Quality Gates

How to Invoke

CLI

3s gains-gate

MCP Tool

gains_gate()

Default Checks

Gate Pass/Fail Logic

The gate passes only if all critical checks pass. Non-critical failures are recorded but do not block progress.

• All critical checks pass + some non-critical fail = PASS (with warnings)
• Any critical check fails = FAIL (must fix before proceeding)

Interpreting Results

Running gains gate...

  [PASS] neurologist_health: Neurologist operational (89ms)
  [FAIL] cardiologist_health: Cardiologist unreachable: Connection refused
  [PASS][critical] evidence_store: Evidence store accessible (42 learnings)
  [PASS][critical] state_backend: State backend operational

PASS: 3/4 checks passed (non-critical failures: cardiologist_health)  (23ms)

In this example, the gate passes because the Cardiologist being down is non-critical. The evidence store and state backend (both critical) are healthy.

What to Do When the Gate Fails

1. Read the failure messages -- they tell you exactly which critical check failed and why
2. Fix the root cause -- do not proceed to the next phase with a failed gate
3. Re-run the gate -- verify the fix resolved the issue
4. Only then proceed -- the gate exists to prevent building on broken infrastructure

CardioGate

When to Run

• When quality degradation is detected -- automated monitoring flags declining output quality
• For periodic quality reviews -- scheduled quality assurance checks
• After significant model or prompt changes -- verify quality was not regressed

How It Works

The CardioGate chains three steps:

1. Rate limit check (critical) -- maximum 3 automated reviews per hour. Prevents runaway quality checks from burning budget.
2. Gains gate (embedded) -- all GainsGate checks run as part of CardioGate. Infrastructure must be healthy before quality review.
3. Optional cross-examination -- if both previous steps pass, a cross-exam can be triggered for the quality concern.

Rate Limiting

If the rate limit is exceeded, the entire CardioGate fails with a critical rate_limit check failure. This prevents cost runaway from automated quality monitoring loops.

Gate Failure

CardioGate fails if:

• Rate limit exceeded (critical)
• Any GainsGate critical check fails (critical)
• Both must pass for the gate to pass

CorrigibilityGate

When to Run

• Before destructive operations -- dropping tables, wiping data, force pushing
• Before safety bypass requests -- any action that would circumvent safety checks
• Before modifying gate logic -- self-modification of the safety system itself

How to Invoke

The CorrigibilityGate is primarily used programmatically:

from three_surgeons.core.gates import CorrigibilityGate
from three_surgeons.core.config import Config

gate = CorrigibilityGate(config=Config.discover())
result = gate.run(proposed_action="Drop all production database tables and recreate")
# result.passed = False
# result.summary = "CORRIGIBILITY FAIL: Blocked: No destructive operations without explicit approval (matched: 'Drop all...database tables')"

Default Invariants

The gate checks proposed actions against these regex-based safety rules:

Interpreting Results

CORRIGIBILITY PASS: action is safe (4 invariants checked)

or

CORRIGIBILITY FAIL: Blocked: No destructive operations without explicit approval (matched: 'drop all database tables')

A failed corrigibility check means the proposed action matches a safety invariant. The action should NOT proceed without explicit human approval.

What to Do When CorrigibilityGate Fails

1. Do NOT bypass the gate -- the invariant exists for a reason
2. Present the failure to the human -- explain what was blocked and why
3. Ask for explicit approval -- if the human confirms the action is intentional, they can authorize proceeding
4. The gate itself cannot be modified -- "disable corrigibility gate" is itself an invariant violation

Decision Table: Which Gate?

Gate Composition

Gates can be composed. The CardioGate already embeds a GainsGate. You could build custom workflows:

CorrigibilityGate -> GainsGate -> (proceed with operation)

This pattern ensures: (1) the action is safe, (2) the infrastructure is healthy, (3) then execute.