---
id: RT-GATE-1
family: RT-GATE
level: core
profiles: [runtime]
posture: normative-target
added: "1.0"
changed: "1.0"
source: https://flowdrop.io/spec/rules/rt-gate/rt-gate-1
specification: FlowDrop Workflow Specification 1.0-draft
licence: CC BY 4.0
---

# RT-GATE-1 — A gated node never executes without consent for that exact call

*RT-GATE (Part II) · level: core · profiles: runtime · added in 1.0*

The gate sits at the single point every node execution passes through, so it covers a node scheduled in the graph and the same node invoked as a tool by an agent loop. The operator approves the resolved arguments, not the intention.

## The rule

> **Normative.** This is the rule.
>
> 1. A node whose effective confirmation requirement is true must not execute without a consumed, hash-matching, confirmed consent (RT-GATE-2, RT-GATE-3).
>
> 2. The gate is evaluated after parameters are resolved and before the node executes, so the operator approves the arguments the call will actually use, and it applies only to a first execution: resuming a node continues a side effect that already passed the gate.
>
> 3. The pause is an ordinary interrupt carrying a boolean confirmation prompt, and the prompt shows only the arguments a model may fill, so values supplied by configuration (credentials, endpoints) never reach an operator's inbox.
>
> 4. A gate interrupt is a distinct flavour of interrupt and must never be consumed as a node's own resume answer, so a node that is both resumable and side-effecting does not mistake an operator's consent for the reply it was waiting for.
>
> 5. Every gate interrupt carries a bounded expiry, and expiry is fail-closed on both paths: an interrupt swept as overdue on a persisted run ends that run, cancelled and announced (INT-18); an interrupt found already expired on re-entry is consumed as a decline with the reason `expired`.


## What it means

A run can arrive at an expired question in two different ways, and they do
not resolve the same way. A question swept up as overdue while the run is
still sitting there ends the run outright — cancelled, and announced
(INT-18). A question that is instead found already past its expiry the
moment execution re-enters it does not end anything: it is simply consumed
as a decline, and the run continues down whatever path a decline takes.
Nothing about either path leaves the question answerable a second time.

## Example

A gate question nobody answered before its expiry, found only when the run
re-enters it:

```json title="A gate question found already past its expiry on re-entry" verdict="declined"
{ "reason": "expired" }
```

## Related rules

- Names: INT-18, RT-GATE-2, RT-GATE-3, RT-GATE-4, RT-GATE-7
- Referenced by: INT-18, RT-GATE-2, RT-GATE-3, RT-GATE-4, RT-GATE-7, RT-GATE-11, RT-GATE-12, RT-GATE-13, RT-GATE-15

---

Rule identifiers are permanent and are never renumbered. This specification carries
no implementation status: each implementation publishes its own standing against
these rules. Licensed CC BY 4.0.