---
id: RT-GATE-5
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-5
specification: FlowDrop Workflow Specification 1.0-draft
licence: CC BY 4.0
---

# RT-GATE-5 — A declined tool call is model-recoverable, never run-fatal

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

Failing a whole agent run because a person said "no" to one tool call would be wrong. The model is told, and carries on.

## The rule

> **Normative.** This is the rule.
>
> 1. Where a gated node is invoked as a tool and the call is declined, the consumer receives a structured denial as a tool error result naming the decline, and the run continues to its own completion.
>
> 2. Where the call is approved, the consumer is re-fired and the same call re-issued: its arguments are the consumer's recorded inputs rather than a fresh sample from the model, so the consent matches by hash (RT-GATE-3) and the tool executes.


## What it means

Declining one tool call is not a reason to fail the whole run that asked for
it. The model that made the call is told the call did not happen and carries
on from there — the run reaches its own completion regardless of what the
model does with that answer.

## Example

An agent's consumer node calls a gated tool, and the call is declined:

```json title="What the consumer receives when the call is declined" verdict="completed"
{ "called": "log_tool", "success": false }
```

## Related rules

- Names: RT-GATE-3, RT-GATE-4, RT-GATE-6
- Referenced by: RT-GATE-4, RT-GATE-6

---

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.