Code Review

Guide proper code review practices emphasizing technical rigor, evidence-based claims, and verification over performative responses.

Overview

Code review requires three distinct practices:

1. Receiving feedback – Technical evaluation over performative agreement
2. Requesting reviews – Systematic review processes
3. Verification gates – Evidence before any completion claims

Core Principle

Technical correctness over social comfort. Verify before implementing. Ask before assuming. Evidence before claims.

When to Use

Receiving Feedback

• Receiving code review comments from any source
• Feedback seems unclear or technically questionable
• Multiple review items need prioritization
• External reviewer lacks full context
• Suggestion conflicts with existing decisions

Requesting Review

• Completing tasks in subagent-driven development (after EACH task)
• Finishing major features or refactors
• Before merging to main branch
• Stuck and need fresh perspective
• After fixing complex bugs

Verification Gates

• About to claim tests pass, build succeeds, or work is complete
• Before committing, pushing, or creating PRs
• Moving to next task
• Any statement suggesting success/completion

Quick Decision Tree

SITUATION?
│
├─ Received feedback
│  ├─ Unclear items? → STOP, ask for clarification first
│  ├─ From human partner? → Understand, then implement
│  └─ From external reviewer? → Verify technically before implementing
│
├─ Completed work
│  ├─ Major feature/task? → Request systematic review
│  └─ Before merge? → Request systematic review
│
└─ About to claim status
   ├─ Have fresh verification? → State claim WITH evidence
   └─ No fresh verification? → RUN verification command first

CI Verification

Before any completion claim or commit:

• Run CI checks (types, tests, lint)
• Prefer single CI command if available
• Verify all checks pass
• Do not proceed if checks fail

References

For detailed protocols, see:

• references/receiving-feedback.md – How to handle code review feedback
• references/requesting-review.md – Systematic review processes
• references/verification-gates.md – Evidence before claims protocol