Code Review

HOTL Code Review

User-facing entry point for getting a code review. Dispatches the full code-reviewer agent by default; falls back to inline review when subagents aren't available.

Process

1. Gather Context

Resolve base branch (fallback ladder — use the first that succeeds):

1. PR base branch: gh pr view --json baseRefName
2. Repo default branch: git symbolic-ref refs/remotes/origin/HEAD
3. main
4. master

Resolve review scope:

• Feature branch: committed branch diff against base (base...HEAD), plus staged and unstaged local changes when present
• On base branch with staged changes: staged diff
• On base branch with unstaged changes: working tree diff
• On clean base branch: HEAD~1..HEAD
• Ambiguous (detached HEAD, no commits beyond base, no local changes): ask the user

Detect workflow file:

• First, glob for canonical workflows in docs/plans/*-workflow.md
• If one canonical match: use it
• If multiple canonical matches: prefer the most recently modified canonical workflow, unless the user named one
• If no canonical matches: glob for legacy hotl-workflow-*.md in project root
• If one legacy match: use it
• If multiple legacy matches: prefer the most recently modified legacy workflow, unless the user named one
• If no matches: proceed without workflow context

Extract contracts from workflow frontmatter if available (intent, constraints, success_criteria, risk_level).

Gather verification evidence:

• Primary (deterministic): .hotl/state/*.json and .hotl/reports/*.md — most recent artifacts if present
• Best-effort: recent test/lint output if discoverable; if unavailable, report "not available"

2. Dispatch Review

If subagents are available (Claude Code, Codex):

Dispatch the code-reviewer role as a subagent via the Agent tool. Use the structured dispatch template from requesting-code-review:

• Review type: direct
• Git range: resolved scope from step 1
• Workflow and contracts: if available
• Verification evidence: if available

If subagents are not available (Cline, weaker runtimes):

Run inline review in the current session using the same output contract. See "Inline Fallback" below.

3. Return Findings

• Present the review output (findings + verdict) to the user
• Do NOT automatically invoke receiving-code-review
• Do NOT automatically implement fixes
• If the user asks to fix the findings ("fix them", "address these", "implement the fixes"): then invoke receiving-code-review

Verdict Model

Direct reviews use the final-review verdict model:

• READY — safe to merge
• READY WITH WARNINGS — safe to merge but warnings should be addressed soon
• NOT READY — blocking issues must be resolved before merge

Review Lifecycle

code-review              = user-facing entry point for getting a review
requesting-code-review   = internal executor/orchestration entry point
receiving-code-review    = follow-up handler for acting on findings

Output Contract

Both dispatched and inline reviews must conform to docs/contracts/code-review-output.md. Every review must contain these 6 sections in order: Scope (with verification evidence), Reviewed Dimensions, Findings, What Was Not Covered, Residual Risks, Verdict.

Platform-Native Annotation Dedup

When the platform emits platform-native annotations for localized findings (e.g., ::code-comment in Codex, inline GitHub review comments), do not restate those findings verbatim in the Findings section. Instead, use the grouped one-liner format defined in the output contract.

Inline Fallback

When subagents are not available, run the review inline using the same output contract. The inline review must produce identical 6-section structure — not a weaker format.

Dimensions

Plan alignment (when workflow provided):

• All steps in the workflow file completed
• success_criteria from frontmatter met
• No unplanned scope added (YAGNI)

When no workflow: state "Plan alignment: skipped (no workflow provided)"

Code quality and design:

• Tests exist and pass for all new behavior
• No code duplication introduced (DRY)
• Error handling at system boundaries only
• Reference docs/checklists/architecture-and-design.md for SOLID and architecture smell heuristics. If the checklist file is not available, continue with best-effort review.

Security and reliability:

• Reference docs/checklists/security-and-reliability.md for expanded security heuristics.
• Check for injection, auth gaps, race conditions, secret leakage, unsafe patterns.
• If the checklist file is not available, continue with best-effort review.

Performance and boundary conditions:

• Reference docs/checklists/performance-and-boundary-conditions.md for performance and boundary condition heuristics.
• Check for N+1 queries, unbounded memory, off-by-one, null handling, swallowed exceptions.
• If the checklist file is not available, continue with best-effort review.

Removal and simplification:

• Reference docs/checklists/removal-and-simplification.md for dead code and simplification heuristics.
• Flag unused exports, dead branches, feature-flagged-off code. Classify as safe-delete-now or defer-with-plan.
• If the checklist file is not available, continue with best-effort review.

HOTL governance:

• risk_level: high steps had human gate approval
• No sensitive data (secrets, PII) in code, logs, or comments
• Security-sensitive paths (auth, encryption) have human review documented

Findings Format

Every finding must include:

- [SEVERITY]: file/path:line — description
  Why: [why this matters]
  Fix: [expected remediation direction]

For localized issues: file:line is required. For scope-level findings: provide the narrowest evidence available.

Severity Levels

• BLOCK: Must fix before merge (failing tests, security issues, missing gates on high-risk steps)
• WARN: Should fix soon (code quality, missing docs for public APIs)
• NOTE: Consider in future (style, minor improvements)

BLOCK issues must be resolved before claiming done.

Clean Review

Per the output contract, when a dimension has no findings it must still state what was checked, what was not covered, and residual risks. Additionally, the review must always include sections 4 (What Was Not Covered) and 5 (Residual Risks) even when no individual dimension has findings.