| name | crit |
| description | Review code changes, a plan, a live page (running dev server), or a local HTML file with crit inline comments. Use when asked to review code, a plan, a diff, a running web app, or when you want structured human feedback on your work. |
Review with Crit
Review and revise code changes, plans, live pages (running dev servers, staging URLs), or local HTML files using crit for inline comment review.
Step 1: Pass arguments to crit
The CLI auto-detects the review mode from its arguments. Do not ask the user which mode to use. Pass arguments through:
crit <arguments> # file, dir, URL, .html — CLI auto-detects mode
crit --pr <num|url> # GitHub PR (range mode)
crit --range <base>..<head> # commit range (range mode)
crit # no args → branch diff
If no arguments, check conversation context:
- A plan file was written earlier in this conversation →
crit <plan-file>
- Otherwise → bare
crit (branch diff)
Step 2: Launch crit and block until review completes
CRITICAL — you MUST run this step. Do NOT skip it. Do NOT proceed without it.
Run crit in the foreground and block until it exits:
crit <plan-file>
crit
If a crit server is already running from earlier in this conversation, crit automatically connects to it. Starting from scratch, it spawns the daemon, opens the browser, and blocks until the user clicks "Finish Review".
crit prints the review URL on startup (e.g. Started crit daemon at http://localhost:<port>). Relay it verbatim:
"Crit is open at http://localhost:. Leave inline comments, then click Finish Review."
Do NOT proceed until crit completes. Do NOT ask the user to type anything. Do NOT read the review file early. Wait for the foreground command to finish — that is how you know the human is done reviewing.
Step 3: Read the review output
When crit completes, read stdout and follow its instructions. Check stderr for approved: true or approved: false.
When a comment has quote, anchor, or drifted:
quote: the specific text the reviewer selected — focus your changes on the quoted text rather than the entire line rangeanchor: use it to locate the current position of the content; line numbers may be stale after editsdrifted: true: original content was removed or heavily rewritten — line numbers are approximate at best
Fallback (mid-round re-entry, plan hooks, or headless workflows): crit comments / crit comments --json. Use crit comments --plan <slug> for plan-mode reviews.
Step 4: Address each review comment
For each unresolved comment:
- Understand what the comment asks for
- If it contains a suggestion block, apply that specific change
- Revise the referenced file (plan or code file from the diff)
- Reply with what you did:
crit comment --reply-to <id> --author 'Pi' '<what you did>' (reply bodies support markdown)
- Do not pass
--resolve. Resolving is the reviewer's call. Only add --resolve if the user explicitly asks.
Editing the plan file triggers Crit's live reload — the user sees changes in the browser immediately.
When replying to multiple comments
Use --json for a single bulk call instead of one invocation per comment:
echo '[
{"reply_to": "c_a1b2c3", "body": "Fixed"},
{"reply_to": "c_d4e5f6", "body": "Refactored as suggested"}
]' | crit comment --json --author 'Pi'
Step 5: Signal completion and start next round
CRITICAL — you MUST run this step. Do NOT skip it. Do NOT proceed without it.
The finish prompt on stdout includes the command to run again — use it to start a new round.
On subsequent calls, crit automatically signals round-complete first, then blocks until the next "Finish Review" click.
Tell the user: "Changes applied. Review the diff in your browser and click Finish Review when ready."
Do NOT proceed until crit completes. When it does, return to Step 3. If the user finishes with zero comments, the review is approved — stop the loop and proceed.
Sharing
If the user asks for a URL, a shareable link, or to share the review:
crit share <file>
Always relay the full output to the user — copy the URL directly into your response. Don't make them dig through tool output.
To remove a shared review:
crit unpublish [file...]
QR codes
Only use --qr in real terminal environments with monospace rendering. Skip it in mobile apps or web chat UIs — Unicode block characters won't render.
crit share --qr <file>
