apply-stage-gate

Purpose

Apply explicit GO / HOLD / RECYCLE / KILL gates to a candidate or work package, tying each outcome to evidence thresholds and a next action.

Input contract

required: [candidate_record, gate_criteria, evidence_register]
optional: [prior_gate_decision, remediation_options]
constraints: [each criterion has an observable status; gate outcome and next action are explicit]

Procedure

1. Normalize the candidate, gate criteria, evidence, and unresolved assumptions into a gate table.
2. Evaluate every criterion as met, unmet, or unknown, preserving the cited evidence and threshold direction.
3. Apply precedence: KILL for disqualifying hard failure, RECYCLE for repairable failure, HOLD for insufficient evidence, otherwise GO.
4. Emit the gate decision, failed criteria, evidence gaps, and the smallest justified next action.

Output contract

produces: [gate_table, gate_decision, failed_criteria, next_action]
delta_fields: [findings, evidence_updates, uncertainties, decisions, recommended_jumps]

Quality gates

• A-class gate: declared universe = all candidate criteria and evidence items; numerator = criteria with explicit status and source; batch increment = one evaluated criterion; stopping reason = every criterion resolved or a hard failure terminates the gate; source references = criterion/evidence IDs; direction/threshold reason = GO requires all hard criteria met, while HOLD/RECYCLE/KILL follows the declared precedence.
• No GO is emitted while any hard criterion is unknown.

Failure and counterexamples

Do not turn an absent measurement into a pass. A repairable shortfall is RECYCLE only when a concrete remediation and re-gate condition are recorded.

Provenance map

• concept: convergence/feasibility-assessment/stage-gate [strategy/tactic]