PR Review Skill

Structured workflow for reviewing GitHub pull requests with gh CLI.

Workflow

Step 1: Find Relevant PRs

Find open PRs where I am assigned, requested as a reviewer, or have already submitted a review:

gh pr list \
  --search "is:open (review-requested:@me OR reviewed-by:@me OR assignee:@me)" \
  --limit 10 \
  --json number,title,author,reviewRequests,assignees,createdAt \
  --jq '.[] | {number, title, author: .author.login, reviewers: [.reviewRequests[]?.login], assignees: [.assignees[]?.login], created: .createdAt}'

If there are multiple PRs, ask which one I want to review. Present the results to me as a numbered list for me to choose from. If there's only one, confirm before proceeding.

Step 2: Check Out and Examine the PR

Once I confirm the PR:

1. Check out the PR locally: gh pr checkout <PR_NUMBER>
2. Get PR details: gh pr view <PR_NUMBER>
3. Get the full diff against the base branch: gh pr diff <PR_NUMBER>
4. Check for existing review comments: gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{pr_number}/comments

Step 3: Analyze the Changes

Examine the diff and provide:

High-Level Summary

• What is the overall purpose of this PR?
• New APIs introduced (endpoints, functions, methods)
• New or modified data structures (types, interfaces, schemas)
• New dependencies or libraries added
• Architectural or design pattern changes
• Configuration changes
• Database migrations or schema changes
• Any breaking changes

Dependency Check

• For any new dependencies: check if they are actively maintained
• Flag archived, deprecated, or unmaintained libraries
• Look for existing libraries in the codebase that could be used instead (check imports across the codebase)

Impact Assessment

• How does this affect existing code?
• What areas of the codebase will need to be aware of these changes?
• Are there documentation implications?

Step 4: Review Focus Areas

Provide a numbered list of files or directories to review, in logical order (foundational changes first, then core logic, then usages, then tests). For each item, briefly note what to focus on:

• API or DB schema design considerations, if any
• Complex logic that needs careful examination
• Potential edge cases or error handling gaps
• Performance considerations
• Security implications
• Test coverage gaps
• Code style or consistency issues

Step 5: Suggested Comments

Prepare a list of suggested review comments, ordered by line number ascending (group by file, then sort by line within each file). For each comment:

• Use casual, lowercase messaging (e.g., "consider..." not "Consider...")
• Keep it short and to the point
• Use a friendly, suggestion-based tone (e.g., "consider...", "might be worth...", "nit: ...")
• Only be strongly opinionated if there's an obvious bug or issue
• Include the file path and line number as a clickable link to get me directly to the file and line within my editor
• Verify line numbers by reading the actual file content before suggesting

Format each suggestion as plain text (not in code blocks, since code blocks don't wrap and are hard to read):

File: <path> Line: <number> Comment:

Step 6: Prepare gh CLI Commands

Generate ready-to-run commands. Important: Create a pending review first, add each line comment individually, then submit.

1. Get the commit SHA for comments:

   bashCopy

   COMMIT_SHA=$(gh pr view <PR_NUMBER> --json headRefOid -q .headRefOid)
   

2. Check for an existing pending review before creating a new one:

   bashCopy

   gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{pr_number}/reviews \
     --jq '.[] | select(.state == "PENDING") | {id, user: .user.login, state}'
   

   If a pending review exists, skip creating a new one and add comments to it instead.

3. Create an empty pending review (only if no pending review exists):

   bashCopy

   gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{pr_number}/reviews \
     -f commit_id="$COMMIT_SHA"
   

4. Add each line comment to the pending review (one call per comment):

   bashCopy

   gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{pr_number}/comments \
     -f body="<comment>" \
     -f path="<file_path>" \
     -f commit_id="$COMMIT_SHA" \
     -F line=<line_number> \
     -f side="RIGHT"
   

5. Reply to existing comments (if needed):

   bashCopy

   gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{pr_number}/comments/{comment_id}/replies \
     -f body="<reply>"
   

6. After all comments are added, submit the review as an approval:

   bashCopy

   gh pr review <PR_NUMBER> --approve --body "Short summary here."
   

   Keep the final review body short (1-2 sentences). The detailed feedback is in the line comments.

Output Format

Present findings in sections, then wait for user feedback. The user will:

• Ask to modify suggestions
• Tell which comments to keep/remove
• Request changes to the review approach

Do NOT submit any reviews or comments until the user explicitly approves the plan.