Phx Review

Review Elixir/Phoenix Code

Review code by spawning parallel specialist agents. Find and explain issues — do NOT create tasks or fix anything.

Usage

phx-review                          # Auto-detects task ID from branch/commits
phx-review test                     # Review test files only
phx-review security                 # Run security audit only
phx-review oban                     # Review Oban workers only
phx-review deploy                   # Validate deployment config
phx-review iron-laws                # Check Iron Law violations only
phx-review ENA-8931                 # Force Linear issue
phx-review #42                      # Force GitHub issue
phx-review .claude/plans/auth/plan.md    # Force plan / spec file
phx-review --no-requirements        # Skip requirements coverage check
phx-review --codex                  # Add Codex CLI as cross-model reviewer

Arguments

$ARGUMENTS = Focus area, task ID, or path to plan/spec file.

When no requirements argument is passed, the skill auto-detects a task ID from the current git branch name and recent commits (see references/requirements-detection.md).

Workflow

Step 1: Identify Changed Files and Prepare Directories

CRITICAL: Create output dirs BEFORE spawning agents — agents cannot create directories and writes will fail.

1. Determine SLUG via Glob on .claude/plans/*/ (default: "review")
2. Run mkdir -p ".claude/plans/${SLUG}/reviews" ".claude/plans/${SLUG}/summaries" .claude/reviews
3. Run git diff --name-only HEAD~5 and git diff --name-only main
4. Save the diff base for pre-existing detection in Step 3b

Step 1b: Load Plan Context and Prior Reviews

• Read .claude/plans/${SLUG}/scratchpad.md for planning decisions and rationale
• Pass relevant decisions to agents as WHY-context (eliminates session archaeology)
• Check .claude/plans/${SLUG}/reviews/ for prior output; if present, include a consolidated summary as "PRIOR FINDINGS" with: "Focus on NEW issues. Mark still-present issues as PERSISTENT."

Step 1c: Detect Requirements Source (skip on --no-requirements)

Find a task/spec whose requirements should be cross-checked against the diff. Priority order (stop at first match): explicit arg → conversation context → branch regex → commit subjects → latest plan → none. Full table, regexes, and fetch mapping in references/requirements-detection.md.

Fetch the detected source into .claude/plans/${SLUG}/reviews/.requirements-input.md (Linear via mcp__linear__get_issue, GitHub via gh issue view, file via Read). Record REQ_SOURCE label (e.g. "Linear ENA-8931") for the verifier heading. On fetch failure, set SOURCE_STATUS=FETCH_FAILED and continue — verifier will emit NOT AVAILABLE rather than block the review.

Step 2: Spawn Review Agents (MANDATORY)

NEVER spawn the same agent role twice per review. One pass per role. NEVER analyze code yourself — use the Agent tool only. Zero agents = failure.

1. Create a Claude Code task per agent via TaskCreate and TaskUpdate to in_progress
2. For phx-review or phx-review all: select agents dynamically per the selection table in references/agent-spawning.md
3. For focused reviews (test|security|oban|deploy|iron-laws): spawn only the matching specialist from the focused mode table in the same reference
4. If Step 1c succeeded (REQ_SOURCE non-empty and --no-requirements not passed): add elixir-phoenix:requirements-verifier to the same parallel batch. Pass these prompt inputs: REQUIREMENTS_TEXT (content of .requirements-input.md), REQUIREMENTS_SOURCE (REQ_SOURCE label), DIFF_FILES (git diff --name-only output), SOURCE_STATUS (only if FETCH_FAILED), output_file: .claude/plans/{slug}/reviews/requirements.md
5. Spawn in ONE message with mode: "bypassPermissions" and run_in_background: true
6. MANDATORY: pass explicit output_file per-agent (mapping in the reference)
7. Include the CRITICAL prompt block: write by turn ~12, chat body ≤300 words
8. Scope every agent to the diff: pass git diff --name-only output with "Focus on NEW code. Pre-existing: one-line {file}:{line} — {brief}. Do NOT deep-analyze unchanged files."
9. With --codex: add elixir-phoenix:codex-reviewer to the same batch (prompt template in agent-spawning.md). Missing CLI degrades to SKIPPED.

