Quality Gates

Quality Gates Skill

Objective

Enforce code quality standards by running automated checks that must pass before code can be committed, merged, or deployed. Acts as a guardian ensuring consistent quality across the codebase.

When to Use This Skill

Auto-invoke when:

• User completes feature implementation
• Before creating commits or pull requests
• User asks to "test", "validate", "check quality", or "verify"
• Before deployment or release
• After significant refactoring

Quality Gate Levels

Level 1: Pre-Commit Gates (Fast, < 30 seconds)

Essential checks that run before every commit.

Level 2: Pre-Push Gates (Moderate, < 2 minutes)

Comprehensive checks before pushing to remote.

Level 3: Pre-Deploy Gates (Thorough, < 5 minutes)

Complete validation before production deployment.

Gate Execution Workflow

Gate 1: Linting (JavaScript/TypeScript)

Purpose: Enforce code style and catch common errors

Tools: Bash, Read

Process:

1. Detect linter by checking for:

   • ESLint: .eslintrc*, eslint.config.*
   • Biome: biome.json
   • None: Skip this gate

2. Read package.json to find lint script:

   "scripts": {
     "lint": "eslint .",
     "lint:fix": "eslint . --fix"
   }
   

3. Execute linter:

   # Try to run lint script
   npm run lint
   
   # If fails, try direct commands
   npx eslint . || npx biome check .
   

4. Parse results:

   • Exit code 0: ✅ PASS
   • Exit code non-zero: ❌ FAIL
   • Extract error count and file locations

5. Auto-fix attempt (if failures found):

   npm run lint:fix || npx eslint . --fix
   

Success Criteria: Zero linting errors (warnings acceptable)

Gate 2: Type Checking (TypeScript)

Purpose: Verify type safety and catch type errors

Tools: Bash, Read, Grep

Process:

1. Detect TypeScript by checking for:

   • tsconfig.json
   • TypeScript in dependencies

2. Read tsconfig.json to check strictness:

   • strict: true
   • noImplicitAny, strictNullChecks, etc.

3. Execute type checker:

   # Try to run typecheck script
   npm run typecheck || npm run type-check
   
   # If no script, run directly
   npx tsc --noEmit
   

4. Parse results:

   • Exit code 0: ✅ PASS
   • Exit code non-zero: ❌ FAIL
   • Extract error count and locations

Success Criteria: Zero type errors

Gate 3: Unit & Integration Tests

Purpose: Verify code functionality and prevent regressions

Tools: Bash, Read, Grep

Process:

1. Detect test framework:

   • Vitest: vitest.config.*, vitest in dependencies
   • Jest: jest.config.*, jest in dependencies
   • Native test: --test flag with Node.js 20+

2. Count test files:

   # Use Grep to find test files
   find . -name "*.test.*" -o -name "*.spec.*" | wc -l
   

3. Execute tests:

   # Run unit tests (fast)
   npm run test || npm run test:unit
   
   # Or direct command
   npx vitest run || npx jest --ci
   

4. Parse results:

   • Total tests run
   • Passed / Failed / Skipped
   • Coverage percentage (if available)

5. Coverage check (if configured):

   npm run test:coverage
   
   # Check if meets threshold (e.g., 80%)
   

Success Criteria:

• All tests pass (100%)
• Coverage ≥ configured threshold (if set)

Gate 4: Build Verification

Purpose: Ensure code compiles and builds without errors

Tools: Bash

Process:

1. Detect build system:

   • Next.js: next build
   • Vite: vite build
   • Webpack: webpack --mode production
   • TypeScript: tsc

2. Execute build:

   npm run build
   

3. Check build artifacts:

   • Verify output directory exists: dist/, build/, .next/
   • Check for build errors in logs

4. Clean up (optional):

   # Remove build artifacts to save space
   rm -rf dist/ build/ .next/
   

Success Criteria: Build completes with exit code 0

Gate 5: Security Audit

Purpose: Identify known vulnerabilities in dependencies

Tools: Bash, Read

Process:

1. Run npm/pnpm audit:

   npm audit --json || pnpm audit --json
   

2. Parse audit results:

   • Critical vulnerabilities: 0
   • High vulnerabilities: 0
   • Moderate vulnerabilities: < threshold
   • Low vulnerabilities: informational

3. Check for specific vulnerabilities:

   • Prototype pollution
   • Remote code execution (RCE)
   • SQL injection
   • Cross-site scripting (XSS)

4. Suggest fixes:

   npm audit fix
   # or
   npm audit fix --force  # (if safe)
   

Success Criteria:

• Zero critical/high vulnerabilities
• Moderate vulnerabilities acknowledged or fixed

Gate 6: Code Complexity Analysis (Optional)

Purpose: Flag overly complex code that may need refactoring

Tools: Grep, Bash

Process:

1. Detect code complexity tools:

   • eslint-plugin-complexity
   • SonarQube
   • CodeClimate

2. Basic complexity checks:

   # Find files with excessive lines
   find src -name "*.{ts,tsx,js,jsx}" -exec wc -l {} \; | awk '$1 > 500'
   
   # Find deeply nested code (>5 levels)
   grep -rn "^[[:space:]]\{20,\}" src/
   
   # Count TODO/FIXME
   grep -rn "TODO\|FIXME\|HACK" src/ | wc -l
   

Success Criteria:

