| name | eia-quality-gates |
| description | Quality gate enforcement for PR integration. Use when verifying code through pre-review, review, pre-merge, or post-merge checkpoints. Trigger with /eia-enforce-gates. Use when this capability is needed. |
| metadata | {"author":"emasoft"} |
EIA Quality Gates
Overview
Quality gates are mandatory checkpoints that code must pass before advancing through the integration pipeline. Each gate defines specific criteria, blocking conditions, and escalation paths.
Prerequisites
Before using this skill, ensure:
- Repository has CI/CD pipeline configured
- GitHub labels from eia-label-taxonomy are applied
- Review checklist from eia-code-review-patterns is available
- GitHub CLI (
gh) is installed and authenticated
- Access to repository permissions for label management
- Understanding of the four-gate pipeline model
Instructions
- Identify the current gate by checking PR labels (no gate label = Pre-Review Gate)
- Execute gate-specific checks (Pre-Review: tests/lints, Review: 8-dimension review, Pre-Merge: CI/conflicts, Post-Merge: main branch health)
- Apply gate decision label (passed/failed/warning) based on check results
- If checks pass, advance PR to next gate
- If checks fail, apply "failed" label and follow escalation path (A, B, C, or D)
- Document failure reasons in PR comments
- Notify responsible parties per escalation order
Step 5: Process Overrides (if applicable)
- Verify override authority per Override Authority Matrix
- Document override justification in PR
- Apply
gate:override-applied label
- Proceed with next gate
Workflow Checklist
Copy this checklist and track your progress:
Output
When executing quality gates, provide:
- Gate Status: Current gate name and pass/fail decision
- Check Results: List of all checks performed with outcomes
- Labels Applied: All labels added or removed
- Escalation Actions: Any notifications sent or escalations triggered
- Next Steps: What should happen next in the pipeline
Example Output Format:
Gate: Pre-Review Gate
Status: FAILED
Checks:
- Tests: FAILED (3 failing tests in auth module)
- Linting: PASSED
- Build: PASSED
- Description: PASSED
Labels Applied:
- gate:pre-review-failed
- gate:flaky-test
Escalation:
- Commented on PR with test failure details
- Notified @author
Next Steps:
- Author must fix failing tests
- Re-run pre-review gate after fixes
Error Handling
Common Errors and Solutions:
-
CI Pipeline Not Running
- Check GitHub Actions are enabled
- Verify workflow files exist in
.github/workflows/
- Ensure branch protection rules allow CI execution
-
Labels Not Applying
- Verify GitHub token has label permissions
- Check label exists in repository (create from taxonomy if missing)
- Use
gh pr edit $PR_NUMBER --add-label "label-name" manually if automation fails
-
Escalation Notification Failure
- Verify notification channels (email, Slack, etc.) are configured
- Check user handles are correct (@mentions)
- Fallback to manual notification if automation fails
-
Gate Stuck in Pending State
- Check all required status checks are reporting
- Verify no infrastructure outages
- Manually re-trigger CI if needed
- Document stuck state and escalate to EOA
-
Override Authority Unavailable
- Follow alternate escalation path
- Document urgency in PR
- NEVER bypass security gates
- Escalate to project maintainer if critical
Examples
See references/gate-examples.md for complete examples including:
- Pre-Review Gate success and failure scenarios
- Review Gate failure with low confidence score
- Pre-Merge Gate failure with merge conflicts
- Post-Merge Gate failure with main branch broken
- Gate override application procedures
Purpose of Quality Gates:
- Prevent defective code from reaching production
- Ensure consistent quality standards across all contributions
- Provide clear, objective criteria for advancement
- Enable systematic escalation when gates fail
Key Principle: Quality gates use state-based triggers, not time-based values. Gates advance or block based on conditions being met, not elapsed time.
Gate Types and Pipeline Position
The integration pipeline has four sequential gates. See references/gate-pipeline.md for the complete flow diagram.
