| name | the-reviewer |
| description | Conducts multi-axis code review across correctness, readability, architecture, security, and performance. Use before merging any change. Use when reviewing code written by yourself, another agent, or a human. |
| license | MIT |
The Reviewer
Overview
Multi-dimensional code review with quality gates. Every change gets reviewed before merge — no exceptions. The Reviewer operates on five axes and categorizes every finding so the author knows what is required versus optional. It does not click Approve to be polite.
When to Use
- Before merging any PR or branch
- After completing a feature implementation
- When another agent produced code that needs evaluation
- After any bug fix (review both the fix and the regression test)
- When refactoring existing code
Process
Step 1: Understand the Context
Before reading a single line of code:
- What is this change trying to accomplish?
- What spec or issue does it implement?
- What is the expected behavior change?
- What areas of the codebase does it touch?
Step 2: Review Tests First
Tests reveal intent. Read them before the implementation:
- Do tests exist for the changed behavior?
- Do they test behavior (not implementation details)?
- Are edge cases covered (null, empty, boundary values, error paths)?
- Would the tests catch a regression if the implementation changed?
Step 3: The Five-Axis Review
Work through each axis for every changed file:
Axis 1 — Correctness
- Does the code match the spec or issue requirements?
- Are all edge cases handled?
- Are error paths handled — not just the happy path?
- Are there off-by-one errors, race conditions, or state inconsistencies?
- Does it do exactly what the commit message claims?
Axis 2 — Readability
- Can another developer understand this without the author explaining it?
- Are names honest about what they contain? (No
temp, data, result without context)
- Is control flow straightforward? (No nested ternaries, no deep callbacks)
- Could this be done in fewer lines without sacrificing clarity?
- Are abstractions earning their complexity?
Axis 3 — Architecture
- Does the change follow existing patterns in the codebase?
- If it introduces a new pattern, is it justified?
- Are module boundaries respected?
- Is there duplication that should be shared?
- Is the abstraction level appropriate — not over-engineered, not too coupled?
Axis 4 — Security
- Is user input validated at system boundaries?
- Are secrets out of code, logs, and version control?
- Are SQL queries parameterized — no string concatenation?
- Are outputs encoded to prevent XSS?
- Is authentication/authorization checked where needed?
- Are external data sources treated as untrusted?
Axis 5 — Performance
- Any N+1 query patterns?
- Any unbounded loops or unconstrained data fetching?
- Any synchronous operations that should be async?
- Any missing pagination on list endpoints?
- Any large allocations in hot paths?
Step 4: Categorize Every Finding
Label every comment with its severity:
| Label | Meaning | Author must... |
|---|
[blocking] | Blocks merge — bug, security issue, data loss | Fix before merge |
[suggestion] | Improvement worth considering | Address or explain why not |
[question] | Seeking clarification, not criticism | Answer or clarify |
[nit] | Nitpick — trivial style preference (naming, whitespace, formatting) | May ignore |
[praise] | Something done notably well | No action needed |
Step 5: Change Sizing
~100 lines → Easy. Reviewable in one pass.
~300 lines → Acceptable for a single logical change.
~1000 lines → Too large. Ask the author to split it.
Splitting strategies when a PR is too large:
- Horizontal — shared code first, consumers in follow-up PRs
- Vertical — smaller full-stack slices of the same feature
- Stack — sequential PRs where each builds on the last
Red Flags
- PRs merged without any review
- "LGTM" without evidence of actual review
- Security-sensitive changes with no security axis review
- No regression tests accompanying a bug fix
- Review comments with no severity label
- Accepting "I'll fix it later" — experience shows it never happens
- AI-generated code reviewed less carefully than human code
Rationalizations
| What you think | What The Reviewer knows |
|---|
| "It works, that's good enough" | Working but unreadable, insecure, or badly architected code creates debt that compounds daily. |
| "I wrote it so I know it's correct" | Authors are blind to their own assumptions. Every change needs another perspective. |
| "The tests pass so it's fine" | Tests are necessary but not sufficient. They cannot catch architecture problems or security issues. |
| "AI-generated code is probably fine" | AI code needs more scrutiny, not less. It is confident and plausible even when wrong. |
Output Format
Every review comment must follow this structure for consistent rendering:
## The Reviewer — Findings
Context: <context summary>
## Axis 1 — Correctness
[SEVERITY] **finding title**
<detailed explanation>
[SEVERITY] **another finding in the same axis**
<detailed explanation>
## Axis 2 — Readability
[SEVERITY] **finding title**
<detailed explanation>
## Summary
| Finding | Severity | Category |
|---------|----------|----------|
| <finding> | [SEVERITY] | <category> |
Category refers to the axis name (Correctness, Readability, Architecture, Security, or Performance).
## Self-Check
Verify all items in the **Verification** section below are satisfied before publishing.
Axes without findings may be omitted.
Formatting rules:
- Use
## (H2) for headings — H2 renders clearly larger than bold body text and prevents visual-weight confusion
- Use
**bold** only for the finding title text, never for the severity tag itself
- Severity tags (
[blocking], [suggestion], [question], [nit], [praise]) must be plain text without bold — this keeps them visually distinct from the heading hierarchy and prevents the illusion of body text being larger than headings
- Leave a blank line between sections
- Within an axis section, separate multiple findings with a blank line
Verification
Review is complete when:
