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enforcement: high
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# Human-in-the-Loop Gate Rules

**Enforcement Level**: HIGH
**Scope**: All SDLC phase transitions and critical checkpoints
**Research Basis**: REF-057 Agent Laboratory (HITL draft-then-edit: 84% cost reduction, 0.83 vs 4.2 revision cycles)
**Issue**: #96

## Gate Types

| Type | Behavior |
|------|----------|
| `approval` | Blocks until a human approves (phase transitions, major decisions) |
| `review` | Human reviews; auto-proceeds on timeout (artifact quality checks) |
| `escalation` | Triggered by conditions (budget overruns, confidence drops) |
| `checkpoint` | Informational; always proceeds (progress updates) |

## Mandatory Rules

### Rule 1: Phase Transitions Require Gates
Every SDLC phase transition MUST have an approval gate with `mode: ALWAYS`: GATE-C2I (Concept→Inception), GATE-I2E (Inception→Elaboration), GATE-E2C (Elaboration→Construction), GATE-C2T (Construction→Transition).

### Rule 2: Gate Modes
`ALWAYS` (critical/security/compliance), `CONDITIONAL` (auto-approve under explicit conditions), `NEVER` (only for fully automated pipelines with human oversight elsewhere), `TERMINATE` (stop and wait indefinitely).

### Rule 3: Timeout Actions
Configure per gate: approval → `block`; review → `proceed`; budget → `abort`.

### Rule 4: Cost Tracking is REQUIRED
Every gate tracks `time_to_decision`, `revision_count`, `token_cost_saved`.

### Rule 5: Audit Trail
Every gate decision is logged with rationale (~90-day retention).

### Rule 6: Auto-Approve Conditions Must Be Explicit
`CONDITIONAL` mode without stated `auto_approve_conditions` is FORBIDDEN. Each condition needs an explicit predicate and a reason (e.g. `confidence > 0.95 AND no_critical_issues` — "high confidence, no blockers").

### Rule 7: Presentation Must Aid Decision
Gates present enough context to decide: artifacts ready, quality score, open issues, the action required, the artifacts to show, and a required question with explicit options.

### Rule 8: Artifact Omission Requires Human Approval
Agents MUST NOT silently skip, abbreviate, or omit any SDLC artifact based on inferred project type/size/complexity — completeness is the default. To skip an artifact, surface an `ALWAYS`/`block` gate ("Skip generating {{artifact}}?" → No-generate-it (recommended) / Yes-skip / generate-abbreviated). Implicit skips produce inconsistent artifact sets and erode trust; the human must explicitly opt out.

## SDLC Phase Gates

| Gate | Timeout→block | Artifacts | Question |
|------|---------------|-----------|----------|
| GATE-C2I | 48h | intake form, solution profile | Scope approved? |
| GATE-I2E | 48h | user stories, use cases, risk register | Requirements complete? |
| GATE-E2C | 48h | SAD, ADRs, test strategy | Architecture approved? |
| GATE-C2T | 24h | test results, deployment plan, security assessment | Ready for production? |

All gates conform to `@$AIWG_ROOT/agentic/code/frameworks/sdlc-complete/schemas/flows/hitl-gate.yaml`. Integrates with flow commands (exit gates), agent loops (iteration-count checkpoint gates), and cost budgets (cost-threshold gates with `timeout_action: abort`). Notify via configured channels (cli, issue_comment, slack) with the gate name, action required, and timeout remaining.

## Checklist

Gate type matches use case; mode appropriate for risk; timeout + timeout_action configured; cost tracking enabled; audit logging enabled; presentation aids the decision; auto-approve conditions justified (if CONDITIONAL).

## References

- @$AIWG_ROOT/agentic/code/frameworks/sdlc-complete/schemas/flows/hitl-gate.yaml
- @.aiwg/research/findings/REF-057-agent-laboratory.md
- #96

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**Rule Status**: ACTIVE
**Last Updated**: 2026-01-25