Quality Enforcement

Overview

Quality enforcement is automated, not aspirational. If it can be checked by a machine, it must be.

Core principle: A quality check that is not enforced in CI does not exist.

No exceptions. No workarounds. No shortcuts.

The Prime Directive

NO CODE LANDS WITHOUT ALL QUALITY CHECKS PASSING

If a check fails, fix the code. Never disable the check. Never bypass CI.

When to Use

Always before:

• Committing code
• Opening a pull request
• Merging to trunk
• Releasing to production

Especially when:

• "Just suppress the linter this once" (never)
• "CI is too slow, merge manually" (fix CI, do not skip it)
• "Type errors but it works at runtime" (fix the types)
• "Coverage dropped but the critical paths are tested" (restore coverage)

The Entry Protocol

BEFORE any PR or merge:

1. LINT: Zero errors, zero warnings
2. TYPES: Zero type errors (strict mode)
3. TESTS: All passing, coverage meets threshold
4. BUILD: Clean build, no warnings
5. SIZE: Bundle/binary within budget (if applicable)
6. DEPS: No known vulnerabilities (critical/high)
7. COMPLEXITY: No functions exceeding complexity threshold

Any check fails = code is not ready. Fix before advancing.

Quality Check Reference

Check 1: Linting

Standard: Zero errors AND zero warnings

Setting	Value	Rationale
Errors	0	Non-negotiable
Warnings	0	Warnings become errors you learn to ignore
Config committed	Yes	Consistent across all contributors
CI enforced	Yes	Local overrides are irrelevant

Warnings are tomorrow's errors. Either fix them or adjust the rule. Never tolerate warnings.

Disable a rule? Only if the team explicitly agrees the rule is inappropriate for this project. Document the rationale in the config file. Never disable inline for convenience.

Check 2: Type Safety

Standard: Zero type errors, strict mode enabled

TypeScript:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "strict": true,
    "noUncheckedIndexedAccess": true,
    "noImplicitReturns": true,
    "noFallthroughCasesInSwitch": true,
    "forceConsistentCasingInFileNames": true
  }
}

Python: mypy or pyright with strict mode.

Anti-Pattern	Problem	Fix
any type	Disables type checking	Use specific types or generics
// @ts-ignore	Conceals real errors	Fix the type error
# type: ignore	Same problem	Fix the type error
Non-strict mode	False sense of safety	Enable strict from day one

any is a type error you chose not to resolve. Every any weakens the type system for everything it touches.

Check 3: Test Coverage

Standard: Coverage threshold that never decreases

Metric	Floor	Target
Line coverage	80%	90%+
Branch coverage	70%	85%+
New code coverage	90%	100% (aspire to)

Coverage thresholds are a ratchet. They increase, never decrease. Configure CI to fail if coverage drops below the current level.

Coverage is necessary but not sufficient. 100% coverage with poor assertions is worse than 70% coverage with rigorous assertions. Coverage checks combine with TDD discipline (godmode:test-first).

Check 4: Build

Standard: Clean build, zero warnings

• Build must complete successfully
• Zero compiler/build warnings
• Output matches expected structure
• No missing dependencies at build time

Check 5: Bundle Size Budget (Frontend)

Standard: Total bundle size within defined budget

Target	Budget	Tool
Initial JS (compressed)	<200KB	webpack-bundle-analyzer
CSS	<50KB	PurgeCSS check
Images	Optimized, WebP/AVIF	imagemin
Total page weight	<1MB	Lighthouse

Set the budget. Enforce in CI. When budget is exceeded, analyze the bundle contents and eliminate or split.

Check 6: Dependency Audit

Standard: Zero critical or high vulnerabilities

Language	Command	CI Integration
JavaScript	npm audit --audit-level=high	Fail on high+
Python	pip-audit or safety check	Fail on high+
Go	govulncheck ./...	Fail on any
Rust	cargo audit	Fail on any

Also verify:

• No unnecessary dependencies (is every dep actually used?)
• No duplicate dependencies (different versions of same package)
• Dependencies are maintained (last update within 12 months)

Check 7: Complexity Metrics

Standard: No function exceeds complexity threshold

Metric	Threshold	Tool
Cyclomatic complexity	<10 per function	ESLint (complexity rule), radon, gocyclo
Function length	<50 lines	Linter rules
File length	<400 lines	Linter rules
Parameters	<5 per function	Linter rules

When complexity exceeds threshold: Refactor. Extract functions. Simplify conditionals. Never raise the threshold.

Check 8: Dead Code

Standard: No unused exports, variables, or dependencies

What	Tool
Unused exports	ts-prune, knip
Unused dependencies	depcheck, knip
Unused variables	Linter (no-unused-vars)
Unreachable code	Linter, type checker

Dead code is misleading code. It implies something depends on it. Remove it.

CI Pipeline Template

# Minimum quality enforcement pipeline
quality-checks:
  steps:
    - name: Lint
      run: npm run lint
    - name: Type Check
      run: npm run typecheck
    - name: Test
      run: npm test -- --coverage
    - name: Coverage Check
      run: check-coverage --threshold 80
    - name: Build
      run: npm run build
    - name: Bundle Size
      run: bundlesize
    - name: Audit
      run: npm audit --audit-level=high

All checks run on every PR. All must pass before merge.

Cognitive Traps

Rationalization	Truth
"Just a lint warning, not an error"	Warnings you ignore become errors you miss.
"Type error but it works at runtime"	Types prevent the runtime error you have not encountered yet.
"Coverage dropped 1%, not a big deal"	1% per PR = 50% in a year. Ratchets do not go down.
"Skip CI, I tested locally"	Local environments differ from CI. That is why CI exists.
"Bundle grew because we added features"	Features should replace or split, not only add.
"Vulnerability is in a dev dependency"	Dev deps run in CI. CI has secrets. Still a risk.
"Function is complex but readable"	Complexity limits exist because readability is subjective.
"Dead code might be needed later"	Git remembers. Delete it. Restore from history if needed.

Guardrails - HALT and Fix

• Disabling lint rules inline without documented rationale
• @ts-ignore or # type: ignore without an accompanying issue
• Coverage threshold lowered in config
• CI skipped or overridden for merge
• any types spreading through codebase
• Bundle size growing without investigation
• Warnings treated as acceptable
• Audit failures dismissed because "it's a dev dependency"

All of these mean: The check is broken. Fix the check before writing more code.

Integration

Complements:

• godmode:test-first — Tests are one check among many
• godmode:completion-gate — Quality checks are verification evidence
• godmode:project-bootstrap — Checks configured at project setup
• godmode:security-protocol — Dependency audit is a security check
• godmode:performance-tuning — Bundle size is a performance check

The Bottom Line

Every quality check automated in CI. Every check passing before merge. No exceptions.

If a check can be bypassed, it will be bypassed. Make it impossible to bypass.