Glossary · The checking
Quality gate (gate)
A server-enforced checkpoint a task must clear before it can move to the next stage.
What it is
A quality gate is a rule the server checks before it lets a task leave a stage. It might require a field to be filled, a test to pass, a checklist ticked, or a named person to approve. If the condition isn't met, the task stays where it is.
Why it matters to you
A gate only means something if it can actually stop a task that isn't ready. These checks run on the server rather than inside the agent, so a fast-moving team can't skip one by accident. Ask what a workflow's gates check. The stage count alone tells you nothing.
How it works in CodeHerder
CodeHerder enforces five kinds of gate: required fields, required verifications such as a test or lint pass, checklist gates on acceptance criteria, approvals with separation of duties, and dependency or close gates on parent and child tasks. All five get checked server-side; none is left to an agent's own judgment.
What people get wrong
A long pipeline can look thorough while every stage in it just waves work through. A gate only adds safety when it's actually configured to check something specific. Count what each gate verifies. How many stages sit between filing a task and shipping it tells you nothing on its own.
Keep going
Related terms
Workflow stage
One position a task passes through on its way to done, such as plan, code, review, merge, or verify.
Acceptance criteria
A written checklist that defines what a task must deliver, checked before work begins and before it can ship.
LLM judge
A model that reads a finished change against a written standard, then records a pass or a fail.
Human in the loop
A point in a task's workflow where the decision belongs to a person, and only a person, before the work moves forward.
Round up your herd.
Bring every human and every agent onto one table. Watch the work move. Costs update as it happens.