Gate 1: Pre-Review Gate
See references/pre-review-gate.md for:
- Required checks
- Warning conditions
- Gate pass criteria
- Label integration commands
Gate 2: Review Gate
See references/review-gate.md for:
- Required checks (8 dimensions, 80% confidence)
- Blocking conditions
- Warning conditions
- Gate pass/fail procedures
Gate 3: Pre-Merge Gate
See references/pre-merge-gate.md for:
- Required checks (CI, conflicts, approval validity)
- Blocking and warning conditions
- Label integration commands
Gate 4: Post-Merge Gate
See references/post-merge-gate.md for:
- Required checks (main branch health)
- Blocking conditions
- Issue closure procedures
Escalation Paths
See references/escalation-paths.md for complete escalation procedures including:
- Escalation Path A: Pre-Review Gate Failure
- Escalation Path B: Review Gate Failure (with Override Authority matrix)
- Escalation Path C: Pre-Merge Gate Failure
- Escalation Path D: Post-Merge Gate Failure (with Revert Authority matrix)
- Actions by failure type for each path
Gate Override Policies
See references/override-policies.md for:
- Override Authority Matrix (who can override which gates)
- Override procedure and documentation requirements
- When overrides are allowed vs forbidden (e.g., security gates cannot be overridden)
Complete Label Reference
See references/label-reference.md for complete list of:
- Gate status labels (passed/failed/pending for each gate)
- Warning labels (coverage, changelog, large PR, style issues, performance, flaky tests, etc.)
- When each label should be applied
Gate Enforcement Checklist
See references/gate-checklist.md for a copy-paste checklist covering:
- Pre-Review Gate verification steps
- Review Gate verification steps
- Pre-Merge Gate verification steps
- Post-Merge Gate verification steps
Integration with Other Skills
Related Skills
- eia-label-taxonomy - Complete label definitions
- eia-code-review-patterns - Review methodology for Review Gate
- eia-github-pr-workflow - PR workflow including gates
- eia-tdd-enforcement - TDD requirements for Pre-Review Gate
- eia-ci-failure-patterns - CI failure analysis
Dependency on Label Taxonomy
This skill uses labels defined in eia-label-taxonomy. Ensure the label taxonomy is applied to the repository before using quality gates.
Troubleshooting
See references/troubleshooting.md for solutions to common issues:
- Gate appears stuck
- False positive gate failure
- Escalation not triggering
- Override needed but no authority available
Design Document Scripts
These scripts manage design documents for quality gate integration:
| Script | Purpose | Usage |
|---|
eia_design_create.py | Create new design documents with proper GUUID | python scripts/eia_design_create.py --type <TYPE> --title "<TITLE>" |
eia_design_search.py | Search design documents by UUID, type, or status | python scripts/eia_design_search.py --type <TYPE> --status <STATUS> |
eia_design_validate.py | Validate design document frontmatter compliance | python scripts/eia_design_validate.py --all |
Encoding Compliance Scripts
Script: scripts/eia_check_encoding.py — Checks Python files for missing UTF-8 encoding parameters
For encoding compliance checking, see encoding-compliance-checker.md:
- When to run the encoding compliance checker
- How to run eia_check_encoding.py on specific files
- How to run eia_check_encoding.py on an entire directory
- What the checker verifies (5 checks)
- How to fix each type of encoding violation
- Integrating with pre-push hooks
Unicode Enforcement Scripts
Script: ../../scripts/eia_unicode_compliance.py — Full Unicode compliance checker (BOM, line endings, encoding, non-ASCII identifiers)
For Unicode enforcement hook details, see unicode-enforcement-hook.md:
- When the Unicode enforcement hook runs
- What the hook checks (4 checks)
- How to fix each type of Unicode violation
- Running the standalone Unicode compliance checker
- Configuring the hook in pre-push scripts
PR Gate Scripts
These scripts enforce quality gates on pull requests:
| Script | Purpose | Usage |
|---|
eia_github_pr_gate.py | Run pre-merge quality checks on PRs | python scripts/eia_github_pr_gate.py --pr <NUMBER> |
eia_github_pr_gate_checks.py | Individual check implementations for PR gates | (Internal, called by eia_github_pr_gate.py) |
eia_github_report.py | Generate comprehensive GitHub project reports | python scripts/eia_github_report.py --owner <OWNER> --repo <REPO> --project <NUM> |
eia_github_report_formatters.py | Format reports in markdown/JSON | (Internal, used by eia_github_report.py) |
Script Locations
All scripts are located at ../../scripts/ relative to this skill.
Resources
Gate Details
Code Quality Checks
Procedures and Examples
Reference Materials
Version: 1.0.0
Last Updated: 2025-02-04
Skill Type: Integration Process
Required Knowledge: CI/CD, code review, GitHub workflows
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