Glossary definition

Cold email launch gate

A cold email launch gate is the approval checkpoint that blocks prospect traffic until required readiness and seed-placement evidence is fresh and passing.

How GTM Inboxes uses this term

GTM readiness reports compose domain DNS, inbox SMTP and IMAP readiness, launch-gate state, seed placement, alerts, exportability, and proof metrics into one redacted status bundle.

Fail closed by design

A launch gate should block when evidence is unavailable, not assume the workspace is safe. GTM uses launch gates to prevent exports and first prospect traffic from proceeding on partial state.

What operators should fix first

Start with the blocker surfaced by the readiness report: DNS/authentication, SMTP or IMAP readiness, seed-placement freshness, unresolved alerts, or export partition failures.

Related glossary terms

Seed placement

Seed placement is pre-launch evidence from controlled mailbox tests that shows inbox, spam, or missing counts by provider.

Readiness-gated export

A readiness-gated export is a sequencer export that partitions ready inboxes from blocked rows using GTM readiness checks.

SMTP readiness

SMTP readiness is the operational check that an inbox can authenticate and submit mail through the managed SMTP path without exposing its password.

Related workflows

Launch gate seed-placement guide

See why seed evidence is required before prospect traffic.

Check a real domain

Move from the definition to a practical DNS and authentication check.

Browse the glossary

Every cold email infrastructure term GTM models, checks, or gates.

Next step

Follow the workspace readiness flow before campaign export.

Read the launch workflow