requesting-code-review

Requesting Code Review

Overview

Dispatch a reviewer subagent to catch issues before they cascade. Review early, review often.

Core principle: Fresh perspective finds issues you'll miss.

When to Request Review

Mandatory:

• After each task in subagent-driven development
• After completing a major feature
• Before merge to main
• After bug fixes

Optional but valuable:

• When stuck (fresh perspective)
• Before refactoring (baseline check)
• After complex logic implementation
• When touching critical code (auth, payments, data)

Never skip because:

• "It's simple" — simple bugs compound
• "I'm in a hurry" — reviews save time
• "I tested it" — you have blind spots

Review Process

Step 1: Self-Review First

Before dispatching a reviewer, check yourself:

• Code follows project conventions
• All tests pass
• No debug print statements left
• No hardcoded secrets or credentials
• Error handling in place
• Commit messages are clear

# Run full test suite
pytest tests/ -q

# Check for debug code
search_files("print(", path="src/", file_glob="*.py")
search_files("console.log", path="src/", file_glob="*.js")

# Check for TODOs
search_files("TODO|FIXME|HACK", path="src/")

Step 2: Gather Context

# Changed files
git diff --name-only HEAD~1

# Diff summary
git diff --stat HEAD~1

# Recent commits
git log --oneline -5

Step 3: Dispatch Reviewer Subagent

Use delegate_task to dispatch a focused reviewer:

delegate_task(
    goal="Review implementation for correctness and quality",
    context="""
    WHAT WAS IMPLEMENTED:
    [Brief description of the feature/fix]

    ORIGINAL REQUIREMENTS:
    [From plan, issue, or user request]

    FILES CHANGED:
    - src/models/user.py (added User class)
    - src/auth/login.py (added login endpoint)
    - tests/test_auth.py (added 8 tests)

    REVIEW CHECKLIST:
    - [ ] Correctness: Does it do what it should?
    - [ ] Edge cases: Are they handled?
    - [ ] Error handling: Is it adequate?
    - [ ] Code quality: Clear names, good structure?
    - [ ] Test coverage: Are tests meaningful?
    - [ ] Security: Any vulnerabilities?
    - [ ] Performance: Any obvious issues?

    OUTPUT FORMAT:
    - Summary: [brief assessment]
    - Critical Issues: [must fix — blocks merge]
    - Important Issues: [should fix before merge]
    - Minor Issues: [nice to have]
    - Strengths: [what was done well]
    - Verdict: APPROVE / REQUEST_CHANGES
    """,
    toolsets=['file']
)