[Bug]: AgentMesh does not surface empty policy configuration at startup

[Ricky-G]

Package

agent-mesh

Description

The AgentMesh policy-server and governance sidecar can start with a missing or empty policy directory without exposing a clear, machine-readable startup warning through their health and policy endpoints. Operators then have to infer the policy state from logs, and the policy-server readiness probe does not distinguish an unevaluable empty configuration from a ready server.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Run the policy-server with AGENTMESH_POLICY_DIR set to an empty or missing directory, or run the sidecar with AGT_POLICY_DIR set to an empty or missing directory.
2. Query the readiness and policy status endpoints.
3. Observe that the process starts without a structured warning describing the empty policy state.

Environment

• Repository: microsoft/agent-governance-toolkit
• Package: agent-mesh
• Python: 3.11+
• Branch: main

Logs / Error Output

No structured startup warning is returned by the affected endpoints when no policies are loaded.

Code of Conduct

• I agree to follow the Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct