# Quality Gates

Quality gates are checkpoints that must pass before proceeding to the next phase.

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## Kickstart Tutorial Quality Gates

### Gate 1: Research Complete (after 1.40)
Before proceeding to Planning phase:
- [ ] Problem description is clear and complete
- [ ] Acceptance criteria are measurable and testable
- [ ] Restrictions are documented
- [ ] Security requirements defined
- [ ] Solution draft reviewed and finalized
- [ ] Tech stack evaluated and selected

### Gate 2: Planning Complete (after 2.40)
Before proceeding to Implementation phase:
- [ ] All components defined with clear boundaries
- [ ] Data model designed and reviewed
- [ ] API contracts defined
- [ ] Test specifications created
- [ ] Jira epics/tasks created
- [ ] Effort estimated
- [ ] Risks identified and mitigated

### Gate 3: Implementation Complete (after 3.40)
Before merging to main:
- [ ] All components implemented
- [ ] Code coverage >= 75%
- [ ] All tests pass (unit, integration)
- [ ] Code review approved
- [ ] Security scan passed
- [ ] CI/CD pipeline green
- [ ] Deployment tested on staging
- [ ] Documentation complete

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## Iterative Tutorial Quality Gates

### Gate 1: Spec Ready (after step 20)
Before creating Jira task:
- [ ] Building block clearly defines problem/goal
- [ ] Feature spec has measurable acceptance criteria
- [ ] Dependencies identified
- [ ] Complexity estimated

### Gate 2: Implementation Ready (after step 50)
Before starting development:
- [ ] Plan reviewed and approved
- [ ] Test strategy defined
- [ ] Dependencies available or mocked

### Gate 3: Merge Ready (after step 70)
Before creating PR:
- [ ] All acceptance criteria met
- [ ] Tests pass locally
- [ ] Definition of Done checklist completed
- [ ] No unresolved TODOs in code

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## Refactoring Tutorial Quality Gates

### Gate 1: Safety Net Ready (after 4.50)
Before starting refactoring:
- [ ] Baseline metrics captured
- [ ] Current behavior documented
- [ ] Integration tests pass (>= 75% coverage)
- [ ] Feature parity checklist created

### Gate 2: Refactoring Safe (after each 4.70 cycle)
After each refactoring step:
- [ ] All existing tests still pass
- [ ] No functionality lost (feature parity check)
- [ ] Performance not degraded (compare to baseline)

### Gate 3: Refactoring Complete (after 4.95)
Before declaring refactoring done:
- [ ] All tests pass
- [ ] Performance improved or maintained
- [ ] Security review passed
- [ ] Technical debt reduced
- [ ] Documentation updated

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## Automated Gate Checks

### CI Pipeline Gates
```yaml
gates:
  build:
    - compilation_success: true
  
  quality:
    - lint_errors: 0
    - code_coverage: ">= 75%"
    - code_smells: "< 10 new"
  
  security:
    - critical_vulnerabilities: 0
    - high_vulnerabilities: 0
  
  tests:
    - unit_tests_pass: true
    - integration_tests_pass: true
```

### Manual Gate Checks
Some gates require human verification:
- Architecture review
- Security review
- UX review (for UI changes)
- Stakeholder sign-off

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## Gate Failure Handling

When a gate fails:
1. **Stop** - Do not proceed to next phase
2. **Identify** - Determine which checks failed
3. **Fix** - Address the failures
4. **Re-verify** - Run gate checks again
5. **Document** - If exception needed, get approval and document reason

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## Exception Process

If a gate must be bypassed:
1. Document the reason
2. Get tech lead approval
3. Create follow-up task to address
4. Set deadline for resolution
5. Add to risk register