Gate

Turn "please follow the rules" into "you cannot commit until you do."

A gate is a mechanical check at a lifecycle point. It does not depend on the agent remembering anything. This skill installs the enforcement layer — local hooks, a TDD gate, and a required CI check — and then proves it fires.

When to Activate

• A user says their AI agent ships untested, unreviewed, or broken code.
• They want a TDD gate, a pre-commit gate, or a required CI status check.
• They ask to "add enforcement", "block bad commits", or "make the agent prove it works".
• A repo has prompts (CLAUDE.md, .cursorrules, AGENTS.md) but no mechanical enforcement.

When NOT to Use

• The repo already has active gates — verify first (see Verification).
• Non-git projects: no VCS means no hooks; enforcement is convention-only.
• One-off scripts where a gate is pure noise.

Output Contract

The Principle

Agent = Model + Harness. Most agent failures blamed on "the model" are configuration failures: a missing gate, not a missing brain. This skill installs the harness — the layer that survives when the agent's context fills up.

Rules that depend on memory fail. Rules that live in a hook succeed.

Workflow

1. Detect the VCS and the stack

git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree        # git?
git config core.hooksPath                  # hooks shadowed by husky/lefthook?
ls package.json pyproject.toml Cargo.toml go.mod Gemfile pubspec.yaml Makefile 2>/dev/null

The hook directory is not always .git/hooks/. If core.hooksPath is set (husky, lefthook), that is where hooks must live. → See guides/WIRE-THE-GATES.md.

2. Install the harness

The canonical installer is Another Agent Skills (MIT, self-hosted, stack-agnostic):

# pinned, checksum-verified release
curl -fsSL https://github.com/juandelossantos/another-agent-skills/releases/latest/download/bootstrap.sh | bash
aas install --agents auto

Or, with the ecosystem CLI (installs the skills into your agent):

npx skills add juandelossantos/another-agent-skills

Then, inside the target repo:

init-agents          # detects the agent + stack, writes STACK_CONFIG.md, wires the hooks

3. Wire the three layers

• L1 — local hooks (.git/hooks/ or .husky/): fast, advisory feedback.
• L2 — required remote gates check (.github/workflows/gates.yml + branch protection): the authority.
• L3 — CODEOWNERS: protects the gate configuration from the agent.

→ Full setup: guides/WIRE-THE-GATES.md.

4. Prove it (the whole point)

Do not claim enforcement — demonstrate it:

1. Make a code change with no matching test.
2. git commit → the hook must BLOCK.
3. Paste the blocked output as evidence.

→ guides/VERIFY-ENFORCEMENT.md.

Decision Tree

• No git? → stop. Install is convention-only; say so.
• git, no remote? → L1 only. Explain that L2 needs a GitHub remote.
• git + GitHub? → full L1 + L2 + L3.
• core.hooksPath points elsewhere? → write hooks there, not .git/hooks/.

Anti-Patterns

• Installing gates and claiming "done" without the blocked-commit proof.
• A gate that a silent bypass file (SKIP_*) can skip without a log.
• Enforcement that depends on the agent remembering the rule.

Quick Reference

Integration

• test-driven-development — the discipline this gate enforces.
• git-init-and-versioning — repo setup before enforcement.
• shipping-and-launch — the TOOL_GAP rule: never fake a green.

Verification

• core.hooksPath resolved; hooks present in the directory git actually reads.
• A commit without a matching test is blocked (transcript captured).
• The remote gates check exists and is required by branch protection.
• README install path and the gate story are documented.