workflow-gates
Workflow Gates — HARD-GATE Contract
Section titled “Workflow Gates — HARD-GATE Contract”Universal rule for t1k:cook, t1k:fix, and any skill that uses HARD-GATE enforcement blocks.
What a HARD-GATE is
Section titled “What a HARD-GATE is”A HARD-GATE is a mandatory stopping point in a workflow. Passing it requires satisfying ALL listed conditions — none may be skipped without an explicit user override. Skill bodies embed <HARD-GATE> XML tags as machine-readable markers; this rule defines their normative contract.
Universal HARD-GATE contract
Section titled “Universal HARD-GATE contract”- No bypass without a named user override. Each HARD-GATE must state the allowed override (flag, explicit user instruction, or “no override”). Silence = not bypassable.
- Evidence required, not assertion. Stating “this is fine” without artifacts does not satisfy a gate. The gate passes when the concrete deliverable (artifact, test run, scout summary, root-cause sentence) exists.
- Gate failures stop the workflow. When a gate fails, the skill MUST use
AskUserQuestionto surface what failed and offer concrete options — never silently patch around it. - 3+ failed attempts → escalate. After 3 unsuccessful attempts at any gated step, STOP and question the architecture with the user. Do not attempt a 4th fix without a different approach.
Gate types used by cook + fix
Section titled “Gate types used by cook + fix”| Tag | Gates | Default override |
|---|---|---|
<HARD-GATE> | Plan/diagnose must exist before coding/fixing | --fast (cook) / --quick (fix) |
<HARD-GATE-SCOUT-FIRST> | Codebase scan before questions or hypotheses | None |
<HARD-GATE-EXACT-REQUIREMENTS> | 5 concrete requirement answers before plan | Skip when input IS a plan.md path |
<HARD-GATE-EXACT-ROOT-CAUSE> | 6-slot root-cause before fix proposal | None |
<HARD-GATE-NO-SIDE-EFFECTS> | 5-proof verification before finalize | --no-test downgrades item 2 to warning |
Full gate content per skill: skills/t1k-cook/SKILL.md, skills/t1k-fix/SKILL.md.
How to apply
Section titled “How to apply”Skill bodies that contain <HARD-GATE> blocks cite this rule file in their preamble. They do NOT re-state the universal contract here — only their skill-specific gate content. The universal contract is this file.
Related
Section titled “Related”rules/agent-anti-rationalization.md— evidence-first discipline enforced inside gatesrules/always-ask-on-unresolved.md— gate failure →AskUserQuestion(not silent bypass)rules/coding-guidelines.md§4 — “Goal-Driven Execution”