A guard inside Claude Code that holds back a tool call depending on an outside technical fact (a package, its version, or a platform's API) until the session has checked a primary source for that fact.
Gated action: A tool call the gate judges before it runs, because it commits the project to an outside fact. It is a dependency change, a new external import, or a sensitive-file edit. Avoid: trigger, risky call
Dependency change: A gated action that adds, upgrades, re-pins, or scaffolds from a named package, through a package manager or by editing a dependency manifest. Avoid: install
New external import: A gated action that adds an import of a package the project neither declares nor has installed. Avoid: unknown import
Sensitive-file edit: A gated action that edits an auth, database schema or migration, billing or webhook, or deployment configuration file. Avoid: sensitive surface
Subject: The package or library name a gated action depends on, and that evidence vouches for. Avoid: target
Evidence: A record that this session consulted a primary source about a subject. It is either registry evidence or docs evidence. Avoid: proof, research, unlock
Registry evidence: Evidence from a package registry or from an installed package's own files. It vouches for exactly one package.
Docs evidence:
Evidence from official documentation, Context7, or a vendor's own tool server. It vouches for the family of packages that source documents, such as nextjs.org for next and @next/*.
Coverage: A subject is covered when the session holds registry evidence for that exact package, or docs evidence for its family. Avoid: match
Ledger: The evidence and override a session holds. Resuming a session keeps it; clearing a session empties it. Avoid: state, cache
Denial: The gate's refusal of a gated action, naming each uncovered subject and its remedy. Avoid: block, error
Remedy:
The lookup that would produce the missing evidence for one subject, such as pnpm view zod version.
Avoid: hint, fix
Override: A phrase the user types, at their own terminal or through Remote Control, that suspends the gate for 15 minutes. Avoid: bypass, escape hatch