george-rd PR Cycle — Domain Knowledge
Reference knowledge for orchestrating PR review cycles. The procedural workflow lives in /cycle:pr; this skill provides the patterns and expertise that workflow depends on.
When This Activates
/cycle:pris running in multi-PR mode and needs domain knowledge- You're designing or debugging a batch PR review process
- You need to understand CodeRabbit behavior, worktree management, or cross-PR patterns
Monitoring Patterns
Polling Strategy
CodeRabbit and GitHub Actions have predictable timing:
| Event | Typical Delay | What to Check |
|---|---|---|
| Push → CI start | 10-30 sec | gh pr checks <N> |
| Push → CI complete | 1-5 min | gh pr checks <N> (look for all green/red) |
| Push → CodeRabbit review | 1-3 min | gh api repos/{o}/{r}/pulls/{n}/comments |
| Fix push → CodeRabbit re-review | 1-2 min | Same, filter by created_at > last_check |
Optimal cadence: First poll at 2-3 min. Then every 3-5 min. CodeRabbit converges after ~3 rounds — if you're past round 3 and still getting new comments, check for a recurring pattern rather than fixing one-off.
What to Poll
# CI status (pass/fail/pending)
gh pr checks {{PR_NUMBER}}
# Inline review comments (CodeRabbit, humans)
gh api repos/{{OWNER}}/{{REPO}}/pulls/{{PR_NUMBER}}/comments \
--jq '.[] | {id, path, line, body, user: .user.login, created_at}'
# Review summaries (approve/request-changes/comment)
gh api repos/{{OWNER}}/{{REPO}}/pulls/{{PR_NUMBER}}/reviews \
--jq '.[] | {id, state, body, user: .user.login}'
# General PR comments (issue-level)
gh api repos/{{OWNER}}/{{REPO}}/issues/{{PR_NUMBER}}/comments \
--jq '.[] | {id, body, user: .user.login, created_at}'
Detecting "Clean" State
A PR is clean when ALL of:
gh pr checksshows all green- Zero unresolved inline comments
- No "CHANGES_REQUESTED" reviews outstanding
- No merge conflicts with base branch
Fix Dispatch Patterns
Dispatch-and-Poll (Not Team/SendMessage)
The monitoring loop dispatches finite background agents. Each agent:
- Receives specific comments to fix
- Fixes them, commits, pushes
- Reports results and exits
The agent does NOT wait for re-review. The monitoring loop handles the re-poll.
Agent Prompt Template
Located at: templates/pr-agent-prompt.md
Required placeholders:
{{WORKTREE_PATH}}: Working directory (worktree path or repo root){{BRANCH}}: Head branch name{{PR_NUMBER}}: GitHub PR number{{OWNER}}/{{REPO}}: Repository coordinates{{COMMENT_LIST}}: Formatted comment list for the agent to address
Preventing Silent Stops
Agents sometimes complete edits but stop before committing. The agent prompt template includes a MUST-complete section to prevent this. If an agent still stops early:
- Check its output for error messages
- Resume the agent with explicit "commit and push" instructions
- If it fails twice, take over manually
Serial vs Parallel Dispatch
| Scenario | Strategy |
|---|---|
| Worktrees available | Dispatch all fix agents in parallel |
| No worktrees, different repos | Parallel is fine |
| No worktrees, same repo | Serialize — one agent at a time |
| Agent already running for a PR | Wait for it to complete |
Worktree Management
Setup
# Create worktree for a branch
git worktree add ../repo-worktree-<branch-suffix> <branch-name>
# List all worktrees
git worktree list
Gotchas
- Worktrees share the git object store but have independent working trees
- Pre-push hooks may fail in worktrees (e.g., no simulator access for iOS) — use
SKIP_PREPUSH=1after manual build verification - After merging, clean up immediately:
git worktree remove <path> - Stale worktrees cause confusion — run
git worktree pruneperiodically
Worktree Path Convention
When dispatching agents, always provide the absolute worktree path so the agent can cd directly. Check git worktree list to find it.
Cross-PR Intelligence
Overlap Detection
Watch for these patterns when reviewing comments across multiple PRs:
| Pattern | Signal | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Same style comment on 2+ PRs | Convention issue | Apply fix to ALL affected PRs |
| Architecture feedback | Structural concern | Evaluate cross-PR impact before fixing |
| Merge conflict warning | Overlapping changes | Merge simpler PR first, rebase others |
| Shared dependency change | Coordination needed | Fix in one PR, verify in others |
Merge Ordering
- Dependencies first: If PR B branched from PR A → merge A first
- Smallest diff: Less change = less conflict surface
- After each merge: Remaining PRs may need CI re-run (base changed)
- Conflict resolution: If two PRs touch the same files, merge the simpler one, then rebase the other on the updated main
CodeRabbit Specifics
Behavior
- Posts an initial summary comment + inline comments within 1-3 min of push
- Re-reviews on each push, but only comments on new/changed code
- Converges after 2-3 rounds typically — diminishing new comments
- Sometimes re-raises resolved comments if the fix changes nearby code
Configuration
.coderabbit.yamlin repo root controls behavior- If CodeRabbit doesn't review: check the file exists, try closing/reopening the PR
- CodeRabbit respects
@coderabbitai resolveto mark threads as resolved
Comment Types
| CodeRabbit Comment | How to Handle |
|---|---|
| Bug/logic error | Fix immediately — these are high-signal |
| Security issue | Fix immediately |
| Style/nitpick | Fix it — clean PRs merge faster |
| Performance suggestion | Fix if small; issue if large refactor |
| False positive | Reply explaining why it's incorrect |
Error Recovery
| Problem | Root Cause | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| Agent edits but doesn't commit | Agent hit context limit or stopped early | Resume agent or take over manually |
| CI fails on unrelated test | Flaky test or upstream break | gh run rerun --failed or push empty commit |
| Merge conflict post-fix | Base branch moved | git rebase main in the PR branch |
| CodeRabbit not posting | Missing config or rate limit | Check .coderabbit.yaml; close/reopen PR |
| Reviewer requests large refactor | Scope creep | Create follow-up issue; keep PR focused |
| Agent infinite loop | Keeps re-fixing same thing | Stop after 3 identical fixes; escalate to user |
| Worktree in bad state | Uncommitted changes or detached HEAD | git worktree remove --force + recreate |