# Interactive Review

> Use when a skill needs the user to interactively review code changes in revdiff mid-workflow — working changes, staged changes, or a specific commit — then read their annotations back. Takes a review mode.

- Skill: `landonschropp/interactive-review` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add landonschropp/interactive-review`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/landonschropp/interactive-review/raw
- Safety review: PASS (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Productivity
- Author: LandonSchropp (https://skillmd.com/u/landonschropp)
- Updated: 2026-08-19
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/landonschropp/interactive-review

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# Interactive Review

Run `scripts/interactive-review.sh <mode> [<sha>] --directory <path>` in the background. It opens revdiff in a new herdr tab named `review`, blocks until the tab closes, and prints the user's annotations to stdout, empty if they left none. The modes are `working`, `staged`, and `commit <sha>`; run `scripts/interactive-review.sh --help` for details.

`--directory` is the repository holding the changes, which is not always the one the session started in. Pass it explicitly every time rather than relying on where the command happens to run. When it isn't the session's own repository, commit with `git -C <same directory>`: the commit hook resolves the repository from that flag and can't see a `cd`, so it blocks an approved commit without one.

For `working` and `staged` mode, the script's own exit code is the approve/deny decision: 0 if the user approved when prompted after closing revdiff, 1 if they denied (or closed the tab without answering). This is the only signal that matters — don't ask the user separately whether to commit or re-review. On approval, proceed to commit. On denial, address the annotations and invoke this skill again; do not attempt the commit in between, since the commit hook still blocks it either way. `commit` mode has nothing to approve and always exits 0.

## Choosing Working vs. Staged Mode

`working` mode reviews every uncommitted change in the worktree, including untracked files — not just the change under review. Before invoking the script, run `git status`. If the worktree has uncommitted changes unrelated to the commit being built, `working` mode would mix them into the review. In that case, stage only the files belonging to this commit (`git add <files>`) and invoke `staged` mode instead, so the review shows just the intended change.

## Handling a Stale Review

Before opening a review, check whether a `review` herdr tab is already open in the current workspace. It's always a leftover from an earlier review that didn't close — e.g. its background process was killed before cleanup ran — since only one review runs at a time in a workspace.

Close it automatically, without asking the user first, then open the new review normally. **REQUIRED:** Use the `ls-agent:herdr` skill for the close mechanics.

One addition specific to this skill: if you still hold the task id of an `interactive-review.sh` you started, `TaskStop` it instead of closing the tab directly — its own cleanup closes the tab. A tab left over from an earlier session has no task id, so close that one by tab id rather than hunting for its process; the herdr skill covers why.