Glossary
PR gating (also called merge gating or branch protection) is the practice of requiring automated checks to pass before a pull request can be merged. If tests fail, the PR is blocked until the issue is resolved.
PR gating is the mechanism that turns tests into safety nets. Without it, tests are optional - engineers can (and will) merge without checking results. With it, every code change must prove it doesn’t break critical flows before reaching production.
GitHub branch protection rules, GitLab merge request approvals, and merge queues enforce PR gating. The challenge: flaky tests erode trust in gates. When 84% of failures are false alarms, engineers either disable the gate or click “re-run” until it passes - defeating the purpose.
Zerocheck posts PR comments with approved-suite results, blocking status, screenshots, recordings, step traces, and suggested tests for review. Only approved tests configured to block merge can fail the PR status.