code-review-diff

name	code-review-diff
description	Review code changes from the current branch, staged changes, a git ref, or a diff/patch file. Pure git-native — no platform/PR awareness. Trigger when user says "review this", "review diff", "/df:code-review-diff", or provides a git ref or diff path. Read-only — never posts comments.

Code Review

Pure git-native review pipeline. Resolves a diff from git-native inputs, runs the review pipeline, and produces a markdown report.

Does NOT check out branches, talk to Azure DevOps / GitHub, or post comments. PR resolution is the caller's job (see Usage).

Arguments

$ARGUMENTS is a space-separated string. Parse out optional flags first, then treat the remainder as the diff source.

Flag	Meaning
--rules <path>	Project rules markdown file.
--pr <number>	PR / MR id (label only — no platform fetch).
--ticket <id>	Ticket / work-item id (label only).
--name <title>	Override inferred report title.
--print	Print review to stdout; skip save prompt.

Wrappers may pre-pin any of rules_file, pr, ticket, name — user-passed flags WIN.

Input Detection

After flags are stripped, the remainder selects the diff source:

Form	Source
empty	current branch vs base (master/main)
staged	git diff --staged
path ending .diff or .patch	local diff file
anything else	treat as git ref (branch / sha / tag)

Ambiguous → ask user. Do NOT guess. Never treat a bare numeric as a PR id — PR identity is set only via --pr.

Workflow

1. Resolve input → diff file path + metadata

empty

base=$(git rev-parse --verify master 2>/dev/null && echo master || echo main)
cur=$(git branch --show-current)
[ "$cur" = "$base" ] && abort "On base branch ($base). Switch to a feature branch."
git diff "$base"...HEAD > "/tmp/code-review-diff-$(date +%s).diff"
files=$(git diff --name-only "$base"...HEAD)
title="$cur"
slug="$cur"

staged

git diff --staged > "/tmp/code-review-diff-staged-$(date +%s).diff"
files=$(git diff --staged --name-only)
title="staged changes"
slug="staged"

.diff / .patch path

Use file as-is. Parse changed files from diff headers (+++ b/...). slug="$(date +%s)".

git ref

git diff "<ref>"...HEAD > "/tmp/code-review-diff-ref-$(date +%s).diff"
files=$(git diff --name-only "<ref>"...HEAD)
title="HEAD vs <ref>"
slug="$(git branch --show-current)"

1.5. Resolve report metadata

name = --name ?? title. branch = git branch --show-current (empty for diff-file / detached HEAD). pr / ticket = flags, empty if unset. Phase 4 omits empty fields.

2. Diff size guard

n=$(wc -l < <(echo "$files"))

If n > 50 → warn user, ask: proceed full / filter to paths / abort.

3. Run pipeline

Read references/pipeline.md and execute every phase. The phase sequence, the lens set chosen by Step 1.4 (kind routing), the scoring pass, and the final Critical/Concerns/Nits format are mandatory — no shortcut to a freeform review, regardless of how small the diff looks. Inline vs. Task-tool fan-out is a perf choice (threshold + kind routing defined in pipeline.md); the contract is the steps and the output.

Inputs to pass through:

• DIFF_FILE, CHANGED_FILES — from step 1
• TITLE — name from step 1.5
• BRANCH, PR, TICKET — from step 1.5 (may be empty)
• RULES_FILE — resolved rules path (may be unset)

4. Output

Hold the rendered markdown review in memory. Then choose destination:

• If --print is set: print the markdown to stdout. Done.
• Otherwise, ask the user:
  1. Print only (no save) — default
  2. Save to /tmp/review-<slug>.md
  3. Other path

Skill produces markdown and stops. Sending it to a PR, a chat, or anywhere else is a follow-up the user runs themselves — this skill never invokes other skills or posts to forges.

Usage

Recommended: shell wrapper + worktree (non-destructive)

Run from terminal. Resolve PR id → source branch via platform CLI, then launch Claude in a worktree pinned to that branch. Keeps the user's main working tree untouched.

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# bin/cr-pr <pr-id>
PR_ID=$1
BRANCH=$(az repos pr show --id "$PR_ID" --query sourceRefName -o tsv | sed 's|refs/heads/||')
claude --worktree "$BRANCH" "/df:code-review-diff --rules .claude/code-review-rules.md"

Replace az repos pr show with gh pr view --json headRefName for GitHub.

In-session: check out first

Land on the PR's source branch first (e.g. /df:pr checkout <id> for Azure DevOps), then invoke /df:code-review-diff. The skill reviews the current branch vs base.

Warning

This skill never checks anything out. Whatever is in cwd is what gets reviewed. If you want PR context but are on the wrong branch, the diff will reflect the wrong starting point.

Notes

• Read-only. Never posts PR comments. For comments use pr-comments skill.
• Pipeline detail lives in references/pipeline.md — load only when running review.
• No az, no gh, no PR-id resolution. PR resolution lives in df:pr, df:az-cli, or shell wrappers.