Code Review Expert Checklists

Provides structured review workflow and reference checklists for the code-reviewer agent.

Severity Levels

Review Workflow

Step 1: Preflight Context

• Run git status -sb, git diff --stat, and git diff to scope changes
• Use git diff --cached to include staged changes
• If needed, use Grep to find related modules, usages, and contracts

Edge cases:

• No changes: Inform user, ask if they want to review staged changes or a specific commit range
• Large diff (>500 lines): Summarize by file first, then review in batches by module/feature area
• Mixed concerns: Group findings by logical feature, not just file order

Step 2: SOLID + Architecture Smells

Load references/solid-checklist.md for detailed prompts.

Look for SRP/OCP/LSP/ISP/DIP violations and common code smells. When proposing refactor, explain why it improves cohesion/coupling. Non-trivial refactors get incremental plans, not large rewrites.

Step 3: Removal Candidates

Load references/removal-plan.md for template.

Identify unused, redundant, or feature-flagged-off code. Distinguish safe delete now vs defer with plan. Provide follow-up steps with concrete checkpoints.

Step 4: Security and Reliability

Load references/security-checklist.md for coverage.

Check injection, auth gaps, secrets, race conditions, crypto, supply chain. Call out both exploitability and impact.

Step 5: Code Quality

Load references/code-quality-checklist.md for coverage.

Check error handling, performance/caching, boundary conditions. Flag issues that may cause silent failures or production incidents.

Step 5.5: Integration & Connectivity

Load references/integration-checklist.md for detailed prompts.

Check entry point tracing, contract validation, vertical slice assessment, integration test coverage, and data flow continuity. Flag orphan code, missing contracts, and horizontal-only changes.

Step 6: Output Format

## Code Review Summary

**Files reviewed**: X files, Y lines changed
**Overall assessment**: [APPROVE / REQUEST_CHANGES / COMMENT]

---

## Findings

### P0 - Critical
(none or list)

### P1 - High
- **[file:line]** Brief title
  - Description of issue
  - Suggested fix

### P2 - Medium
...

### P3 - Low
...

---

## Removal/Iteration Plan
(if applicable)

## Additional Suggestions
(optional improvements, not blocking)

Step 7: Next Steps Confirmation

After presenting findings, ask how to proceed:

1. Fix all - Implement all suggested fixes
2. Fix P0/P1 only - Address critical and high priority issues
3. Fix specific items - User specifies which issues to fix
4. No changes - Review complete, no implementation needed

Important: Do NOT implement any changes until user explicitly confirms.

Additional Resources

Reference Files

For detailed patterns and checklists, consult:

• references/solid-checklist.md - SOLID violation detection and refactor heuristics
• references/security-checklist.md - Security, reliability, and race condition checks
• references/code-quality-checklist.md - Error handling, performance, boundary conditions
• references/removal-plan.md - Deletion candidates and iteration planning template
• references/integration-checklist.md - Entry point tracing, contract validation, data flow continuity