Approval Gates (Governance Gates) — Approval gates are governance checkpoints in a software delivery pipeline that a change must pass before it can progress — for example, requiring human sign-off, a passing blast-radius check, or resolved spec drift before a work order advances or a release ships.
Gates turn policy into enforcement. Instead of relying on convention ('please get review'), a gate blocks progression until its condition is met, producing an audit trail of who approved what and why.
In AI-native delivery, gates are how you keep agent velocity from outrunning governance: an agent can generate change quickly, but a gate ensures a human or an automated check validates it before it counts as done or shippable.
Skaftor gates progression between delivery phases (requirements → blueprints → work orders) and on releases, combining human approvals with automated checks like readiness scoring and drift status.
CI checks typically verify code mechanics (build, tests, lint). Governance gates enforce process and policy — human approvals, readiness thresholds, resolved drift, acceptable blast radius — and gate progression across the delivery lifecycle, not just the build.
Release confidence is a composite readiness score that answers 'should we ship this?' by c…
In software delivery, a change's blast radius is the full set of components, contracts, se…
The Intent-to-Production Thread is unbroken traceability from a unit of business intent to…
AI-native software delivery is a way of building software in which humans express intent a…
Last updated July 28, 2026 · https://skaftor.com/glossary/gates