> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.staffer.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Reviewer holds and score gates

> How a step decides to wait for a human or move on by itself.

A step can either wait for someone to look at it, or advance a candidate on its own, and you choose which per step.

## Reviewer hold

Assign a step to a reviewer and it holds there until someone marks it complete. With no assignee, it advances automatically once its work is done.

## Soft score gate

Set a score threshold on a step and a candidate's match score decides what happens next. At or above it, they advance automatically. Below it, they hold, and Staffer surfaces a reject recommendation for a person to act on. The score gate never rejects anyone by itself.

## Hard gates

Some steps can disqualify outright, opted in per step: a review step can auto-reject below a passing score, and a questionnaire can disqualify on a specific answer. Unlike the soft gate, these end the candidacy without waiting for a recruiter.

<Warning>
  Hard gates remove people from your pipeline without a human looking first. Turn them on deliberately, not as a default.
</Warning>

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