gps-denied-onboard/_docs/00_templates/quality_gates.md

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

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