extra_options.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+channels:
+  - conda-forge
+platforms:
+  - noarch
+  - linux-64
+policy:
+  # all packages in months
+  packages:
+    python: 30
+    numpy: 18
+  default: 12
+  overrides: {}
+  exclude: []
+  ignored_violations: []

From 73b940f3c5a9bd1f9f019f414cce0361789543c0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Mathias Hauser <mathause@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2025 17:06:51 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 3/3] Apply suggestions from code review

Co-authored-by: Justus Magin <keewis@users.noreply.github.com>
---
 README.md | 6 +++---
 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 41aaa40..62b3fba 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -32,8 +32,8 @@ policy:
     - package4
 ```
 
-if there are no packages with `overrides`, `exclude`, or `ignored_violations`, you can set
-them to an empty dictionary or list, respectively:
+If there are no packages with `overrides`, `exclude`, or `ignored_violations`, you can set
+them to an empty mapping or sequence, respectively:
 
 ```yaml
   ...
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ them to an empty dictionary or list, respectively:
   ignored_violations: []
 ```
 
-then add a new step to CI:
+Then add a new step to CI:
 
 ```yaml
 jobs: