Lifecycle Gates

lifecycle.transition.execute — what yoke lifecycle transition PREFIX-N --to STAGE calls — evaluates every gate on the write itself, whichever caller moves the item. A refusal names its error code, the reason, and the recovery step. Skills do not re-run gates before the write; they make the transition and act on a refusal.

Listed and structural gates

Listed gates are the target stage's gates in the item's pinned definition (yoke workflows version get WORKFLOW VERSION). Structural gates follow from the definition's own shape — its lane-taking stage (the first stage carrying an activation gate), the stages it treats as merged, its implementation binding (the bound skill that executes the work), and its delivery and generated_children policies — so they hold on every version without being listed.

Structural gate	Holds when	Refusal code
Activation dependency edges	Entering the lane-taking stage and every later working stage before the merge boundary	GATE_HARD_BLOCKS_UNSATISFIED
Integration dependency edges	Entering any stage the definition treats as merged	GATE_HARD_BLOCKS_UNSATISFIED
Closure dependency edges	Entering done	GATE_CLOSURE_UNSATISFIED
File Budget coverage	Working stages, when effective File Budget and path claims are both enabled	GATE_SPEC_COVERAGE
Shepherd verdict	A shepherd-bound definition starting implementation	GATE_SHEPHERD_VERDICT
Task-graph existence	A task-graph parent from its executing binding's entry stage	GATE_EPIC_TASKS
Task-graph completion	A task-graph parent from its executing binding's handoff stage	GATE_EPIC_TASKS_INCOMPLETE
Deferred items	A task-graph parent entering done with unfiled deferrals	GATE_DEFERRED_ITEMS_UNFILED
Merge record	Entering the release wait without merged_at or attested no-change evidence	GATE_MERGE_UNRECORDED
Done ceremony	Entering done under a release-stage delivery without the close-out nonce	GATE_DONE_NONCE

QA

The transition materializes the requirements its project and item attachments bind to it before any gate runs. A target stage that lists qa_verification requires every blocking verification requirement on the item to pass or be waived, including cases bound to an earlier stage that precedes it. Run them with yoke qa plan run --item PREFIX-N --transition STAGE before the QA-gated transition.

Overrides and handoffs

The engine's internal force override skips most gates for sanctioned callers; task-graph existence, File Budget coverage, closure, terminal QA settlement, and the activation gates hold regardless. The CLI carries no force flag.

A transition whose target sits in another skill binding's segment succeeds and reports that skill in its response skill_handoff; the next leg is that skill's fresh command and claim.