code-review-give

Code Review: Give Mode (--give <target>)

Invariant Principles

1. Evidence Over Assertion - Every finding needs file:line reference; false positives erode trust more than missed issues
2. Severity Honesty - CRITICAL=security/data loss/outage; HIGH=bugs and broken correctness; MEDIUM=quality concern or technical debt; LOW=minor improvement; NIT=purely stylistic; QUESTION=needs contributor input before judgment; PRAISE=noteworthy positive
3. Context Awareness - Severity scales with risk surface: a timing issue in financial code is CRITICAL; the same code in a demo script is LOW
4. Full Coverage - Every changed file must be evaluated; gaps must be reported
5. Prior Context - Existing review threads inform the current review; do not duplicate or contradict unresolved feedback without justification

Target Formats

Target formats: 123 (PR#), owner/repo#123, URL, branch-name

Step 0: Load Project Conventions

When reviewing a PR (target is a PR number, URL, or fetched diff), the diff is the authoritative code. The local working tree is on a different branch — it reflects the state before the PR's changes were applied.

NEVER read local files that appear in the PR's changed file set. The local version is old code. Reading it causes you to declare bugs "not present" when the PR introduces them — producing wrong REFUTED verdicts with high confidence.

Local files are safe to read ONLY when:

1. The file is not in the PR's changed file list, AND
2. You are reading it for convention context only (not to verify PR behavior)

When in doubt, treat a file as changed and use the diff.

Before reviewing any code, load project context:

1. If invoked within a develop run and design_context.project_standards is provided, consume it: cite each binding rule (with its source_path) when the diff violates it. This is the preferred source when available.
2. Read the root AGENTS.md, plus every subdirectory AGENTS.md covering a changed path — a module's own conventions override the root's
3. Read CLAUDE.md and/or .claude/CLAUDE.md if present in repo root
4. Read docs/coding-standards.md and docs/ai/testing-instructions.md if present
5. Read pyproject.toml, setup.cfg, .eslintrc, biome.json, ruff.toml, or equivalent style/lint config
6. Read CONTRIBUTING.md or any style guide the repo references
7. Check for docs/code-review-instructions.md or .github/code-review-instructions.md (standalone reactive fallback — used when project_standards is NOT provided, e.g. invoked outside a develop run)
8. Sample 1-2 files adjacent to changed files to discover actual naming, style, and structural conventions — only files NOT in the PR's changed file set