review-pr

name	review-pr
description	Review-only GitHub pull request analysis with the gh CLI. Use when asked to review a PR, provide structured feedback, or assess readiness to land. Do not merge, push, or make code changes you intend to keep.

Review PR

Overview

Perform a thorough review-only PR assessment and return a structured recommendation on readiness for /preparepr.

Inputs

• Ask for PR number or URL.
• If missing, always ask. Never auto-detect from conversation.
• If ambiguous, ask.

Safety

• Never push to main or origin/main, not during review, not ever.
• Do not run git push at all during review. Treat review as read only.

Execution Rule

• Execute the workflow. Do not stop after printing the TODO checklist.
• If delegating, require the delegate to run commands and capture outputs, not a plan.

Writing Style for Output

• Write casual and direct.
• Avoid em dashes and en dashes. Use commas or separate sentences.

Completion Criteria

• Run the commands in the worktree and inspect the PR directly.
• Produce the structured review sections A through J.
• Save the full review to .local/review.md inside the worktree.

First: Create a TODO Checklist

Create a checklist of all review steps, print it, then continue and execute the commands.

Setup: Use a Worktree

Use an isolated worktree for all review work.

# Sanity: confirm you are in the repo
git rev-parse --show-toplevel

WORKTREE_DIR=".worktrees/pr-<PR>"
git fetch origin main

# Reuse existing worktree if it exists, otherwise create new
if [ -d "$WORKTREE_DIR" ]; then
  cd "$WORKTREE_DIR"
  git checkout temp/pr-<PR> 2>/dev/null || git checkout -b temp/pr-<PR>
  git fetch origin main
  git reset --hard origin/main
else
  git worktree add "$WORKTREE_DIR" -b temp/pr-<PR> origin/main
  cd "$WORKTREE_DIR"
fi

# Create local scratch space that persists across /reviewpr to /preparepr to /mergepr
mkdir -p .local

Run all commands inside the worktree directory. Start on origin/main so you can check for existing implementations before looking at PR code.

Steps

1. Identify PR meta and context

gh pr view <PR> --json number,title,state,isDraft,author,baseRefName,headRefName,headRepository,url,body,labels,assignees,reviewRequests,files,additions,deletions --jq '{number,title,url,state,isDraft,author:.author.login,base:.baseRefName,head:.headRefName,headRepo:.headRepository.nameWithOwner,additions,deletions,files:.files|length,body}'

2. Check if this already exists in main before looking at the PR branch

• Identify the core feature or fix from the PR title and description.
• Search for existing implementations using keywords from the PR title, changed file paths, and function or component names from the diff.

3. Claim the PR

Assign yourself so others know someone is reviewing. Skip if the PR looks like spam or is a draft you plan to recommend closing.

4. Read the PR description carefully

Use the body from step 1. Summarize goal, scope, and missing context.

5. Read the diff thoroughly

gh pr diff <PR>

6. Validate the change is needed and valuable

Be honest. Call out low value AI slop.

7. Evaluate implementation quality

Review correctness, design, performance, and ergonomics.

8. Perform a security review

Check auth, input validation, secrets, dependencies, tool safety, and privacy.

9. Review tests and verification

Identify what exists, what is missing, and what would be a minimal regression test.

10. Check docs

Check if the PR touches code with related documentation.

11. Check changelog

Check if the PR warrants a changelog entry.

12. Answer the key question

Decide if /preparepr can fix issues or the contributor must update the PR.

13. Save findings to the worktree

Write the full structured review sections A through J to .local/review.md.

14. Output the structured review

A) TL;DR recommendation B) What changed C) What is good D) Security findings E) Concerns or questions (actionable) - mark each as BLOCKER, IMPORTANT, or NIT F) Tests G) Docs status H) Changelog I) Follow ups (optional) J) Suggested PR comment (optional)

Guardrails

• Worktree only.
• Do not delete the worktree after review.
• Review only, do not merge, do not push.