Review Pull Request / Merge Request

Review a PR (GitHub) or MR (GitLab) by analyzing changes and providing structured feedback.

Provider detection: Check the remote URL or provided URL:

• If GitHub → use gh pr commands
• If GitLab → use glab mr commands

Arguments

• pr-number-or-url: Either a PR number (e.g., 123) or a full URL

Workflow

1. Setup

• Ensure the repo is cloned to /workspace/personal/<repo-name> (clone with gh repo clone if needed)
• Fetch, checkout the PR branch, get PR details and diff

2. Check CI Status (MANDATORY)

Check CI with gh pr checks <pr-number> (or glab mr view --json pipelines).

If CI checks are failing, this is an automatic REQUEST_CHANGES. Do not approve a PR with failing CI. Include the failing check names and error details in your review.

2b. Review Repository Guidelines

Check the "Review Guidance" section of your Repository Guidelines for repo-specific review instructions (e.g., "check README.md", "enforce camelCase in specific directories"). Apply these instructions during your review below.

Also note the repo's Merge Policy — check allowMerge and mergeChecks before approving or merging. If allowMerge is false, do NOT merge — only review and approve/request changes.

3. Verify Tests Are Included (MANDATORY)

Check that the PR includes test changes. If the PR modifies code but does not add or update tests, this is an automatic REQUEST_CHANGES. Every code change must include corresponding tests.

Exceptions:

• Pure documentation changes (README, comments only)
• Configuration-only changes (CI config, linter config, env files)
• Dependency version bumps with no code changes

When requesting changes for missing tests, be specific about what tests are needed.

4. Analyze the Changes

Review the diff for:

• Security issues: SQL injection, XSS, command injection, secrets in code
• Logic errors: Off-by-one errors, null handling, edge cases
• Performance concerns: N+1 queries, unnecessary loops, memory leaks
• Code quality: Naming, complexity, duplication, missing error handling
• Test coverage: Are included tests sufficient? Do they cover edge cases?

Also consider running the test suite locally and checking for TypeScript errors.

5. Post the Review

Post your review with a verdict: APPROVE, REQUEST_CHANGES, or COMMENT.

gh pr review <pr-number> --approve --body "Review message"
gh pr review <pr-number> --request-changes --body "Review message"
gh pr review <pr-number> --comment --body "Review message"

6. Post Inline Comments on Specific Lines

For detailed feedback on specific lines, use the GitHub API:

# Get the commit SHA
COMMIT_SHA=$(gh pr view <pr-number> --json headRefOid --jq '.headRefOid')

# Post an inline comment
gh api repos/<owner>/<repo>/pulls/<pr-number>/comments \
  --method POST \
  -f commit_id="$COMMIT_SHA" \
  -f path="src/path/to/file.ts" \
  -f line=42 \
  -f side="RIGHT" \
  -f body="Your inline comment here."

Parameters:

• commit_id: PR head commit SHA
• path: Relative file path
• line: Line number in the diff
• side: "RIGHT" for new code (additions), "LEFT" for removed code
• body: Comment text (supports markdown)

7. Re-reviewing After Changes

When the author pushes updates:

1. Fetch latest and re-checkout the PR
2. Check if previous concerns were addressed
3. Reply to existing comment threads:
   bashCopy

   gh api repos/<owner>/<repo>/pulls/<pr-number>/comments/<comment-id>/replies \
     --method POST \
     -f body="Thanks, this looks good now!"
   

4. Update your review status (approve or request further changes)

Tips

• Focus on substantive issues over style nitpicks
• Acknowledge good work when you see it
• Having the repo cloned allows you to run tests and verify changes locally