How do I install the Verify Gates skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add arch1esun/verify-gates in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Verify Gates safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Verify Gates?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Verify Gates free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Verify Gates?

Arch1eSUN (@arch1esun) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Verify Gates by arch1esun — Agent Skill

Name: Verify Gates
Author: Arch1eSUN

Verify Gates

Runs the mechanical quality gates that the arcgentic state machine requires for state transitions. Invoked indirectly by transition.sh OR directly by orchestrator agent before declaring a state transition. Use when about to call transition.sh OR when manually verifying that a round artifact meets the gate criteria. Each gate is a single Bash script; output is PASS/FAIL with reason.

Arch1eSUN Updated Sep 21, 2026

File contents

Verify gates

What this skill does

arcgentic's state machine has 4 gates (MVP):

Gate	Transition	Verifies
`handoff-doc-gate.sh`	`planning → awaiting_dev_start`	handoff doc exists + has all required sections
`round-commit-chain-gate.sh`	`dev_in_progress → awaiting_audit` (also `fix_in_progress → awaiting_audit`)	dev_commits count ≥ expected + every SHA resolves in git
`verdict-fact-table-gate.sh`	`audit_in_progress → passed	needs_fix`

transition.sh runs the required gate automatically. This skill is for the orchestrator (or human) when they want to pre-verify before attempting the transition.

When to invoke this skill

About to ask a sub-agent to attempt a state transition → invoke this skill first, run the gate, fix any failures, then transition
A transition failed and the orchestrator wants to know WHY → invoke this skill, run the relevant gate, read the failure reason
Setting up a new gate for a project-specific transition → this skill's references/gate-script-catalog.md shows the gate-script shape

Gate script contract

Every gate script:

Takes --state-file PATH as its only argument
Reads state.yaml + does whatever check it does
Exits 0 on PASS, 1 on FAIL
Prints PASS line to stdout, FAIL reason to stderr

This contract means gates are composable. You can chain them. You can write project-specific ones in your own <project>/.agentic-rounds/gates/ and reference them in state.yaml's states.<state>.gate field.

Run a gate manually

bash $PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/gates/handoff-doc-gate.sh \
  --state-file <project>/.agentic-rounds/state.yaml
echo "exit: $?"

Adding a project-specific gate

Write <project>/.agentic-rounds/gates/your-gate.sh following the contract above
Edit state.yaml: set states.<source-state>.gate to your-gate.sh
Run transition.sh --gates-dir <project>/.agentic-rounds/gates ... (override built-in gates dir)

---name: verify-gatesdescription: Runs the mechanical quality gates that the arcgentic state machine requires for state transitions. Invoked indirectly by transition.sh OR directly by orchestrator agent before declaring a state transition. Use when about to call transition.sh OR when manually verifying that a round artifact meets the gate criteria. Each gate is a single Bash script; output is PASS/FAIL with reason.---# Verify gates## What this skill doesarcgentic's state machine has 4 gates (MVP):| Gate | Transition | Verifies ||------|------------|----------|| `handoff-doc-gate.sh` | `planning → awaiting_dev_start` | handoff doc exists + has all required sections || `round-commit-chain-gate.sh` | `dev_in_progress → awaiting_audit` (also `fix_in_progress → awaiting_audit`) | dev_commits count ≥ expected + every SHA resolves in git || `verdict-fact-table-gate.sh` | `audit_in_progress → passed | needs_fix` | verdict file exists + fact_table_pass==total + PASS outcome has no P0/P1 findings |`transition.sh` runs the required gate automatically. This skill is for the orchestrator (or human) when they want to pre-verify before attempting the transition.## When to invoke this skill- About to ask a sub-agent to attempt a state transition → invoke this skill first, run the gate, fix any failures, then transition- A transition failed and the orchestrator wants to know WHY → invoke this skill, run the relevant gate, read the failure reason- Setting up a new gate for a project-specific transition → this skill's `references/gate-script-catalog.md` shows the gate-script shape## Gate script contractEvery gate script:1. Takes `--state-file PATH` as its only argument2. Reads state.yaml + does whatever check it does3. Exits 0 on PASS, 1 on FAIL4. Prints PASS line to stdout, FAIL reason to stderrThis contract means gates are composable. You can chain them. You can write project-specific ones in your own `<project>/.agentic-rounds/gates/` and reference them in state.yaml's `states.<state>.gate` field.## Run a gate manually```bashbash $PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/gates/handoff-doc-gate.sh \ --state-file <project>/.agentic-rounds/state.yamlecho "exit: $?"```## Adding a project-specific gate1. Write `<project>/.agentic-rounds/gates/your-gate.sh` following the contract above2. Edit state.yaml: set `states.<source-state>.gate` to `your-gate.sh`3. Run `transition.sh --gates-dir <project>/.agentic-rounds/gates ...` (override built-in gates dir)## See also`references/gate-script-catalog.md` — catalog of built-in gates with anatomy + extension hooks

Frequently asked questions