| name | phx:review |
| description | Review code with parallel agents — tests, security, Ecto, LiveView, Oban. Use after implementation to catch bugs and anti-patterns before committing. |
| effort | high |
| argument-hint | ["test|security|oban|deploy|iron-laws|all"] |
Review Elixir/Phoenix Code
Review code by spawning parallel specialist agents. Find and
explain issues — do NOT create tasks or fix anything.
Usage
/phx:review # Auto-detects task ID from branch/commits
/phx:review test # Review test files only
/phx:review security # Run security audit only
/phx:review oban # Review Oban workers only
/phx:review deploy # Validate deployment config
/phx:review iron-laws # Check Iron Law violations only
/phx:review ENA-8931 # Force Linear issue
/phx:review #42 # Force GitHub issue
/phx:review .claude/plans/auth/plan.md # Force plan / spec file
/phx:review --no-requirements # Skip requirements coverage check
Arguments
$ARGUMENTS = Focus area, task ID, or path to plan/spec file.
When no requirements argument is passed, the skill auto-detects a task ID
from the current git branch name and recent commits (see
${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/requirements-detection.md).
Workflow
Step 1: Identify Changed Files and Prepare Directories
CRITICAL: Create output dirs BEFORE spawning agents — agents cannot
create directories and writes will fail.
- Determine SLUG via Glob on
.claude/plans/*/ (default: "review")
- Run
mkdir -p ".claude/plans/${SLUG}/reviews" ".claude/plans/${SLUG}/summaries" .claude/reviews
- Run
git diff --name-only HEAD~5 and git diff --name-only main
- Save the diff base for pre-existing detection in Step 3b
Step 1b: Load Plan Context and Prior Reviews
- Read
.claude/plans/${SLUG}/scratchpad.md for planning decisions and rationale
- Pass relevant decisions to agents as WHY-context (eliminates session archaeology)
- Check
.claude/plans/${SLUG}/reviews/ for prior output; if present, include a
consolidated summary as "PRIOR FINDINGS" with: "Focus on NEW issues. Mark
still-present issues as PERSISTENT."
Step 1c: Detect Requirements Source (skip on --no-requirements)
Find a task/spec whose requirements should be cross-checked against the diff.
Priority order (stop at first match): explicit arg → conversation context →
branch regex → commit subjects → latest plan → none. Full table, regexes,
and fetch mapping in ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/requirements-detection.md.
Fetch the detected source into .claude/plans/${SLUG}/reviews/.requirements-input.md
(Linear via mcp__linear__get_issue, GitHub via gh issue view, file via Read).
Record REQ_SOURCE label (e.g. "Linear ENA-8931") for the verifier heading.
On fetch failure, set SOURCE_STATUS=FETCH_FAILED and continue — verifier
will emit NOT AVAILABLE rather than block the review.
Step 2: Spawn Review Agents (MANDATORY)
NEVER spawn the same agent role twice per review. One pass per role.
NEVER analyze code yourself — use the Agent tool only. Zero agents = failure.
- Create a Claude Code task per agent via
TaskCreate and TaskUpdate to in_progress
- For
/phx:review or /phx:review all: select agents dynamically per the
selection table in ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/agent-spawning.md
- For focused reviews (
test|security|oban|deploy|iron-laws): spawn only the
matching specialist from the focused mode table in the same reference
- If Step 1c succeeded (REQ_SOURCE non-empty and
--no-requirements
not passed): add elixir-phoenix:requirements-verifier to the same
parallel batch. Pass these prompt inputs: REQUIREMENTS_TEXT (content
of .requirements-input.md), REQUIREMENTS_SOURCE (REQ_SOURCE label),
DIFF_FILES (git diff --name-only output), SOURCE_STATUS (only if
FETCH_FAILED), output_file: .claude/plans/{slug}/reviews/requirements.md
- Spawn in ONE message with
mode: "bypassPermissions" and run_in_background: true
- MANDATORY: pass explicit
output_file per-agent (mapping in the reference)
- Include the CRITICAL prompt block: write by turn ~12, chat body ≤300 words
- Scope every agent to the diff: pass
git diff --name-only output with
"Focus on NEW code. Pre-existing: one-line {file}:{line} — {brief}. Do
NOT deep-analyze unchanged files."
