---
name: the-gate
version: 2026.09
homepage: https://axonifi.ai
license: Take it. Change the names.
description: >-
  The approval step that has to exist before software acts on a real
  system. Fill this in before anyone builds.
---

# The gate

A write waits for a person.

## Before anyone builds

- Who owns this.
- What it may touch.
- What may be drafted.
- What may be executed.
- What the approver sees.
- Who signs.
- What happens when it is wrong.
- How you undo it the same day.

## This gate is not ready when

- The system cannot wait for a person.
- Risk is in the last room.
- There is no undo.
- The only number is a percentage on work that is never handed over.

## Invocation

Use this at the start of a room, not the end. If you cannot fill it in, do not build.

The longer worksheet — write boundary, thresholds, record, reversal, kill switch, sign-off — is on https://axonifi.ai/insights.