Definition
Plain language
Checking something at the door before letting it in, rather than cleaning up problems after the fact.
As stated in the literature
A systems principle of gating what may enter a shared resource; in DeLM, a verifier fact-checks every note against its cited evidence before it is written to shared context, stopping error propagation at write time rather than at answer time.
Why it matters: It stops bad inputs from corrupting a shared resource at the moment they arrive, which is far cheaper than tracing and undoing the damage afterward.
For example, a bouncer checks each guest's ID at the entrance instead of letting everyone in and then trying to find the troublemakers later.
Heard on the show
“That's the operating-systems idea of admission control: gate what enters the shared resource, rather than cleaning up afterward.”Episode 130 — Why AI Agents Coordinate Better Through a Shared Board Than a Boss