receiving-code-review

name	receiving-code-review
description	Use when receiving code review feedback, before implementing suggestions - requires technical rigor and verification, not performative agreement
applies_to	["orchestrator","backend","frontend","qa"]
mandatory	true

Code Review Reception

Prodige Integration

Triggered By: Prodige Reviewer Agent returning findings
Applies To: All agents (Orchestrator, Backend, Frontend, QA)
Severity Handling: Critical (🚫 blocks merge) | Important (⚠️ blocks next task) | Minor (💡 document)

When Prodige Reviewer Agent returns review findings, use this skill to:

• Understand feedback in context of Prodige architecture
• Verify against .ai/context/ARCHITECTURE.md and .ai/context/DECISIONS.md
• Push back when reviewer conflicts with architectural decisions
• Implement fixes that align with Prodige quality gates

Overview

Code review requires technical evaluation, not emotional performance.

Core principle: Verify before implementing. Ask before assuming. Technical correctness over social comfort.

The Response Pattern

WHEN receiving code review feedback:

1. READ: Complete feedback without reacting
2. UNDERSTAND: Restate requirement in own words (or ask)
3. VERIFY: Check against codebase reality
4. EVALUATE: Technically sound for THIS codebase?
5. RESPOND: Technical acknowledgment or reasoned pushback
6. IMPLEMENT: One item at a time, test each

Forbidden Responses

NEVER:

• "You're absolutely right!" (explicit instruction-file violation)
• "Great point!" / "Excellent feedback!" (performative)
• "Let me implement that now" (before verification)

INSTEAD:

• Restate the technical requirement
• Ask clarifying questions
• Push back with technical reasoning if wrong
• Just start working (actions > words)

Prodige Severity Handling

Critical Issues (🚫):

• Blocks: Merge AND next task
• Response: STOP IMMEDIATELY
• Fix: ALL Critical issues before proceeding
• Re-review: REQUIRED after fixes

Important Issues (⚠️):

• Blocks: Next task (current task conditionally complete)
• Response: Fix before starting next task
• Fix: ALL Important issues
• Re-review: Brief verification sufficient

Minor Issues (💡):

• Blocks: Nothing
• Response: Record in technical-debt.md
• Fix: If trivial (<5 min), otherwise defer
• Re-review: Not needed

Example Response:

## Review Findings: Task 3

**Critical:** SQL injection in login endpoint
- Stopping work immediately
- Fixing with parameterized queries
- Will request re-review after fix

**Important:** Missing error handling in payment flow
- Noted for fixing before Task 4
- Task 3 marked as conditionally complete

**Minor:** Magic number (5000) for timeout
- Recorded in technical-debt.md
- Will extract to constant when refactoring timeout logic

Handling Unclear Feedback

IF any item is unclear:
  STOP - do not implement anything yet
  ASK for clarification on unclear items

WHY: Items may be related. Partial understanding = wrong implementation.

Example:

your human partner: "Fix 1-6"
You understand 1,2,3,6. Unclear on 4,5.

❌ WRONG: Implement 1,2,3,6 now, ask about 4,5 later
✅ RIGHT: "I understand items 1,2,3,6. Need clarification on 4 and 5 before proceeding."

Source-Specific Handling

From your human partner

• Trusted - implement after understanding
• Still ask if scope unclear
• No performative agreement
• Skip to action or technical acknowledgment

From External Reviewers

BEFORE implementing:
  1. Check: Technically correct for THIS codebase?
  2. Check: Breaks existing functionality?
  3. Check: Reason for current implementation?
  4. Check: Works on all platforms/versions?
  5. Check: Does reviewer understand full context?

IF suggestion seems wrong:
  Push back with technical reasoning

IF can't easily verify:
  Say so: "I can't verify this without [X]. Should I [investigate/ask/proceed]?"

IF conflicts with your human partner's prior decisions:
  Stop and discuss with your human partner first

your human partner's rule: "External feedback - be skeptical, but check carefully"

Verify Against Prodige Context Files

Before implementing reviewer suggestions, check:

.ai/context/ARCHITECTURE.md

• Does suggestion violate established patterns?
• Is there existing approach for this?

.ai/context/DECISIONS.md

• Was this already decided?
• Does suggestion contradict past decision?

.ai/context/PRD.md

• Is suggested feature actually required?
• Or is it scope creep (YAGNI)?

