Admission decision record
Evidence reviewed, scope considered, correction capacity, affected populations, outcome, and decider.
MEC-22 Admission gate
Make the decision to deploy at all an authorization decision with evidence and a recorded outcome, where deliberate non-use is a first-class result.
Specification overview
What the mechanism includes and where it sits.
The scope, assets, and linked validators, before the steps.
Spec essentials
What this mechanism includes
- 3 steps with checklist-ready owners.
- 3 reusable assets for briefs and runbooks.
- 4 reuse-ready snippet blocks.
- 3 glossary anchors for shared terms.
Filters & validators
Where this spec sits in the system
Tagged in 2 filters with 2 linked validators.
Glossary anchors
Link back to the definitions.
Jump to the glossary terms that frame this mechanism.
3 steps with checklist-ready owners, plus linked assets for handoffs.
0 of 3 steps complete
Assets
Assets this mechanism produces.
Copy these into design docs, runbooks, and briefs, with the mechanism permalink.
Non-use record
Reasons a delegation was refused or deferred, with the review condition that can reopen it.
Admission criteria list
What the gate asks, agreed before the first request so the bar cannot move to fit the answer.
Reuse-ready snippets
Copy policy, audit, and incident language.
Use these snippets in requirements, audits, and postmortems with the mechanism permalink.
Policy requirement
Policy requirement (MEC-22 Admission gate) - A consequential deployment has a recorded admission decision with evidence, scope, and a named decider, before any authority is granted. - Deliberate non-use is a recorded outcome with reasons and a review condition. Reference: https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/admission-gate
Product requirement
Product requirement (MEC-22) - The admission decision is a prerequisite artifact in the deployment pipeline, not a document written after launch. - The record distinguishes "not yet" from "never", with different reopen conditions.
Audit evidence checklist
Audit evidence checklist (MEC-22) [ ] Every consequential deployment traces to an admission decision with a decider and a date. [ ] Refusals record their basis and a review condition. [ ] Systems running without a recordable admission decision are listed as findings.
Postmortem trigger
Postmortem trigger (MEC-22) Trigger review when a deployment is found to be running with no admission record, or when an admission refusal was reopened by momentum rather than by the review condition.
How it plays out
A fraud-scoring model is proposed for benefits triage. The admission review finds the correction capacity for the denial class is absent and the affected population cannot reach a responder inside the clock. The outcome is recorded as non-use with those reasons and a reopen condition: the gate reopens when a funded responder path exists, not when the vendor updates the model.
Anti-patterns
Common failure cases and counterfactuals
Each case passes on paper and fails in operation. The counterfactual shows what would have worked.
Admission by momentum
The system runs because someone built it, and stopping now is more expensive than starting was, so the question is never asked.
Counterfactual: The admission decision exists with a date, a decider, and evidence taken before the grant.
False-positive warning: A small pilot still needs a recorded admission; the record is what makes expansion a decision later.
Gate as rubber stamp
Every review passes because the criteria were written after the first request, fitted to the answer wanted.
Counterfactual: Admission criteria are agreed and published before the first request reaches them.
False-positive warning: A no that cannot be given is not a gate; audit the refusals, not only the approvals.
Validator
System Audit & Guardrail Synthesizer
Scans a system prompt or workflow spec for seven governance failure patterns, sets halt and reversal limits by tier, and drafts guardrail code and SLA clauses.
Validator
Delegation Audit
Walks a team through one workflow against the six state variables and returns an exposure score, the grants nobody can ground, and a reversibility verdict at three levels. Start here when you have no records to hand; use the Record Conformance Checker once you do.
Copy citation (APA/BibTeX)
Cite this page Formats: APA, MLA, Chicago, BibTeX, RIS
APA
Ethotechnics Institute Research Team. (2026). MEC-22 Admission gate. Ethotechnics Institute. https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/admission-gate
MLA
Ethotechnics Institute Research Team. "MEC-22 Admission gate." Ethotechnics Institute, 2026, https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/admission-gate.
Chicago
Ethotechnics Institute Research Team. "MEC-22 Admission gate." Ethotechnics Institute. Jan 9, 2026. https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/admission-gate.
BibTeX
@misc{mechanism_admission-gate,
title={MEC-22 Admission gate},
author={Ethotechnics Institute Research Team},
year={2026},
howpublished={Ethotechnics Institute},
url={https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/admission-gate},
version={v1.1.0}
}
RIS
TY - WEB TI - MEC-22 Admission gate AU - Ethotechnics Institute Research Team PY - 2026 UR - https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/admission-gate ER -