Claude-Code-Game-Studios/.claude/docs/director-gates.md

Director Gates — Shared Review Pattern

Index of all director and lead review gates. Skills reference gate IDs from this index instead of embedding prompts inline — eliminating drift when prompts need updating. Each gate's full definition (Trigger, Context to pass, Prompt, Verdicts) lives in its own file under .claude/docs/director-gates/, named after the gate ID in lowercase.

Scope: All 7 production stages (Concept → Release), all 3 Tier 1 directors, all key Tier 2 leads. Any skill, team orchestrator, or workflow may invoke these gates.

When a skill spawns a director for a gate, it must NOT read the gate definition file itself. Include the gate definition file path in the Agent prompt and instruct the director agent to read it first, then pass only the context fields that gate's row requires. Gate definitions are read by the spawned agent, in the agent's own context window.

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Gate Index

Agent by prefix: CD- creative-director (Opus) · TD- technical-director (Opus) · PR- producer (Opus) · AD- art-director (Sonnet) · LP- lead-programmer · QL- qa-lead · ND- narrative-director (Tier 2 leads: Sonnet). Definition files below are in .claude/docs/director-gates/.

Gate ID	Purpose	Definition file
CD-PILLARS	Pillar stress test after pillars are defined	cd-pillars.md
CD-GDD-ALIGN	GDD pillar alignment after a system GDD is authored	cd-gdd-align.md
CD-SYSTEMS	Systems decomposition vision check after /map-systems	cd-systems.md
CD-NARRATIVE	Narrative consistency of story/lore documents	cd-narrative.md
CD-PLAYTEST	Player experience validation of playtest reports	cd-playtest.md
CD-PHASE-GATE	Creative readiness at phase transition	cd-phase-gate.md
TD-SYSTEM-BOUNDARY	System boundary review before GDD authoring	td-system-boundary.md
TD-FEASIBILITY	Technical feasibility of early concept risks	td-feasibility.md
TD-ARCHITECTURE	Master architecture document sign-off	td-architecture.md
TD-ADR	Individual ADR review before Accepted	td-adr.md
TD-ENGINE-RISK	Engine version risk for post-cutoff APIs	td-engine-risk.md
TD-PHASE-GATE	Technical readiness at phase transition	td-phase-gate.md
TD-MANIFEST	Control manifest review before it is written	td-manifest.md
TD-CHANGE-IMPACT	Design-change impact assessment review	td-change-impact.md
PR-SCOPE	Scope and timeline validation	pr-scope.md
PR-SPRINT	Sprint plan feasibility review	pr-sprint.md
PR-MILESTONE	Milestone risk assessment	pr-milestone.md
PR-EPIC	Epic structure feasibility before story breakdown	pr-epic.md
PR-PHASE-GATE	Production readiness at phase transition	pr-phase-gate.md
AD-CONCEPT-VISUAL	Visual identity anchor after pillars lock	ad-concept-visual.md
AD-ART-BIBLE	Art bible sign-off before asset production	ad-art-bible.md
AD-PHASE-GATE	Visual readiness at phase transition	ad-phase-gate.md
LP-FEASIBILITY	Implementation feasibility of the architecture	lp-feasibility.md
LP-CODE-REVIEW	Code review of an implemented story	lp-code-review.md
QL-STORY-READY	Acceptance-criteria testability before sprint	ql-story-ready.md
QL-TEST-COVERAGE	Test coverage review before epic done / advance	ql-test-coverage.md
ND-CONSISTENCY	Narrative consistency of writer deliverables	nd-consistency.md
AD-VISUAL	Visual consistency of art/tech-art decisions	ad-visual.md

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Review Modes

Review intensity controls whether gates run.

Global config: modes.review_mode in project.yaml — one word: full, lean, or solo. Legacy fallback: production/review-mode.txt (single line, same values); project.yaml wins when both are present. Set once during /start, or change it any time with /settings modes.review_mode=<value>.

Per-run override: any gate-using skill accepts --review [full|lean|solo], overriding the global config for that run only.

Mode	What runs
full	All gates active — every workflow step reviewed
lean	PHASE-GATEs only (/gate-check) — per-skill gates skipped. Default
solo	No director gates anywhere (game jams, prototypes, max speed)

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Invocation Pattern (copy into any skill)

MANDATORY: apply the review mode before every gate spawn.

The value is already resolved — skills call !`bash "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../hooks/yaml-helper.sh" resolve_config --keys review_mode` (with the matching allowed-tools grant — see config-resolution.md) and read review_mode from the emitted block. Do not re-derive it here. The full chain (project.local.yaml → project.yaml → production/review-mode.txt → modes.rigor expansion, standard→lean), its defaults and its failure modes are specified in .claude/docs/config-resolution.md, and covered by the config test suite.