Step 3: Collect and Compress Findings
Wait for ALL agents to complete. Do NOT report status until every agent
completes. Mark each task completed via TaskUpdate as it finishes.
Missing file fallback — after each agent finishes, verify its expected
output_file exists. If missing (turn exhaustion, error):
- Append to
.claude/plans/{slug}/scratchpad.md:
[HH:MM] WARN: {agent} did not write {expected_path} — extracting from message
- Parse findings from the agent's return message as fallback
- Mark the section in the final review with
⚠️ EXTRACTED FROM AGENT MESSAGE (see scratchpad) — never silent
Verification-runner fallback — if it times out, run directly:
mix compile --warnings-as-errors && mix format --check-formatted $(git diff --name-only HEAD~5 | grep '\.exs\?$' | tr '\n' ' ') && mix credo --strict && mix test
Context supervision — for 4+ agents, spawn elixir-phoenix:context-supervisor:
Prompt: "Compress review agent output.
input_dir: .claude/plans/{slug}/reviews
output_dir: .claude/plans/{slug}/summaries
output_file: review-consolidated.md
priority_instructions: BLOCKERs and WARNINGs: KEEP ALL.
SUGGESTIONs: COMPRESS similar ones into groups.
Deconfliction: when iron-law-judge and elixir-reviewer
flag same code, keep iron-law-judge finding."
Skip the supervisor for focused (1-agent) reviews — read output directly.
Step 3b: Filter Findings (Anti-Noise)
Before writing the review, apply these overriding filters to each finding:
- Would a senior Elixir dev dismiss this as noise?
- Does the finding add complexity exceeding the problem's complexity?
- Are any findings duplicates reworded by different agents?
- Does the finding affect code actually changed in this diff?
- Is the finding on unchanged code (not in diff)? → Mark PRE-EXISTING
Demote or remove findings that fail filters 1-4. Mark pre-existing per filter 5.
Step 4: Generate Review Summary
Read consolidated/agent output. Write to .claude/plans/{slug}/reviews/{feature}-review.md
with verdict: PASS | PASS WITH WARNINGS | REQUIRES CHANGES | BLOCKED.
Requirements Coverage in verdict: if the verifier ran, read its
summary line and fold into the verdict:
- Any
UNMET → escalate to REQUIRES CHANGES (even if code-quality PASS)
- Any
PARTIAL (no UNMET) → downgrade PASS → PASS WITH WARNINGS
NOT AVAILABLE / all MET / UNCLEAR only → no verdict change
Insert the verifier's ## Requirements Coverage block into the
review document before the per-agent findings so it's the first
thing the user sees.
Step 5: Present Findings and Ask User
STOP and present the review. Do NOT create tasks or fix
anything.
On BLOCKED or REQUIRES CHANGES: Show finding count by severity,
then offer via AskUserQuestion: /phx:triage (recommended), /phx:plan,
fix directly, or "I'll handle it myself".
On PASS / PASS WITH WARNINGS: Suggest /phx:compound, /phx:learn-from-fix.
Convention extraction: After presenting findings, offer: "Any findings
to suppress or enforce as conventions?" See ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/conventions.md.
Iron Laws
- Review is READ-ONLY — Find and explain, never fix
- NEVER auto-fix after review — Always ask the user first
- Always offer both paths:
/phx:plan and /phx:work
- Research before claiming — Agents MUST research before
making claims about CI/CD or external services
Integration
/phx:plan → /phx:work → /phx:review (YOU ARE HERE) → Blocked? /phx:triage or /phx:plan | Pass? /phx:compound
See: ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/review-template.md, ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/example-review.md, ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/blocker-handling.md, ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/requirements-detection.md
