Concepts

Test gates

Choose GitHub Checks, an isolated local run, or a controlled fallback.

Mode	Behavior	Best for
checks	Wait only for GitHub Checks	Production repositories
local	Clone, set up, and test locally	Fast feedback or no CI
auto	Prefer checks; use local only if none appear	Early adoption

Required checks

When requiredChecks is non-empty, every named check must appear and finish with success. Missing, skipped, neutral, cancelled, or failed required checks do not pass.

patchflow.config.json

{
  "testGate": "checks",
  "requiredChecks": ["lint", "unit", "integration"]
}

Local setup

Auto setup selects npm ci, pnpm, Yarn, Bun, or npm install from the repository lockfile. A setup failure ends the gate before tests run. Set setupCommand to none only for a self-contained test command.

patchflow.config.json

{
  "setupCommand": "auto",
  "testCommand": "npm test",
  "testGate": "local"
}

Retries

A failed gate may resume the same agent with a bounded test-output excerpt. maxRetries is capped at three. Every attempt re-reads the PR head SHA before gating again.

NextProduction operation