tomasz-tomczyk Review with Crit
Review and revise code changes, plans, live pages (running dev servers, staging URLs), or local HTML files using crit for inline comment review.
crit opens a browser-based review surface where a human leaves GitHub-style inline comments, then writes them to a structured JSON file you read and act on.
Prerequisite
The crit binary must be on PATH. If it is missing, point the user at the install instructions in the crit README. GitHub PR sync additionally needs the gh CLI installed and authenticated.
Step 1: Pass arguments to crit
The CLI auto-detects the review mode from its arguments. Do not ask the user which mode to use. Pass arguments through:
crit <arguments> # file, dir, URL, .html — CLI auto-detects mode
crit --pr <num|url> # GitHub PR (range mode)
crit --range <base>..<head> # commit range (range mode)
crit # no args → branch diff
If no arguments, check conversation context:
- A plan file was written earlier in this conversation →
crit <plan-file> - Otherwise → bare
crit(branch diff)
Step 2: Launch crit and block until review completes
CRITICAL — you MUST run this step. Do NOT skip it. Do NOT proceed without it.
Run crit in the foreground and block until it exits:
crit <plan-file> # specific file
crit # git mode
If a crit server is already running from earlier in this conversation, crit automatically connects to it. Starting from scratch, it spawns the daemon, opens the browser, and blocks until the user clicks "Finish Review".
crit prints the review URL on startup (e.g. Started crit daemon at http://localhost:<port>). Relay it verbatim:
"Crit is open at http://localhost:. Leave inline comments, then click Finish Review."
Do NOT proceed until crit completes. Do NOT ask the user to type anything. Do NOT read the review file early. Wait for the foreground command to finish — that is how you know the human is done reviewing.
Step 3: Read the review output
When crit completes, its stdout includes the path to the review file (e.g. "Review comments are in /path/to/review.json"). Read it.
The file contains structured JSON. Three comment scopes:
review_comments(top-level array,r_-prefixed IDs) — general feedback- File comments (per-file
commentsarray,start_line: 0) — about the file as a whole - Line comments (per-file
commentsarray, withstart_line/end_line) — about specific lines
Identify all comments where resolved is false or missing — both mean unresolved. Only true means resolved.
When a comment has these fields:
quote: the specific text the reviewer selected — focus your changes on the quoted text rather than the entire line rangeanchor: full text of the commented lines when placed — use it to locate the current position; line numbers may be stale after editsdrifted: true: original content was removed or heavily rewritten — line numbers are approximate at bestreplies: check before acting — if you already replied, the reviewer may be following up rather than requesting a new change
Review file format
{
"review_comments": [
{
"id": "r_f1e2d3",
"body": "Overall the architecture looks good",
"scope": "review",
"author": "User Name",
"resolved": false,
"replies": [
{ "id": "rp_b4a5c6", "body": "Thanks, addressed it", "author": "Agent" }
]
}
],
"files": {
"path/to/file.go": {
"comments": [
{
"id": "c_a1b2c3",
"start_line": 5,
"end_line": 10,
"body": "Comment text",
"quote": "the specific words selected",
"anchor": "The sessions table needs a complete rewrite...",
"author": "User Name",
"resolved": false,
"replies": []
}
]
}
}
}
Step 4: Address each review comment
For each unresolved comment:
- Understand what the comment asks for
- If it contains a suggestion block, apply that specific change
- Revise the referenced file (plan or code file from the diff)
- Reply with what you did:
crit comment --reply-to <id> --author '<your name>' '<what you did>'(reply bodies support markdown) - Do not pass
--resolve. Resolving is the reviewer's call. Only add--resolveif the user explicitly asks.
Editing the plan or code file triggers Crit's live reload — the user sees changes in the browser immediately.
Replying to multiple comments
Use --json for a single bulk call instead of one invocation per comment:
echo '[
{"reply_to": "c_a1b2c3", "body": "Fixed"},
{"reply_to": "c_d4e5f6", "body": "Refactored as suggested"}
]' | crit comment --json --author '<your name>'
If there are zero review comments: inform the user no changes were requested and stop.
Step 5: Signal completion and start the next round
CRITICAL — you MUST run this step. Do NOT skip it. Do NOT proceed without it.
When Step 2's crit command exits with feedback, it prints Next round: crit <args> to stdout. Run that command verbatim — the daemon is keyed by args, so mismatched args spawn a new daemon instead of reconnecting.
On subsequent calls, crit automatically signals round-complete first, then blocks until the next "Finish Review" click.
Tell the user: "Changes applied. Review the diff in your browser and click Finish Review when ready."
Do NOT proceed until crit completes. When it does, return to Step 3. If the user finishes with zero comments, the review is approved — stop the loop and proceed.
Authoring comments programmatically
Beyond replies, you can author original comments — useful when reviewing someone else's work or in multi-agent workflows.
crit comment --author '<your name>' '<body>' # review-level (general feedback)
crit comment --author '<your name>' <path> '<body>' # file-level (whole file)
crit comment --author '<your name>' <path>:<line> '<body>' # single line
crit comment --author '<your name>' <path>:<start>-<end> '<body>' # line range
crit comment --reply-to <id> --author '<your name>' '<body>' # reply
Hard rules:
- Pass
--author '<your name>'so comments are attributed correctly (use the name of the agent or tool you are). If omitted, crit falls back to the configured VCS user name. - Always single-quote the body — double quotes break on backticks and shell metacharacters.
- Line numbers reference the file on disk (1-indexed), not diff line numbers.
- Only pass
--resolvewhen the user explicitly asks. Never resolve proactively.
Bulk commenting (3+ comments)
Use --json for atomicity (single write, no partial state) and speed. JSON comes from stdin or --file <path>:
echo '[
{"body": "overall feedback", "scope": "review"},
{"path": "session.go", "body": "restructure", "scope": "file"},
{"file": "src/auth.go", "line": 42, "body": "Missing null check"},
{"file": "src/auth.go", "line": "50-55", "body": "Extract to helper"},
{"reply_to": "c_a1b2c3", "body": "Fixed — added null check"}
]' | crit comment --json --author '<your name>'
For multi-paragraph bodies, prefer --file — a literal newline inside a "body" string breaks JSON parsing. Write the JSON to a temp file, then crit comment --json --file /tmp/crit-bulk.json --author '<your name>'.
Per-entry fields: file/path (relative path; path alone → file-level), line (42 or "45-47"), body (always required), author (per-entry override), scope (review/file — usually inferred), reply_to (comment ID), resolve (only when the user asks).
If crit comment errors with "comment found in multiple files", disambiguate with --path <file> (or set file on the JSON entry). Review-level IDs (r_…) are globally unique and never need this.
Sharing
If the user asks for a URL, a shareable link, or to share the review:
crit share <file> [file...] # Upload and print URL
crit share --qr <file> # Also print QR code (terminal only)
crit unpublish # Remove the shared review
- Always relay the full output — copy the URL (and QR if used) directly into your response. Don't make the user dig through tool output.
--qris terminal-only — skip it in mobile apps or web chat UIs, where Unicode block characters won't render.- If a review file exists, comments for the shared files are included automatically.
- Unpublish uses the persisted delete token in the review file — no extra args needed.
GitHub PR integration
crit pull [pr-number] # Fetch PR review comments into the review file
crit push [--dry-run] [--event <type>] [-m <msg>] [pr] # Post review comments as a GitHub PR review
Requires the gh CLI installed and authenticated. PR number is auto-detected from the current branch. --event values: comment (default), approve, request-changes. -m adds a review-level body message.