Originally Posted by
Steve M
I've been in exactly the situation you were in: starting at IAH, connecting at DFW to an int'l flight, and doing mobile check-in. I had no bags to check. When I got to the gate area, I heard my name being paged to the podium. They did the document check at that point, and acted like they had to note this in the computer before my boarding pass would give a green light at the gate. I don't know when your experience was, but at some point they seem to have made it such that this step can't be skipped, unless a gate agent just cleared people in the computer without actually doing the check, and I doubt that would happen as that would be a way to lose your job should a problem happen downstream.
This typically happens to me (unless I check bags). However I have made it to DFW and ORD without having to do document check. A few years ago, I flew MAF-DFW and then onwards to LHR, but didn't even have my passport until I landed in DFW. An unexpected trip resulted in having to fly to LHR but I wasn't carrying my passport. My friend brought it to me in DFW, at which point I exited security, got my passport and then did document check.
It could have been a thing CSRs could override at one point, like you said. I'd wager all these experiences are 3 or so years old at least.