/gate-check

name: gate-check
description: "Ready to advance between development stages? PASS/CONCERNS/NOT ASSESSED/FAIL with blockers and required artifacts. 'Can we move to production?'"
argument-hint: "[target-phase: systems-design | technical-setup | pre-production | production | polish | release] [--review full|lean|solo]"
user-invocable: true
allowed-tools: Read, Glob, Grep, Write, Edit, Agent, AskUserQuestion, Bash(bash "*/.claude/skills/gate-check/../../hooks/yaml-helper.sh" resolve_config *), Bash(bash .claude/scripts/artifact-check.sh *), Bash(bash .claude/scripts/gdd-structure-check.sh*), Bash(bash .claude/scripts/adr-dep-graph.sh*), Bash(bash .claude/scripts/set-stage.sh *)
model: opus

!`bash "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../hooks/yaml-helper.sh" resolve_config --keys review_mode,workflow,qa.level,testing.strict,performance.enforce,team.size,project.stage,system_overrides`

Resolved above — use as-is; `--review` overrides `review_mode`. No block → defaults in `.claude/docs/config-resolution.md`.

Phase Gate Validation

This skill validates whether the project is ready to advance to the next development phase. It checks for required artifacts, quality standards, and blockers.

**Distinct from `/project-stage-detect`**: That skill is diagnostic ("where are we?"). This skill is prescriptive ("are we ready to advance?" with a formal verdict).

Production Stages (7)

The project progresses through these stages:

1. **Concept** — Brainstorming, game concept document 2. **Systems Design** — Mapping systems, writing GDDs 3. **Technical Setup** — Engine config, architecture decisions 4. **Pre-Production** — Prototyping, vertical slice validation 5. **Production** — Feature development (Epic/Feature/Task tracking active) 6. **Polish** — Performance, playtesting, bug fixing 7. **Release** — Launch prep, certification

**When a gate passes** (or the user explicitly accepts a CONCERNS verdict's risks — Section 6), update the stage in both `project.yaml` (set `project.stage: <new-stage>`) AND write the new stage name to `production/stage.txt` (single line, e.g. `Production`). Dual-write keeps backward compatibility with hooks that haven't migrated yet. This updates the status line immediately.

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1. Parse Arguments

**Target phase:** `$ARGUMENTS` with any `--review <mode>` pair removed (blank = auto-detect current stage, then validate next transition). `/gate-check --review full` names no phase.

Note: in `solo` mode, director spawns (CD-PHASE-GATE, TD-PHASE-GATE, PR-PHASE-GATE, AD-PHASE-GATE) are skipped — gate-check becomes artifact-existence checks only. In `lean` mode, the phase-gate directors still run (phase gates are the purpose of lean mode); how many of them run is set by `workflow` below.

**`workflow`** (per `.claude/docs/workflow-modes.md`):

`gate-check` runs project-wide, so it uses the project-level `workflow` for the gate's overall artifact checklist (the loaded gate file), AND consults `workflow_overrides.system_overrides.<system>` per-system when validating MVP GDDs — a system pinned to a higher tier must meet that tier's section count before the gate passes, regardless of the project-level workflow (see Section 2b, "Per-system overrides").

> **gate-check honors `workflow` but is exempt from `automation`.** The artifact > checklist changes per tier; the collaborative prompting protocol (the > Collaborative Protocol section) always applies — a phase gate is a deliberate > human checkpoint, never auto-run.

**`qa.level`**: controls test enforcement at phase gates, where `workflow` controls which artifacts are required. `modes.rigor` sets both together; set `qa.level` explicitly to vary enforcement alone. At `minimal`, no test gates apply — the test-evidence and unit-test artifact items become non-required and the Section 3 `testing.strict` check is a no-op; the smoke check is not relaxed (Section 2b) — but at this level `/smoke-check` runs without game tests (its automated row reads WAIVED), so the build check (`commands.smoke`, else `commands.build`, when set) and the launch and critical-path checks are the floor — a build nobody launched is NOT ASSESSED — and a project with no tests can still pass. At `standard`, Logic + Integration tests must pass. At `full`, a full coverage check + regression suite are required (coverage minimum from `qa.coverage_minimum` if set). The retained screenshots UI and Visual/Feel stories need are not test items: no `qa.level` relaxes them (Section 2b).

**`team.size`**: does not change how many directors spawn at a phase gate — panel width is `workflow`'s axis (Section 4b). This value affects only the **specialist depth within each director's review**. `individual` uses the core specialist set; `small` the standard set; `studio` adds engine sub-specialists. It never skips a director — skipping directors is `review_mode`'s job. Both `review_mode` and `team.size` are set by `modes.rigor` — one rigor choice sets both — and each still overrides that axis when set explicitly (a full-rigor project gets the `studio` set; lighter tiers get `individual`).

• **With argument**: `/gate-check production` — validate readiness for that specific phase
• **No argument**: Auto-detect current stage using the same heuristics as

`/project-stage-detect`, then **confirm with the user before running**:

Ask with the question tool:

• Prompt: "Detected stage: **[current stage]**. Running gate for [Current] → [Next] transition. Is this correct?"
• Options:
• `[A] Yes — run this gate`
• `[B] No — pick a different gate` (if selected, show a second widget listing all gate options: Concept → Systems Design, Systems Design → Technical Setup, Technical Setup → Pre-Production, Pre-Production → Production, Production → Polish, Polish → Release)

Do not skip this confirmation step when no argument is provided.

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2. Phase Gate Definitions

Each gate's checklist — required artifacts, quality checks, and its workflow-tier reductions — lives in its own