An inline --review [mode] argument, if the skill accepts one, overrides the resolved value for that run.

Apply the resolved mode:

• solo → skip all gates. Note: [GATE-ID] skipped — Solo mode
• lean → skip unless this is a PHASE-GATE (CD-PHASE-GATE, TD-PHASE-GATE, PR-PHASE-GATE, AD-PHASE-GATE). Note: [GATE-ID] skipped — Lean mode
• full → spawn as normal

PHASE-GATE panel width is a second, independent axis. review_mode decides whether the four PHASE-GATEs run at all; modes.workflow decides how many of them run — minimal → PR only, standard → TD + PR, full → all four. The rule and its rationale live in /gate-check Section 4b, the only skill that spawns PHASE-GATEs. Every other gate in this index is single-director and unaffected. Width never softens a verdict: the escalation rule below applies unchanged to whoever ran.

# Apply mode check, then:
Spawn `[agent-name]` via `Agent`:
- Gate: [GATE-ID] — `Agent` prompt instructs the agent to read
  `.claude/docs/director-gates/[gate-id].md` FIRST (parent must not read it)
- Context: [fields under that gate's **Context to pass**]
- Await the verdict before proceeding.

For parallel spawning (multiple directors at one gate point): apply the mode check per gate, then spawn all surviving agents simultaneously — issue all Agent calls before waiting for any result; collect all verdicts before proceeding.

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Standard Verdict Format

All gates return one of three verdicts. Skills must handle all three:

Verdict	Meaning	Default action
APPROVE / READY	No issues. Proceed.	Continue the workflow
CONCERNS [list]	Issues present but not blocking.	Surface to user via AskUserQuestion — options: Revise flagged items / Accept and proceed / Discuss further
REJECT / NOT READY [blockers]	Blocking issues. Do not proceed.	Surface blockers to user. Do not write files or advance stage until resolved.

Escalation rule: When multiple directors are spawned in parallel, apply the strictest verdict — one NOT READY overrides all READY verdicts.

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Recording Gate Outcomes

After a gate resolves, record the verdict in the relevant document's status header:

> **[Director] Review ([GATE-ID])**: APPROVED [date] / CONCERNS (accepted) [date] / REVISED [date]

For phase gates, record in docs/architecture/architecture.md or production/session-state/active.md as appropriate.

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Parallel Gate Protocol

At checkpoints needing multiple directors (most common at /gate-check):

Spawn in parallel (issue all `Agent` calls before waiting for any result):
creative-director → CD-PHASE-GATE, technical-director → TD-PHASE-GATE,
producer → PR-PHASE-GATE, art-director → AD-PHASE-GATE

Collect all four verdicts, then apply escalation rules:
- Any NOT READY / REJECT → overall verdict minimum FAIL
- Any CONCERNS → overall verdict minimum CONCERNS
- All READY / APPROVE → eligible for PASS (still subject to artifact checks)

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Adding New Gates

1. Assign a gate ID: [DIRECTOR-PREFIX]-[DESCRIPTIVE-SLUG]. Prefixes: CD- TD- PR- LP- QL- ND- AD-; add new ones for new agents (audio-director → AU-, ux-designer → UX-)
2. Create .claude/docs/director-gates/[gate-id].md (lowercase), starting with the standard "> Gate definition..." header note, with all five fields: Trigger, Context to pass, Prompt, Verdicts, special handling notes
3. Add its row to the Gate Index table above
4. Reference it in skills by ID only — never copy the prompt text into the skill

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Gate Coverage by Stage

Stage	Required Gates	Optional Gates
Concept	CD-PILLARS, AD-CONCEPT-VISUAL	TD-FEASIBILITY, PR-SCOPE
Systems Design	TD-SYSTEM-BOUNDARY, CD-SYSTEMS, PR-SCOPE, CD-GDD-ALIGN (per GDD)	ND-CONSISTENCY, AD-VISUAL, TD-CHANGE-IMPACT (on GDD revision)
Technical Setup	TD-ARCHITECTURE, TD-ADR (per ADR), TD-MANIFEST, LP-FEASIBILITY, AD-ART-BIBLE	TD-ENGINE-RISK
Pre-Production	PR-EPIC, QL-STORY-READY (per story), PR-SPRINT, all four PHASE-GATEs (via gate-check)	CD-PLAYTEST
Production	LP-CODE-REVIEW (per story), QL-STORY-READY, PR-SPRINT (per sprint), QL-TEST-COVERAGE (per sprint close-out)	PR-MILESTONE, AD-VISUAL, TD-CHANGE-IMPACT (on GDD revision)
Polish	QL-TEST-COVERAGE, CD-PLAYTEST, PR-MILESTONE	AD-VISUAL
Release	All four PHASE-GATEs (via gate-check)	QL-TEST-COVERAGE