| name | gate-check |
| description | For ai-dev-workflow template maintainers only. Do not trigger during normal development workflow. Deterministic pre-review gate that verifies source vs .github/** sync parity and catalog counts before committing changes to the template repo itself. Triggers on: "gate check", "run gate", "pre-review check", "verify before review", "check sync drift", "check catalog parity". Reports GATE PASSED / GATE PASSED WITH NOTES / GATE FAILED.
|
Gate-Check Skill
Deterministic automated quality gate. Runs before agentic-eval and code-reviewer. Hard failures stop the pipeline.
⚠️ Scope
This skill is for ai-dev-workflow template maintainers only.
It verifies sync parity between the skills/, agents/, instructions/, prompts/ source folders
and the generated .github/** copies — checks that are only meaningful inside the template repository itself.
If you are using this template in your own project (via bootstrap.ps1 or install-apply.ps1),
gate-check is not deployed to your project. You do not need it and should not trigger it.
Verdict Semantics
| Verdict | Meaning | Action |
|---|
GATE PASSED | All required checks pass; no blocking issues | Proceed to agentic-eval → code-reviewer |
GATE PASSED WITH NOTES | Required checks pass; non-blocking warnings present | Log warning to 02-decision-log.md, then proceed |
GATE FAILED | One or more required checks failed | STOP. Do not proceed to agentic-eval or code-reviewer. Resolve failures first. |
Concrete Examples
GATE PASSED
Source vs .github/** drift check: no drift. Catalog parity: 6/10/28 match. → GATE PASSED
GATE PASSED WITH NOTES
Catalog check: 30 skills found, expected 28. New skills were added intentionally (Phase 3 delivery). Constant not yet updated.
→ GATE PASSED WITH NOTES — update $ExpectedSkillCount in audit-catalog.ps1; log to 02-decision-log.md.
GATE FAILED
sync-dotgithub.ps1 reports drift: .github/agents/coder.agent.md is out of date with source.
→ GATE FAILED — run pwsh -File .\tools\sync-dotgithub.ps1 and re-run gate-check.
Minimum Check Set
| Check | Required? | Command / Method |
|---|
Source vs .github/** drift | Required | pwsh -File .\tools\sync-dotgithub.ps1 (exit code 0 = clean) |
| Catalog count parity | Required | pwsh -File .\tools\audit-catalog.ps1 (exit code 0 = clean) |
| TypeScript / PowerShell type-check | Conditional | Run if type-checker is configured in the repo |
| Lint | Conditional | Run if linter is configured |
| Tests | Conditional | Run if test suite is configured |
| Build | Conditional | Run if build step is configured |
Required checks must pass for GATE PASSED. Conditional checks are skipped if not configured.
Boundary: gate-check vs agentic-eval
| Dimension | gate-check | agentic-eval |
|---|
| Nature | Deterministic (script exit codes, file diff) | Model-based (rubric scoring, judgment) |
| Failure type | Hard binary FAIL (exit ≠ 0) | Dimensional FAIL (rubric score below threshold) |
| When it runs | Before agentic-eval | After gate-check passes |
| Iteration | No iteration (fix and re-run) | Max 2 iterations at stage gates |
| Who resolves | Implementer (fix the code/sync) | Agent (self-correct) or human (escalation) |
gate-check catches objective failures. agentic-eval catches subjective quality gaps. They are complementary, not redundant.
Three-Layer Ordering at Code→Review Handoff
1. gate-check (deterministic; GATE FAILED = STOP)
↓
2. agentic-eval (model-based; max 2 iterations at stage gate; unresolved → escalate to human)
↓
3. code-reviewer-agent (delegated review; independent Tier 2 gate)
Skipping gate-check or proceeding past GATE FAILED is a protocol violation.
GATE PASSED WITH NOTES Escalation Path
When the verdict is GATE PASSED WITH NOTES:
- Record the note in
changes/<slug>/02-decision-log.md (append-only):
## Gate-Check Note — <date>
- Check: <check name>
- Finding: <brief description>
- Decision: <proceed / defer / fix>
- Proceed to
agentic-eval after logging.
- Do NOT suppress or silently ignore the note.
Hard-Stop Enforcement
Current mode: Advisory — gate-check reports GATE FAILED and stops the agent's forward progress.
Future graduation criteria for Strict Mode (documented here, not yet enforced):
- All required checks automated in
run-gate-check.ps1
- CI integration available to block PR merges on gate failure
