diff --git a/src/daemon/lib/acl/index.ts b/src/daemon/lib/acl/index.ts
index 42af57d..b32f954 100644
--- a/src/daemon/lib/acl/index.ts
+++ b/src/daemon/lib/acl/index.ts
@@ -1,13 +1,32 @@
 import { NDKEvent, NostrEvent } from '@nostr-dev-kit/ndk';
 import prisma from '../../../db.js';
 
+/**
+ * Layered authorization check. Order matters:
+ *
+ *   1. fetch KeyUser; if missing → undefined (no binding exists)
+ *   2. if KeyUser.revokedAt set → false (binary user revoke beats everything)
+ *   3. SigningCondition override layer (per-user grants/denies):
+ *        - explicit reject (method='*', allowed=false) → false
+ *        - matching per-(method,kind) row → return row.allowed
+ *   4. Live policy join over KeyUser → Token → Policy → PolicyRule
+ *        with Token.revokedAt IS NULL and a matching rule → true
+ *   5. else → undefined (denied)
+ *
+ * Step 3 must precede step 4: per-user denies override the policy, and
+ * per-user grants extend beyond the policy. Step 2 must precede step 3:
+ * a revoked KeyUser stays revoked regardless of conditions or policy.
+ *
+ * See aiolabs/nsecbunkerd#11 and the issue comment that ratified the
+ * algorithm (https://git.atitlan.io/aiolabs/nsecbunkerd/issues/11#issuecomment-1473).
+ */
 export async function checkIfPubkeyAllowed(
     keyName: string,
     remotePubkey: string,
     method: IMethod,
     payload?: string | NostrEvent
 ): Promise<boolean | undefined> {
-    // find KeyUser
+    // Step 1: find KeyUser.
     const keyUser = await prisma.keyUser.findUnique({
         where: { unique_key_user: { keyName, userPubkey: remotePubkey } },
     });
@@ -16,9 +35,12 @@ export async function checkIfPubkeyAllowed(
         return undefined;
     }
 
-    // find SigningCondition
-    const signingConditionQuery = requestToSigningConditionQuery(method, payload);
+    // Step 2: binary user revoke.
+    if (keyUser.revokedAt) {
+        return false;
+    }
 
+    // Step 3a: explicit-reject override (rejectAllRequestsFromKey writes this).
     const explicitReject = await prisma.signingCondition.findFirst({
         where: {
             keyUserId: keyUser.id,
@@ -32,6 +54,9 @@ export async function checkIfPubkeyAllowed(
         return false;
     }
 
+    // Step 3b: matching per-(method, kind) override.
+    const signingConditionQuery = requestToSigningConditionQuery(method, payload);
+
     const signingCondition = await prisma.signingCondition.findFirst({
         where: {
             keyUserId: keyUser.id,
@@ -39,32 +64,53 @@ export async function checkIfPubkeyAllowed(
         }
     });
 
-    // if no SigningCondition found, return undefined
-    if (!signingCondition) {
-        return undefined;
-    }
-
-    const allowed = signingCondition.allowed;
-
-    // Check if the key user has been revoked
-    if (allowed) {
-        const revoked = await prisma.keyUser.findFirst({
-            where: {
-                id: keyUser.id,
-                revokedAt: { not: null },
-            }
-        });
-
-        if (revoked) {
-            return false;
-        }
-    }
-
-    if (allowed === true || allowed === false) {
+    if (signingCondition && (signingCondition.allowed === true || signingCondition.allowed === false)) {
         console.log(`found signing condition`, signingCondition);
-        return allowed;
+        return signingCondition.allowed;
     }
 
+    // Step 4: live policy join. Walk every non-revoked Token bound to this
+    // KeyUser; if any of their policies has a matching PolicyRule, allow.
+    //
+    // PolicyRule.kind matching:
+    //   - exact match against payload kind (stringified — matches the
+    //     create_new_policy.ts:23 storage format `rule.kind.toString()`)
+    //   - 'all' literal matches any kind (parity with the override-layer
+    //     allowScopeToSigningConditionQuery convention)
+    //   - NULL kind is a defensive branch — no current code path inserts
+    //     PolicyRules with null kind, but if one ever appears (raw SQL,
+    //     future code, schema migration) we treat it as a wildcard rather
+    //     than failing closed silently.
+    const payloadKindString = (method === 'sign_event' && typeof payload === 'object' && payload?.kind !== undefined)
+        ? payload.kind.toString()
+        : undefined;
+
+    const kindMatchers: Array<{ kind: string | null }> = [{ kind: null }, { kind: 'all' }];
+    if (payloadKindString !== undefined) {
+        kindMatchers.push({ kind: payloadKindString });
+    }
+
+    const policyAllowance = await prisma.token.findFirst({
+        where: {
+            keyUserId: keyUser.id,
+            revokedAt: null,
+            policy: {
+                rules: {
+                    some: {
+                        method,
+                        OR: kindMatchers,
+                    },
+                },
+            },
+        },
+    });
+
+    if (policyAllowance) {
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    // Step 5: no override granted, no policy rule matched. Caller's
+    // requestPermission flow may still prompt the admin out-of-band.
     return undefined;
 }