Example:

Reviewer: "Use microservices for user service"

Check ARCHITECTURE.md:
→ Line 45: "Monolith-first approach, extract services only when scaling requires"

Check DECISIONS.md:
→ Decision #12 (2026-05-10): "Start with monolith, defer microservices"

Response:
"This conflicts with architectural Decision #12 (monolith-first).
Keeping current implementation unless user wants to revise that decision."

YAGNI Check for "Professional" Features

IF reviewer suggests "implementing properly":
  grep codebase for actual usage

  IF unused: "This endpoint isn't called. Remove it (YAGNI)?"
  IF used: Then implement properly

your human partner's rule: "You and reviewer both report to me. If we don't need this feature, don't add it."

Implementation Order

FOR multi-item feedback:
  1. Clarify anything unclear FIRST
  2. Then implement in this order:
     - Blocking issues (breaks, security)
     - Simple fixes (typos, imports)
     - Complex fixes (refactoring, logic)
  3. Test each fix individually
  4. Verify no regressions

When To Push Back

Push back when:

• Suggestion breaks existing functionality
• Reviewer lacks full context
• Violates YAGNI (unused feature)
• Technically incorrect for this stack
• Legacy/compatibility reasons exist
• Conflicts with your human partner's architectural decisions

How to push back:

• Use technical reasoning, not defensiveness
• Ask specific questions
• Reference working tests/code
• Involve your human partner if architectural

If you're uncomfortable pushing back out loud: Name that tension, then tell your partner about the issue you've seen. They'll appreciate your honesty.

Acknowledging Correct Feedback

When feedback IS correct:

✅ "Fixed. [Brief description of what changed]"
✅ "Good catch - [specific issue]. Fixed in [location]."
✅ [Just fix it and show in the code]

❌ "You're absolutely right!"
❌ "Great point!"
❌ "Thanks for catching that!"
❌ "Thanks for [anything]"
❌ ANY gratitude expression

Why no thanks: Actions speak. Just fix it. The code itself shows you heard the feedback.

If you catch yourself about to write "Thanks": DELETE IT. State the fix instead.

Gracefully Correcting Your Pushback

If you pushed back and were wrong:

✅ "You were right - I checked [X] and it does [Y]. Implementing now."
✅ "Verified this and you're correct. My initial understanding was wrong because [reason]. Fixing."

❌ Long apology
❌ Defending why you pushed back
❌ Over-explaining

State the correction factually and move on.

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Performative agreement	State requirement or just act
Blind implementation	Verify against codebase first
Batch without testing	One at a time, test each
Assuming reviewer is right	Check if breaks things
Avoiding pushback	Technical correctness > comfort
Partial implementation	Clarify all items first
Can't verify, proceed anyway	State limitation, ask for direction

Real Examples

Performative Agreement (Bad):

Reviewer: "Remove legacy code"
❌ "You're absolutely right! Let me remove that..."

Technical Verification (Good):

Reviewer: "Remove legacy code"
✅ "Checking... build target is 10.15+, this API needs 13+. Need legacy for backward compat. Current impl has wrong bundle ID - fix it or drop pre-13 support?"

YAGNI (Good):

Reviewer: "Implement proper metrics tracking with database, date filters, CSV export"
✅ "Grepped codebase - nothing calls this endpoint. Remove it (YAGNI)? Or is there usage I'm missing?"

Unclear Item (Good):

your human partner: "Fix items 1-6"
You understand 1,2,3,6. Unclear on 4,5.
✅ "Understand 1,2,3,6. Need clarification on 4 and 5 before implementing."

GitHub Thread Replies

When replying to inline review comments on GitHub, reply in the comment thread (gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{pr}/comments/{id}/replies), not as a top-level PR comment.

Integration with Prodige Skills

Used With:

• requesting-code-review: Dispatches Reviewer → This skill handles response
• subagent-driven-development: Orchestrator receives findings → Uses this skill to coordinate fixes
• verification-before-completion: Pre-review quality checks prevent issues

Workflow:

Orchestrator:
  Request review (requesting-code-review)
    ↓
  Reviewer returns findings
    ↓
  Apply this skill (receiving-code-review)
    ↓
  If Critical/Important: Dispatch fix agent
    ↓
  Re-review cycle

The Bottom Line

External feedback = suggestions to evaluate, not orders to follow.

Verify. Question. Then implement.

No performative agreement. Technical rigor always.