---
name: gateguard-0b881b35ae25
description: Fact-forcing gate that blocks Edit/Write/Bash (including MultiEdit) and demands concrete investigation (importers, data schemas, user instruction) before allowing the action. Measurably improves output quality by +2.25 points vs ungated agents.
origin: community
---

# GateGuard — Fact-Forcing Pre-Action Gate

A PreToolUse hook that forces Codex to investigate before editing. Instead of self-evaluation ("are you sure?"), it demands concrete facts. The act of investigation creates awareness that self-evaluation never did.

## When to Activate

- Working on any codebase where file edits affect multiple modules
- Projects with data files that have specific schemas or date formats
- Teams where AI-generated code must match existing patterns
- Any workflow where Codex tends to guess instead of investigating

## Core Concept

LLM self-evaluation doesn't work. Ask "did you violate any policies?" and the answer is always "no." This is verified experimentally.

But asking "list every file that imports this module" forces the LLM to run Grep and Read. The investigation itself creates context that changes the output.

**Three-stage gate:**

```
1. DENY  — block the first Edit/Write/Bash attempt
2. FORCE — tell the model exactly which facts to gather
3. ALLOW — permit retry after facts are presented
```

No competitor does all three. Most stop at deny.

## Evidence

Two independent A/B tests, identical agents, same task:

| Task | Gated | Ungated | Gap |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Analytics module | 8.0/10 | 6.5/10 | +1.5 |
| Webhook validator | 10.0/10 | 7.0/10 | +3.0 |
| **Average** | **9.0** | **6.75** | **+2.25** |

Both agents produce code that runs and passes tests. The difference is design depth.

## Gate Types

### Edit / MultiEdit Gate (first edit per file)

MultiEdit is handled identically — each file in the batch is gated individually.

```
Before editing {file_path}, present these facts:

1. List ALL files that import/require this file (use Grep)
2. List the public functions/classes affected by this change
3. If this file reads/writes data files, show field names, structure,
   and date format (use redacted or synthetic values, not raw production data)
4. Quote the user's current instruction verbatim
```

### Write Gate (first new file creation)

```
Before creating {file_path}, present these facts:

1. Name the file(s) and line(s) that will call this new file
2. Confirm no existing file serves the same purpose (use Glob)
3. If this file reads/writes data files, show field names, structure,
   and date format (use redacted or synthetic values, not raw production data)
4. Quote the user's current instruction verbatim
```

### Destructive Bash Gate (every destructive command)

Triggers on: `rm -rf`, `git reset --hard`, `git push --force`, `drop table`, etc.

```
1. List all files/data this command will modify or delete
2. Write a one-line rollback procedure
3. Quote the user's current instruction verbatim
```

### Routine Bash Gate (once per session)

```
1. The current user request in one sentence
2. What this specific command verifies or produces
```

## Quick Start

### Option A: Use the ecc hook (zero install)

The hook at `scripts/hooks/gateguard-fact-force.js` is included in this plugin. Enable it via hooks.json.

If GateGuard blocks setup or repair work, start the session with
`ecc_GATEGUARD=off`. For hook-level control, keep using
`ecc_DISABLED_HOOKS` with the GateGuard hook ID.

### Option B: Full package with config

```bash
pip install gateguard-ai
gateguard init
```

This adds `.gateguard.yml` for per-project configuration (custom messages, ignore paths, gate toggles).

## Anti-Patterns

- **Don't use self-evaluation instead.** "Are you sure?" always gets "yes." This is experimentally verified.
- **Don't skip the data schema check.** Both A/B test agents assumed ISO-8601 dates when real data used `%Y/%m/%d %H:%M`. Checking data structure (with redacted values) prevents this entire class of bugs.
- **Don't gate every single Bash command.** Routine bash gates once per session. Destructive bash gates every time. This balance avoids slowdown while catching real risks.

## Best Practices

- Let the gate fire naturally. Don't try to pre-answer the gate questions — the investigation itself is what improves quality.
- Customize gate messages for your domain. If your project has specific conventions, add them to the gate prompts.
- Use `.gateguard.yml` to ignore paths like `.venv/`, `node_modules/`, `.git/`.

## Related Skills

- `safety-guard` — Runtime safety checks (complementary, not overlapping)
- `code-reviewer` — Post-edit review (GateGuard is pre-edit investigation)


---
Source attribution: mturac
Original project: https://github.com/mturac/everything-openai-codex/blob/b5057da5f42ed6b12cd3a59e89af0ccd12cff7c2/skills/gateguard/SKILL.md
License: MIT
License information: https://opensource.org/license/mit
Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Mega AI Hub.

## Upstream license notice

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2026 Mehmet Turac

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.


## Additional upstream notices

gateguard-0b881b35ae25/DAVEAI-UPSTREAM-NOTICE.md

# Notices and Acknowledgements

Everything OpenAI Codex is a Codex-focused adaptation inspired by the public
[`affaan-m/everything-claude-code`](https://github.com/affaan-m/everything-claude-code)
project.

Respect to Affaan Mustafa and the contributors to that project for making the
multi-harness agent operating-system pattern visible in the open.

This repository adapts the public idea and workflow surface for OpenAI Codex:
names, defaults, install targets, docs, validators, and cross-harness guidance
are maintained here for the Codex-oriented project.


# Mega AI Hub resource metadata

Creator / publisher: mturac
Original project: https://github.com/mturac/everything-openai-codex/blob/b5057da5f42ed6b12cd3a59e89af0ccd12cff7c2/skills/gateguard/SKILL.md
Attribution basis: Source repository record

Fields of work: Development & Engineering, Product Management
Roles: Backend Developer, Data Engineer, DevOps / SRE, Product Manager, QA / Test Engineer
Specialties: Backend, DevOps
Tools: Gateguard Ai
Country applicability: Country not specified
Classification basis: Source catalog labels
Instruction SHA-256: 99df6a7d59635685924ae4271c273e0d84f7bf18de7099c3e9876317ca1e2aa8