Won’t quality gates slow my team down?

For the first 1–2 weeks, yes, a little. After that, PR lead time levels off because developers stop shipping work that fails later. Our clients typically see PR lead time flat and escaped defects drop 40–60% within one quarter.

Do I need SonarQube/SonarCloud, or can I just use linters and tests?

You can start without Sonar, but Sonar’s new-code gates and simple pass/fail rules cut through debate. If budget’s tight, begin with ESLint/ruff/mypy + coverage on new code, then add Sonar later.

How do we handle legacy code with low coverage?

Gate the delta. Use “new code” settings in Sonar and coverage tools. Don’t make today’s changes responsible for 2017’s test gaps. Ratchet thresholds quarterly.

What about AI-generated code and hallucinations?

Gates catch most of it: strict type checks, linters, and SAST flag suspicious patterns. We also recommend requiring tests for AI-generated patches and disabling auto-merge for those PRs.

Can we automate enforcement of required checks across hundreds of repos?

Yes. Manage branch protection and required checks with Terraform’s GitHub provider (or GitLab’s API) and apply via a repo module. No manual flipping of toggles.

Platform-productivity · Dec 6, 2025 · 9 minute read

Quality Gates That Don’t Suck: The Paved Road That Stops Tech Debt at the PR

You don’t need a bespoke platform to stop the slow bleed of tech debt. You need boring, automated gates that run on every PR and a paved-road config teams won’t fight.

Back to all posts

Quality Gates That Don’t Suck: The Paved Road That Stops Tech Debt at the PR

Key takeaways

Implementation checklist