Github Code Review

GitHub Code Review

Overview

Use this skill when reviewing commits or pull requests on GitHub. It combines the repo's multi-agent review intent with the concrete gh-driven workflow from Hermes.

Quick Start

# View PR metadata
gh pr view 123 --json files,additions,deletions,title,body,author

# Review diff
gh pr diff 123

# Check out locally if needed
gh pr checkout 123

# Approve
gh pr review 123 --approve --body "APPROVE: looks good."

# Request changes
gh pr review 123 --request-changes --body "MAJOR: please address the items below."

# Comment only
gh pr review 123 --comment --body "MINOR: a few follow-ups below."

When to Use

• Review pull requests before merge
• Review a local diff before opening a PR
• Leave inline GitHub comments on specific files/lines
• Perform adversarial review for security, performance, architecture, and test quality
• Run a multi-agent review where Claude/Codex/Gemini each provide a distinct perspective

Review Workflow

1. Inspect scope
   • gh pr view <N> --json files,additions,deletions,title,body
   • gh pr diff <N>
2. Pull locally when needed
   • gh pr checkout <N>
   • run tests, linters, or targeted repro steps
3. Review against checklist below
4. Leave review comments
5. Submit verdict

Review Checklist

• Correctness
  • Does the change do what the issue/plan requires?
  • Any broken edge cases or regressions?
• Security
  • Injection risks?
  • Missing auth/validation?
  • Secrets or unsafe defaults?
• Quality
  • Names, structure, duplication, maintainability
• Testing
  • Meaningful coverage?
  • TDD evidence or regression test?
• Performance
  • Obvious N+1, excessive scans, slow paths, unnecessary allocations
• Documentation
  • Need updates to README, AGENTS, docs, comments, or migration notes?

Local Diff Review

Use this before PR creation or when GitHub is unavailable:

git diff --stat main...HEAD
git diff main...HEAD

Recommended review summary format:

Summary: <1-3 sentences>

Critical Issues:
- <must-fix item>

Important Issues:
- <should-fix item>

Minor Issues:
- <nice-to-have>

Strengths:
- <what is good>

Verdict: APPROVE | MINOR | MAJOR | REJECT

Inline Commenting

gh api repos/:owner/:repo/pulls/123/comments \
  -f body='Potential null dereference here.' \
  -f commit_id='SHA' \
  -f path='src/module.py' \
  -F line=42

A reusable review output template is preserved at:

• references/review-output-template.md

Multi-Agent Review Mode

Use this when you want more than one reviewer:

• Claude: orchestration, architecture, synthesis
• Codex: adversarial code review, implementation-focused criticism
• Gemini: third-lane synthesis, alternate perspective, large-context review

Treat the final decision as the merged outcome of all collected reviews, not just the first positive response.

Verdict Guidance

• APPROVE
  • No meaningful issues found; safe to merge
• MINOR
  • Small follow-ups or polish items; merge can proceed with discretion
• MAJOR
  • Significant correctness, security, testing, or architecture concerns; fix before merge
• REJECT
  • Fundamentally unsafe, mis-scoped, or not ready for merge

Supplemental Generic Review Checklist

This checklist was preserved from the former software-development/code-review path during deduplication.

1. Security First

• No hardcoded secrets, API keys, or credentials
• Input validation on all user-provided data
• SQL queries use parameterized statements (no string concatenation)
• File operations validate paths (no path traversal)
• Authentication/authorization checks present where needed

2. Error Handling

• All external calls (API, DB, file) have try/catch
• Errors are logged with context (but no sensitive data)
• User-facing errors are helpful but don't leak internals
• Resources are cleaned up in finally blocks or context managers

3. Code Quality

• Functions do one thing and are reasonably sized (<50 lines ideal)
• Variable names are descriptive (no single letters except loops)
• No commented-out code left behind
• Complex logic has explanatory comments
• No duplicate code (DRY principle)

4. Testing Considerations

• Edge cases handled (empty inputs, nulls, boundaries)
• Happy path and error paths both work
• New code has corresponding tests (if test suite exists)

Notes

• Prefer specific, actionable comments over vague criticism
• Cite file paths and line ranges when possible
• For high-risk changes, run code/tests locally before approving
• Multi-agent review is an overlay, not a substitute for concrete diff inspection