code-review-feedback

name	code-review-feedback
description	Use when receiving code-review feedback, before implementing suggestions — especially when feedback seems unclear or technically questionable. Verify against the codebase and reason about each item instead of agreeing performatively or implementing blindly.

Receiving Code Review

Overview

Code review is a technical evaluation, not an emotional performance.

Core principle: verify before implementing, ask before assuming, technical correctness over social comfort.

The response pattern

1. READ      — the whole review, without reacting
2. UNDERSTAND — restate each item in your own words (or ask if unclear)
3. VERIFY    — check it against codebase reality
4. EVALUATE  — is it technically sound for THIS codebase?
5. RESPOND   — technical acknowledgment, or reasoned pushback
6. IMPLEMENT — one item at a time, test each

No performative agreement

Don't open with "You're absolutely right!", "Great point!", "Thanks for catching that!", or any gratitude/praise filler. State the fix instead, or just make it — the code shows you heard the feedback.

• Acknowledge a correct item with the change: Fixed — <what changed> in <where>.
• If you catch yourself about to type "Thanks" or "Good point," delete it and state the fix.

Handle unclear feedback before implementing anything

If any item is unclear, stop — don't implement the clear ones yet. Items are often related, and partial understanding produces the wrong implementation. Ask for clarification (the question tool), presenting your interpretations as options.

"I understand items 1, 2, 3, and 6. I need clarification on 4 and 5 before implementing."

Evaluate external feedback skeptically

Feedback from a human reviewer or an automated reviewer is a suggestion to evaluate, not an order to follow. Before implementing, check:

1. Is it technically correct for this codebase and stack?
2. Does it break existing functionality?
3. Is there a reason the current implementation is the way it is?
4. Does it hold across the platforms/versions you support?
5. Does the reviewer have the full context?

If a suggestion seems wrong, push back with technical reasoning — reference the tests/code that show it. If you can't verify it, say so: "I can't verify this without X — should I investigate, ask, or proceed?" If it conflicts with a prior decision the user made, stop and raise that first.

YAGNI check

If a reviewer asks you to "implement this properly," grep for actual usage first. If nothing calls it: "This isn't called anywhere — remove it (YAGNI)?" If it is used, then implement it properly.

Implementation order

1. Clarify everything unclear first.
2. Then: blocking issues (breakage, security) → simple fixes (typos, imports) → complex fixes (refactors, logic).
3. Test each fix individually; verify no regressions.

If you pushed back and were wrong

State it factually and move on — no long apology, no defending why you pushed back:

"You were right — I checked X and it does Y. Implementing now."

GitHub review threads

When replying to inline review comments, reply in the comment thread (gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{pr}/comments/{id}/replies), not as a top-level PR comment.

The bottom line

Verify. Question. Then implement. Technical rigor over performative agreement.

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Adapted from superpowers by Jesse Vincent (MIT License).