laravel-code-review-requests

name	laravel:code-review-requests
description	Request effective code reviews—specify focus areas, provide context, ask for architectural feedback, reference Laravel conventions

Code Review Requests

Focused review requests get actionable feedback. Vague requests get generic advice.

Specify Focus Areas

Vague

"Review this code"

Focused

"Review OrderService for security and performance:

Focus on:

• Authorization checks (are we verifying user owns the order?)
• SQL injection risks (any raw queries?)
• N+1 query problems (eager loading correct?)
• Transaction handling (atomic operations?)
• Error handling (graceful failures?)

Code:

class OrderService
{
    public function createOrder(User $user, array $items): Order
    {
        $order = Order::create(['user_id' => $user->id]);
        
        foreach ($items as $item) {
            OrderItem::create([
                'order_id' => $order->id,
                'product_id' => $item['product_id'],
                'quantity' => $item['quantity'],
            ]);
        }
        
        return $order;
    }
}
```"

**Why it works:** Clear focus areas guide the review toward specific concerns.

## Provide Context

### Insufficient Context
"Is this controller okay?"

### Sufficient Context
"Review ProductController for our API:

**Context:**
- Public API used by mobile app and web frontend
- Handles 10k requests/day, needs to scale to 100k
- Products have categories (belongsTo) and reviews (hasMany)
- Using Laravel 11.x with Sanctum authentication
- Following repository pattern (ProductRepository exists)

**Concerns:**
- Is the response format consistent with our other API endpoints?
- Are we handling errors appropriately?
- Should we add rate limiting?

**Code:**
```php
class ProductController extends Controller
{
    public function index(Request $request)
    {
        $products = Product::with('category')
            ->paginate(20);
            
        return ProductResource::collection($products);
    }
}
```"

**Why it works:** Context about usage, scale, patterns, and specific concerns.

## Architectural Feedback

### Unclear
"Is the architecture good?"

### Clear
"Review the architecture of our payment processing:

**Current design:**

PaymentController → PaymentService → StripeGateway (direct Stripe API calls) → PaymentRepository (database)

**Concerns:**
1. PaymentService is tightly coupled to Stripe. What if we add PayPal?
2. No retry logic for failed payments
3. Webhook handling is in a separate controller, feels disconnected
4. No audit trail of payment attempts

**Questions:**
- Should we use a PaymentGatewayInterface for multiple providers?
- Where should retry logic live? Service or job?
- How to structure webhook handling?
- Best way to add audit logging?

**Current code:** [attach PaymentService.php]"

**Why it works:** Explains current design, identifies concerns, asks specific questions.

## Laravel-Specific Review

### Generic
"Check if this follows best practices"

### Laravel-Specific
"Review for Laravel conventions and best practices:

**Code:**
```php
class UserController extends Controller
{
    public function store(Request $request)
    {
        $validated = $request->validate([
            'email' => 'required|email|unique:users',
            'password' => 'required|min:8',
        ]);
        
        $user = new User();
        $user->email = $validated['email'];
        $user->password = Hash::make($validated['password']);
        $user->save();
        
        return response()->json($user, 201);
    }
}

Check for:

• Should validation be in a Form Request?
• Is mass assignment safer than manual assignment?
• Should we use a Resource for the response?
• Is password hashing handled correctly?
• Should user creation be in a service/action?
• Any missing authorization checks?
• Following Laravel 11.x conventions?"

Why it works: Asks about specific Laravel patterns and conventions.

Specify Experience Level

Unclear Depth

"Review my code"

Clear Depth

"Review this authentication implementation:

My experience: Junior developer, 6 months with Laravel

What I need:

• Explain any security issues in detail (I'm still learning auth best practices)
• Point out Laravel conventions I'm missing
• Suggest improvements with examples
• If something is wrong, explain why and show the correct approach

Code:

public function login(Request $request)
{
    $user = User::where('email', $request->email)->first();
    
    if ($user && Hash::check($request->password, $user->password)) {
        $token = $user->createToken('auth')->plainTextToken;
        return response()->json(['token' => $token]);
    }
    
    return response()->json(['error' => 'Invalid credentials'], 401);
}

Questions:

• Is this secure enough for production?
• What am I missing?
• How would a senior developer write this?"

Why it works: Sets expectations for depth and style of feedback.

Review Request Templates

Template: Security Review

**Focus:** Security vulnerabilities and best practices
**Code:** [attach code]
**Context:** [authentication method, data sensitivity, user roles]
**Specific concerns:**
- [ ] SQL injection risks
- [ ] XSS vulnerabilities  
- [ ] Authorization checks
- [ ] Data validation
- [ ] Sensitive data exposure

Template: Performance Review

**Focus:** Performance and scalability
**Code:** [attach code]
**Current metrics:** [response times, query counts]
**Expected load:** [requests/day, concurrent users]
**Specific concerns:**
- [ ] N+1 queries
- [ ] Missing indexes
- [ ] Inefficient algorithms
- [ ] Caching opportunities
- [ ] Memory usage

Template: Architecture Review

**Focus:** Design patterns and maintainability
**Code:** [attach code]
**Current architecture:** [describe structure]
**Team size:** [number of developers]
**Specific concerns:**
- [ ] Separation of concerns
- [ ] Testability
- [ ] Coupling between components
- [ ] Code duplication
- [ ] Complexity

Template: Laravel Conventions

**Focus:** Laravel best practices and conventions
**Code:** [attach code]
**Laravel version:** [11.x or 12.x]
**Specific concerns:**
- [ ] Following framework conventions
- [ ] Using appropriate Laravel features
- [ ] Eloquent relationships correct
- [ ] Validation approach
- [ ] Resource/response formatting

Quick Reference

Request effective reviews:

• Specify focus - Security, performance, architecture, conventions
• Provide context - Purpose, scale, patterns, constraints
• Ask specific questions - Don't just ask "is this good?"
• Reference Laravel - Ask about framework-specific patterns
• Set depth - Junior needs explanations, senior needs quick feedback

Focused requests = actionable feedback.