Workflow Reliability term
Guard condition: meaning, examples, and AI prompt use.
Prevents a flow from moving forward unless the required facts are true.
What it means
Plain meaning
precondition: Prevents a flow from moving forward unless the required facts are true.
Aliases
precondition, transition guard
People say / experts say
People usually say
- can only proceed
- validation
- step allowed
- blocked state
- requirements
- blocked step
Experts usually say
Guard condition, Precondition, Invariant, Validation schema
When to use it
Use it when
Your rough ask sounds like: can only proceed, validation, step allowed. The term gives your coding agent a clearer problem shape.
When not to use it
Do not use this term as a request for a quick screen fix. Use it when the system needs explicit state, rules, failures, or recovery behavior.
Copy-ready handoff phrase
Before and after
Weak ask
Fix this can only proceed flow.
Exact Terms ask
Define guard conditions for each transition, including validation failures and disabled actions.
Prompt templates by use case
Architecture prompt
Audit this workflow for Guard condition and related concerns: Precondition, Invariant, Validation schema. Return states, rules, failure modes, and recovery behavior before code.
Implementation prompt
Implement Guard condition for this app flow. Include data ownership, edge cases, fallback behavior, and acceptance tests.
Test prompt
Create tests that prove Guard condition works across refresh, retry, back/next movement, partial failure, and return visits.
Common mistake
What goes wrong
Asking for code before defining states, transitions, persistence, and failure behavior.
Better move
Use Guard condition with the related vocabulary trail: Precondition, Invariant, Validation schema.