Autoreview

Auto Review

Run an independent review when the user or an owning workflow asks for one. This is code review, not Guardian approval routing. Let the reviewer choose how to analyze the change; provide the target, relevant context, and desired severity. Findings are advice to verify, not instructions to apply blindly.

Run

Use scripts/autoreview beside this skill. Keep its custom codex exec path: native codex review cannot combine explicit Git target flags with custom instructions. The helper combines those with evidence, severity filtering, and validated JSON; it leaves review judgment to Codex. For an OpenClaw checkout:

AUTOREVIEW=".agents/skills/autoreview/scripts/autoreview"
"$AUTOREVIEW" --mode local

In the canonical agent-skills repo, the path is skills/autoreview/scripts/autoreview. On Windows, invoke the helper with Python. Use --help for the complete flags and environment overrides.

Choose the Git target explicitly when the default is ambiguous:

--mode auto selects local work when dirty, otherwise a branch review using the PR base or origin/main. Clean main has no implicit review target. --mode uncommitted is an alias for local. The helper does not fetch refs.

Registered nested linked checkouts from the same repository are outside the current review scope. Their presence or edits do not make the parent dirty; ordinary adjacent files remain included and scanned. Worktree boundaries are revalidated without changing Git ignore rules.

For a complete PR candidate including dirty rewrites, use local mode with its pinned merge base—not branch mode:

pr_base=$(gh pr view --json baseRefName --jq .baseRefName)
merge_base=$(git merge-base HEAD "origin/$pr_base")
"$AUTOREVIEW" --mode local --base "$merge_base"

When a file has both staged and unstaged changes, both states are reviewed. A defect in the index remains actionable even if the working tree fixes it; the report labels it INDEX-only. Git display settings cannot suppress context markers or add patch colors; repository configuration is not changed. Source paths and text retain literal whitespace. An empty present source uses line 1, column 1, and an empty excerpt; empty physical lines also use an empty excerpt at column 1. Source identity remains mandatory.

Context and severity

Use --prompt for task-specific guidance, or --prompt-file and --dataset for repository-relative context files. Context does not expand the selected Git target. The reviewer cannot read unchanged repository files from its empty sandbox; supply relevant source or dependency evidence when the diff is insufficient.

The default threshold is P0 only: material blockers to normal operation or safety. Use --max-priority P1, P2, or P3 when the caller requests a wider review. Do not add unrelated redesign goals or prescribe file counts, reading sequences, or ritual extra passes. Historical blame requires a verified parent-relative patch; otherwise leave the attribution unknown.

"$AUTOREVIEW" --mode local --prompt-file review-notes.md --dataset evidence.json

Engines

Codex is the default: gpt-6-astra, max reasoning, with a gpt-5.6-terra retry only for an account-access failure. Claude defaults to claude-opus-5 with max reasoning. Honor explicit engine/model choices; do not switch because a review is slow or rate-limited.

Use --engine, --model, and --thinking to override the defaults. --codex-speed fast selects priority service when supported. Only Claude accepts --fallback-model. Per-engine environment overrides use AUTOREVIEW_<ENGINE>_*. Isolated Codex runs preserve openai_base_url from an external CODEX_HOME/config.toml and disable WebSocket transport for that provider; repository-local Codex homes remain ignored.

Runtime boundaries

The helper owns reviewer isolation, sanitized authentication, process cleanup, Git scope, and structured result validation. Keep those controls enabled. TruffleHog must scan the complete frozen input for partitioned reviews and each exact outgoing pack before it is sent; missing or failed scanning stops the run. Source-controlled ignore tags cannot suppress this gate. Scanner refusals never echo input headings or finding payloads; remove credentials locally and rerun. Never reproduce credentials in findings or work around an isolation failure.

On macOS, reviewer tools cannot access the shared /tmp and /var/tmp trees (including their /private aliases). Codex preflight rejects those temporary roots before workspace, runtime, or authentication setup; unset a shared TMPDIR/TMP/TEMP override to use macOS's private temporary directory. Other engines and platforms retain their normal isolation. Tools installed in shared scratch or requiring writes there will be denied too.

Review files have no size/count cap and are never truncated. Large diffs and datasets are partitioned automatically. Intact instructions and required mixed source context must still fit the per-pass prompt budget. A failed pass does not produce a partial clean verdict.

Do not edit inputs during a review: the helper verifies captured sources before sending and publishing results. Long reviews are normal; advancing heartbeats mean progress. Use --stream-engine-output for visibility, not extra reviewer runs. --dry-run checks preparation and startup without contacting a reviewer.

Results

--output and --json-output paths must be outside the reviewed repository.

Treat scoped-clean as clean only for the selected target and requested priority. filtered is not clean; resolve incomplete before claiming completion. Verify findings against the actual code and task before changing anything. No extra review rounds for a nicer verdict; follow the owning workflow after fixes.

Report material findings and status plainly. Do not add transcripts, proof ledgers, commits, pushes, or a new workstream unless requested.