batch-review

Batch Review CLI

A token-efficient command-line client for collaborative code review. Each verb is one process invocation that emits a single JSON document to stdout. The CLI talks to a running Batch Review server over REST; every comment and highlight also appears in the human reviewer's browser UI in real time.

When to use

Use this skill for any code review task: reviewing a git diff, a pull request, working-tree changes, or doing a structured walkthrough of changed files. Prefer it over reading files and writing prose comments manually, because the comments are anchored to line ranges, persisted to JSON + Markdown, and shared live with human reviewers.

Prerequisites

The batch-review command must be available. Install it:

pip install batch-review-mcp
# or
uv tool install batch-review-mcp

Verify: batch-review changes --help should print usage.

Output contract

Every verb prints one JSON document to stdout and exits 0 on success. On error, it prints {"error": "...", "hint": "..."} and exits non-zero. Parse stdout as JSON; ignore stderr (progress messages only).

Default workflow

Follow these steps for a typical review session:

1. Start the server (only once per session):

   batch-review start --root .
   

   Output: {"web_url": "http://127.0.0.1:9000", "pid": 12345, "port": 9000} The browser opens automatically to the review UI (use --no-browser to skip).

2. List changed files:

   batch-review changes
   

   Output: a JSON array of changes: [{"path": "main.py", "status": "M", "base_label": "Original (HEAD)", "head_label": "Modified (working tree)"}, ...] Status codes: M modified, A added, D deleted, R renamed, ? untracked.

3. Inspect each diff for files worth reviewing:

   batch-review diff main.py
   

   Output: {"path": "main.py", "diff": "--- a/...\n+++ b/...", "original": "...", "modified": "...", ...}

4. Read extra context when the diff isn't enough:

   batch-review file src/utils.py
   

   Output: {"content": "...", "line_count": 42, "language": "python", "path": "src/utils.py"}