GitHub PR Review
Post structured code review feedback using the GitHub API with inline comments on specific lines.
Key Rule: One API Call
Bundle ALL comments into a single review API call. Do not post comments individually.
Posting a Review
Use the GitHub CLI (gh) with a JSON input file. The GITHUB_TOKEN is automatically available.
Important: Always use --input with a JSON file instead of -F flags. This avoids shell quoting issues with special characters in comment bodies (quotes, backticks, newlines, etc.) and eliminates the need for complex heredoc scripts.
Step 1: Create a JSON file
cat > /tmp/review.json << 'EOF'
{
"commit_id": "{commit_sha}",
"event": "COMMENT",
"body": "Brief 1-3 sentence summary.",
"comments": [
{
"path": "path/to/file.py",
"line": 42,
"side": "RIGHT",
"body": "🟠 Important: Your comment here."
},
{
"path": "another/file.js",
"line": 15,
"side": "RIGHT",
"body": "🟡 Suggestion: Another comment."
}
]
}
EOF
Step 2: Post the review
gh api -X POST repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{pr_number}/reviews --input /tmp/review.json
Parameters
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
commit_id |
Commit SHA to comment on (use git rev-parse HEAD) |
event |
COMMENT, APPROVE, or REQUEST_CHANGES |
path |
File path as shown in the diff |
line |
Line number in the NEW version (right side of diff) |
side |
RIGHT for new/added lines, LEFT for deleted lines |
body |
Comment text with priority label |
Multi-Line Comments
For comments spanning multiple lines, add start_line to specify the range:
{
"path": "path/to/file.py",
"start_line": 10,
"line": 12,
"side": "RIGHT",
"body": "🟡 Suggestion: Refactor this block:\n\n```suggestion\nline_one = \"new\"\nline_two = \"code\"\nline_three = \"here\"\n```"
}
Important: The suggestion must have the same number of lines as the range (e.g., lines 10-12 = 3 lines).
Priority Labels
Start each comment with a priority label. Minimize nits - leave minor style issues to linters.
| Label | When to Use |
|---|---|
| 🔴 Critical | Must fix: security vulnerabilities, bugs, data loss risks |
| 🟠 Important | Should fix: logic errors, performance issues, missing error handling |
| 🟡 Suggestion | Worth considering: significant improvements to clarity or maintainability |
| 🟢 Nit | Optional: minor style preferences (use sparingly) |
| 🟢 Acceptable | Pragmatic choice: acknowledged trade-off that is reasonable given constraints or out of scope for this PR |
Example:
🟠 Important: This function doesn't handle None, which could cause an AttributeError.
```suggestion
if user is None:
raise ValueError("User cannot be None")
## GitHub Suggestions
For small code changes, use the suggestion syntax for one-click apply:
~~~
```suggestion
improved_code_here()
Use suggestions for: renaming, typos, small refactors (1-5 lines), type hints, docstrings.
Avoid for: large refactors, architectural changes, ambiguous improvements.
## Finding Line Numbers
```bash
# From diff header: @@ -old_start,old_count +new_start,new_count @@
# Count from new_start for added/modified lines
grep -n "pattern" filename # Find line number
head -n 42 filename | tail -1 # Verify line content
```
## Fallback: curl
If `gh` is unavailable, use curl with the JSON file:
```bash
curl -X POST \
-H "Authorization: token $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
-H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
"https://api.github.com/repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{pr_number}/reviews" \
-d @/tmp/review.json
```
## Summary
1. Analyze the code and identify important issues (minimize nits)
2. Write review data to a JSON file (e.g., `/tmp/review.json`)
3. Post **ONE** review using `gh api --input /tmp/review.json`
4. Use priority labels (🔴🟠🟡🟢) on every comment
5. Mark pragmatic trade-offs as 🟢 **Acceptable** - don't block PRs for out-of-scope improvements
6. Use suggestion syntax for concrete code changes
7. Keep the review body brief (details go in inline comments)
8. If no issues: post a short message
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