| name | review-backlog-killer |
| description | Detect pull requests aging past warn / critical thresholds, score severity, and nudge reviewers via Slack DM, channel, email, or directly as a PR comment — with one-time auto-escalation when a PR hits critical so velocity stops leaking through review queues. Use when this capability is needed. |
| metadata | {"author":"aozyildirim"} |
Review Backlog Killer
Pull requests get lost in review queues; team velocity drops silently.
Sprint planning shows it as "I dunno, sometimes the reviewers are slow".
This pattern surfaces stuck PRs deterministically and sends the reviewer
a nudge through whichever channel they actually read.
How to apply this pattern
-
Define open: PR is open when merged_at IS NULL AND closed_at IS NULL AND its provider status is in {open, opened, pending, review_required, in_review, active}. PRs with provider status in
{abandoned, declined, closed, rejected} drop off the backlog.
-
Configure thresholds per workspace (chip-pick is best UX —
6h / 12h / 1d / 2d / 3d / 1w / custom). Defaults: 24h warn, 48h
critical, 6h between auto-nudges to the same reviewer.
-
Poller every 30 minutes updates age_hours and severity
(info < warn ≤ warning < critical ≤ critical) on every open PR.
Merged or closed PRs auto-resolve out of the backlog.
-
Pick a notify channel per workspace:
slack_dm — direct, most attentionslack_channel — visible to teamemail — for async-first teamspr_comment — most attention-grabbing because it lands where
the reviewer already lives. The comment text is locale-aware so
non-English teams don't get an English nudge.manual — dashboard-only, no auto-notify
-
Auto-escalate once when a PR crosses the critical threshold:
set escalated_at, mark severity, surface above the fold to tech
leads. Fire it once per PR, not on every poll cycle.
-
Manual nudge button on every row — fires the configured channel
immediately, overrides the interval. Useful for a tech lead doing a
one-shot push before standup.
Example PR comment template
⏱️ AGENA Review Backlog
This PR has been waiting for review for **47 hours** (severity: critical).
Nudge #2.
Configure thresholds at /dashboard/review-backlog.
When the Reviews module is also on, the message includes
AGENA review score: 84 so reviewers see the time investment before
clicking.
Notes
- Idempotency on PR comment: before posting, check whether a
prior AGENA comment already exists on that PR — re-post would be
spammy. If the comment was deleted by a human, treat the row as
un-nudged so the next cycle is allowed to comment again.
- Provider-aware status refresh: PRs marked active in your local DB
may have been abandoned upstream; refresh status before deciding to
nudge so you don't ping reviewers on dead PRs.
- Exempt repos are essential — legacy / maintenance repos shouldn't
trigger nudges. Comma-separated repo-mapping ids in a workspace
setting is the simplest UX.
- The poller scales linearly with open PR count; 1000 open PRs ≈
1 second of polling per cycle.
Source: aozyildirim/Agena — distributed by TomeVault.