Step 3: Collect and Compress Findings

Wait for ALL agents to complete. Do NOT report status until every agent completes. Mark each task completed via TaskUpdate as it finishes.

Missing file fallback — after each agent finishes, verify its expected output_file exists. If missing (turn exhaustion, error):

1. Append to .claude/plans/{slug}/scratchpad.md: [HH:MM] WARN: {agent} did not write {expected_path} — extracting from message
2. Parse findings from the agent's return message as fallback
3. Mark the section in the final review with ⚠️ EXTRACTED FROM AGENT MESSAGE (see scratchpad) — never silent

Verification-runner fallback — if it times out, run directly: mix compile --warnings-as-errors && mix format --check-formatted $(git diff --name-only HEAD~5 | grep '\.exs\?$' | tr '\n' ' ') && mix credo --strict && mix test

Context supervision — for 4+ agents, spawn elixir-phoenix:context-supervisor:

Prompt: "Compress review agent output.
  input_dir: .claude/plans/{slug}/reviews
  output_dir: .claude/plans/{slug}/summaries
  output_file: review-consolidated.md
  priority_instructions: BLOCKERs and WARNINGs: KEEP ALL.
    SUGGESTIONs: COMPRESS similar ones into groups.
    Deconfliction: when iron-law-judge and elixir-reviewer
    flag same code, keep iron-law-judge finding."

Skip the supervisor for focused (1-agent) reviews — read output directly.

Step 3b: Filter Findings (Anti-Noise)

Before writing the review, apply these overriding filters to each finding:

1. Would a senior Elixir dev dismiss this as noise?
2. Does the finding add complexity exceeding the problem's complexity?
3. Are any findings duplicates reworded by different agents?
4. Does the finding affect code actually changed in this diff?
5. Is the finding on unchanged code (not in diff)? → Mark PRE-EXISTING
6. Flagged by both a Claude agent AND [codex]? → mark HIGH CONFIDENCE

Demote or remove findings that fail filters 1-4. Mark pre-existing per filter 5.

Step 4: Generate Review Summary

Read consolidated/agent output. Write to .claude/plans/{slug}/reviews/{feature}-review.md with verdict: PASS | PASS WITH WARNINGS | REQUIRES CHANGES | BLOCKED.

Requirements Coverage in verdict: if the verifier ran, read its summary line and fold into the verdict:

• Any UNMET → escalate to REQUIRES CHANGES (even if code-quality PASS)
• Any PARTIAL (no UNMET) → downgrade PASS → PASS WITH WARNINGS
• NOT AVAILABLE / all MET / UNCLEAR only → no verdict change

Insert the verifier's ## Requirements Coverage block into the review document before the per-agent findings so it's the first thing the user sees.

Step 5: Present Findings and Ask User

STOP and present the review. Do NOT create tasks or fix anything.

On BLOCKED or REQUIRES CHANGES: Show finding count by severity, then offer via AskUserQuestion: phx-triage (recommended), phx-plan .claude/plans/{slug}/reviews/{feature}-review.md (converts findings into a follow-up plan — pass the review file path, not a re-description), fix directly (phx-codex-loop when codex ran), or "I'll handle it myself".

On PASS / PASS WITH WARNINGS: Suggest phx-compound, phx-learn-from-fix.

Convention extraction: After presenting findings, offer: "Any findings to suppress or enforce as conventions?" See references/conventions.md.

Iron Laws

1. Review is READ-ONLY — Find and explain, never fix
2. NEVER auto-fix after review — Always ask the user first
3. Always offer both paths: phx-plan and phx-work
4. Research before claiming — Agents MUST research before making claims about CI/CD or external services

Integration

phx-plan → phx-work → phx-review (YOU ARE HERE) → Blocked? phx-triage or phx-plan | Pass? phx-compound

See: references/review-template.md, references/example-review.md, references/blocker-handling.md, references/requirements-detection.md