Code Review Skill

This skill defines how to perform structured, objective code reviews.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• Asked to review a pull request, merge request, or branch.
• Evaluating changed, added, or deleted files for correctness and quality.

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Review Process

1. Branch and Merge Target

• Confirm the current branch is a feature, bugfix, or PR/MR branch — not the project's primary branch (e.g. main, master, develop, or equivalent).
• Verify the branch is up-to-date with the target branch.
• Identify the target branch for the merge.

2. Change Discovery

• List all changed, added, and deleted files.
• For each change, look up the commit title and review how connected components are implemented.
• Never assume a change or fix is correct without investigating the implementation details.
• If a change remains difficult to understand after several attempts, note this explicitly in your report.

3. Per-File Review

For every changed file, check:

Area	What to verify
Location	File is in the correct directory
Naming	File name follows naming conventions
Responsibility	The file's responsibility is clear; reason for its change is understandable
Readability	Variable, function, and class names are descriptive and consistent
Logic & correctness	No logic errors or missing edge cases
Maintainability	Code is modular; no unnecessary duplication
Error handling	Errors and exceptions are handled appropriately
Security	No input validation issues; no secrets committed to code
Performance	No obvious performance issues or inefficiencies
Documentation	Public APIs, complex logic, and new modules are documented
Test coverage	New or changed logic has sufficient tests
Style	Code matches the project's style guide and coding patterns

For generated files: confirm they are up-to-date and not manually modified.

4. Overall Change Set

• Verify the change set is focused and scoped to its stated purpose — no unrelated or unnecessary changes.
• Check that the PR/MR description accurately reflects the changes made.
• Confirm new or updated tests cover new or changed logic.
• Evaluate whether tests could actually fail, or only verify a mock implementation.

5. CI and Tests

• Ensure all tests pass in the continuous integration system.
• Fetch online documentation when unsure about best practices for a particular package or library.

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Feedback Standards

• Be objective and reasonable — avoid automatic praise or flattery.
• Take a devil's advocate approach: give honest, thoughtful feedback.
• Provide clear, constructive feedback for any issues found, with suggestions for improvement.
• Include requests for clarification for anything that is unclear.

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Output Format

Provide your review as a chat response, covering conclusions and recommendations per file, including:

1. Summary of what changed and why
2. Issues found (with severity: suggestion / minor / major)
3. Specific recommendations or questions per file
4. Overall verdict: approved, approved with suggestions, or changes requested