• No files > 500 lines (warning only)
• No nesting > 5 levels (warning only)

Gate 7: Git Pre-Commit Checks

Purpose: Ensure commit quality and prevent sensitive data leaks

Tools: Bash, Grep

Process:

1. Check for sensitive data:

   # Search for API keys, secrets, tokens
   git diff --cached | grep -i "api[_-]key\|secret\|password\|token"
   
   # Check for .env files being committed
   git diff --cached --name-only | grep "\.env$"
   

2. Validate commit message (if Conventional Commits):

   • Format: type(scope): description
   • Types: feat, fix, docs, style, refactor, test, chore

3. Check file sizes:

   # Flag files > 1MB
   git diff --cached --name-only | xargs ls -lh | awk '$5 > 1000000'
   

Success Criteria:

• No secrets in diff
• No .env files
• No large files (> 1MB)

Execution Strategy

Sequential Execution (Default)

Run gates in order, stop on first failure:

Lint → TypeCheck → Test → Build → Audit

Parallel Execution (Fast Mode)

Run independent gates simultaneously:

[Lint + TypeCheck + Test] → Build → Audit

Selective Execution

Run only relevant gates based on changes:

• .ts/.tsx files changed → TypeCheck
• Dependencies updated → Audit
• Test files changed → Tests only

Output Format

# Quality Gate Results

## Summary
✅ 5/7 Gates Passed | ❌ 2/7 Gates Failed

## Gate Details

### ✅ Gate 1: Linting
- **Status**: PASS
- **Duration**: 3.2s
- **Details**: 0 errors, 2 warnings

### ❌ Gate 2: Type Checking
- **Status**: FAIL
- **Duration**: 5.1s
- **Errors**: 3 type errors found
  - `src/components/Button.tsx:15` - Property 'onClick' is missing
  - `src/utils/api.ts:42` - Type 'string' is not assignable to type 'number'
  - `src/hooks/useAuth.ts:8` - Cannot find name 'User'

### ✅ Gate 3: Tests
- **Status**: PASS
- **Duration**: 12.4s
- **Tests**: 124 passed, 0 failed, 2 skipped
- **Coverage**: 87% (target: 80%)

### ⏭️ Gate 4: Build
- **Status**: SKIPPED (previous gate failed)

### ⏭️ Gate 5: Security Audit
- **Status**: SKIPPED (previous gate failed)

## Action Required
Fix the 3 type errors in Gate 2 before proceeding.

## Recommendations
1. Run `npm run typecheck` locally to see full error details
2. Consider adding pre-commit hooks to catch these earlier
3. Current code coverage (87%) exceeds target - excellent work!

Integration with Git Hooks

Setup Husky + lint-staged (Recommended)

Check if installed:

test -d .husky && echo "Husky installed" || echo "Husky not found"

Suggest installation if missing:

npm install --save-dev husky lint-staged
npx husky init

Configure .husky/pre-commit:

#!/usr/bin/env sh
. "$(dirname -- "$0")/_/husky.sh"

# Run quality gates
npm run lint
npm run typecheck
npm run test

Alternative: git commit -m with manual checks

If no hooks, prompt user:

⚠️  No pre-commit hooks detected.
Would you like me to run quality gates before committing? (Recommended)

Progressive Quality Gates

Level 1: Essential (Always Run)

• Linting
• Type checking

Level 2: Standard (Pre-Push)

• Essential +
• Unit tests
• Security audit

Level 3: Comprehensive (Pre-Deploy)

• Standard +
• Integration tests
• E2E tests
• Build verification
• Performance tests

Error Recovery

Auto-Fix Capability

• Lint errors: Run eslint --fix or biome check --apply
• Format errors: Run prettier --write
• Security vulnerabilities: Run npm audit fix

Manual Fix Required

• Type errors
• Test failures
• Build errors

Bypass (Use with Caution)

# Skip hooks for emergency fixes only
git commit --no-verify -m "emergency: fix critical bug"

Best Practices

1. Fail Fast: Stop at first critical failure to save time
2. Clear Feedback: Always show which gate failed and why
3. Actionable: Provide exact commands to fix issues
4. Configurable: Respect project's quality thresholds
5. Performance: Cache results when possible
6. Incremental: Only check changed files when appropriate

Configuration

Read from package.json

{
  "qualityGates": {
    "coverage": {
      "minimum": 80,
      "enabled": true
    },
    "audit": {
      "level": "moderate",
      "enabled": true
    },
    "complexity": {
      "maxLines": 500,
      "maxDepth": 5
    }
  }
}

Default Settings

If no config found, use sensible defaults:

• Coverage minimum: 70%
• Audit level: high/critical only
• Max file lines: 500
• Max nesting: 5 levels

Integration with Other Skills

• codebase-analysis - Use to detect available quality tools
• git-workflow - Integrate with commit/push process
• ci-cd-setup - Configure gates for CI pipeline

Version History

• 1.0.0 (2025-01-03): Initial skill with 7 quality gates and progressive execution