richfrem/requesting-code-review

Source: Ported from obra/superpowers by Jesse Vincent. Adapted for the agent-plugins-skills ecosystem. Original concepts and Iron Laws credit belongs to Jesse.

Requesting Code Review

Dispatch the code-reviewer agent to catch issues before they cascade. The reviewer gets precisely crafted context for evaluation - never your session's history. This keeps the reviewer focused on the work product, not your thought process, and preserves your own context for continued work.

Core principle: Review early, review often.

When to Request Review

Mandatory:

• After completing a major feature
• Before merge to main
• After each task in multi-task implementation

Optional but valuable:

• When stuck (fresh perspective)
• Before refactoring (baseline check)
• After fixing complex bug

How to Request

1. Get git SHAs:

BASE_SHA=$(git rev-parse HEAD~1)  # or origin/main
HEAD_SHA=$(git rev-parse HEAD)

2. Dispatch code-reviewer agent:

Use the Agent tool with subagent_type code-reviewer, providing:

• WHAT_WAS_IMPLEMENTED - What you just built
• PLAN_OR_REQUIREMENTS - What it should do (link to spec or plan)
• BASE_SHA - Starting commit
• HEAD_SHA - Ending commit
• DESCRIPTION - Brief summary of the diff

3. Act on feedback:

• Fix Critical issues immediately
• Fix Important issues before proceeding
• Note Minor issues for later
• Push back if reviewer is wrong (with reasoning)

Example

[Just completed: Add verification function]

BASE_SHA=$(git log --oneline | grep "previous task" | head -1 | awk '{print $1}')
HEAD_SHA=$(git rev-parse HEAD)

[Dispatch code-reviewer agent]
  WHAT_WAS_IMPLEMENTED: Verification and repair functions for conversation index
  PLAN_OR_REQUIREMENTS: Task 2 from plan.md - verifyIndex() and repairIndex()
  BASE_SHA: a7981ec
  HEAD_SHA: 3df7661
  DESCRIPTION: Added verifyIndex() and repairIndex() with 4 issue types

[Agent returns]:
  Strengths: Clean architecture, real tests
  Issues:
    Important: Missing progress indicators
    Minor: Magic number (100) for reporting interval
  Assessment: Ready to proceed

[Fix progress indicators]
[Continue to next task]

Integration with Workflows

Multi-task implementation:

• Review after each task
• Catch issues before they compound
• Fix before moving to next task

Single feature:

• Review before merge
• Review when stuck

Red Flags

Never:

• Skip review because "it's simple"
• Ignore Critical issues
• Proceed with unfixed Important issues
• Argue with valid technical feedback

If reviewer wrong:

• Push back with technical reasoning
• Show code/tests that prove it works
• Request clarification

Agent Integration Note

In agent-agentic-os with the concurrent-agent-loop pattern, dispatch the code-reviewer as a PEER_AGENT via the kernel event bus: emit task.assigned, receive task.complete. This integrates review into the ORCHESTRATOR/INNER_AGENT/PEER_AGENT topology and makes review quality a measurable signal in the improvement loop.