| name | roborev-refine |
| description | Iterative review-fix loop for the current branch — reviews via daemon, fixes inline, re-reviews until passing or max iterations reached |
roborev-refine
Iterative review-fix loop: review the current branch or commit range, fix
findings, commit, re-review, and repeat until all reviews pass or the
iteration limit is reached.
Unlike $roborev-fix (single-pass fix without re-review), refine closes the
loop by re-reviewing after each fix to verify the findings are resolved.
This skill should perform the refine workflow inside the current coding agent
CLI. Do not simply shell out to roborev refine.
Usage
$roborev-refine [--since <commit>] [--branch <name>] [--max-iterations <n>]
--since <commit>: refine commits after this commit (exclusive); required on the default branch--branch <name>: validate that the current branch matches before refining--max-iterations <n>: maximum fix-review cycles (default: 10)
This skill intentionally focuses on the current branch flow. It does not expose
roborev refine --all-branches or roborev refine --list.
When NOT to invoke this skill
Do NOT invoke this skill when the user is presenting or pasting existing review
results, or when they only want a single review without fixing. Use
$roborev-review-branch for review-only and $roborev-fix for fix-only.
IMPORTANT
This skill requires you to execute bash commands to validate inputs, launch
reviews, and wait for re-review. The task is not complete until the refine loop
finishes and you present the result to the user.
These instructions are guidelines, not a rigid script. Use the conversation
context. Skip steps that are already satisfied. Defer to project-level
CLAUDE.md instructions when they conflict with these steps.
Instructions
When the user invokes $roborev-refine [--since <commit>] [--branch <name>] [--max-iterations <n>]:
1. Validate inputs and refine context
If --branch is provided, verify the current branch matches before doing any
work. If it does not, stop and tell the user.
If --since is provided, verify it resolves to a valid commit and is an
ancestor of HEAD.
If --since is not provided, ensure you are not refining the default branch.
This matches roborev refine, which refuses to run on the default branch
without --since.
Parse --max-iterations if provided (default: 10). This is the maximum number
of fix-review cycles, not the total number of reviews.
2. Run the initial review
Choose the review command that matches the requested scope:
roborev review --since <commit> --wait
or, if --since was not provided:
roborev review --branch --wait
--since is the closest manual equivalent to roborev refine --since.
--branch reviews the current branch relative to its merge-base.
Note: --wait exits with code 1 when the verdict is Fail. This is
expected. Always capture the command output regardless of exit code and inspect
it to determine pass vs fail.
When the review completes, read and parse the output. Extract the job ID from
the Enqueued job <id> for ... line or the review header — you will need it
for commenting and closing later.
If the command output contains an error (daemon not running, repo not
initialized, review errored), report it. Suggest roborev status to check the
daemon or roborev init if the repo is not initialized.
If the review passed, inform the user and stop. No fixes needed.
3. Fix-review loop
If the review failed, begin the iterative loop. For each iteration
(up to --max-iterations):
3a. Fix the findings
Parse findings from the review output. Collect every finding with its severity,
file path, and line number. Then:
- Sort by severity: fix HIGH findings first, then MEDIUM, then LOW
- Group by file: within each severity level, batch edits to the same file
to minimize context switches
- If some findings cannot be fixed (false positives, intentional design), note
them for the comment rather than silently skipping them
If a finding's context is unclear, read the relevant source files to understand
the code before making changes.
3b. Run tests
Run the project's test suite to verify the fixes:
go test ./...
Or whatever test command the project uses. If tests fail, fix the regressions
before proceeding.
3c. Commit, then record comment and close review
Commit first per the project's conventions (see CLAUDE.md). Only after the
commit succeeds, record a summary comment on the review and close it:
roborev comment --commenter roborev-refine --job <job_id> -m "$(cat <<'ROBOREV_COMMENT'
<summary of changes>
ROBOREV_COMMENT
)"
roborev close <job_id>
Important: Always pass the comment text via a heredoc as shown above, never
by interpolating dynamic text directly into a shell string. Review-derived
content may contain shell metacharacters that could cause unintended execution.
The comment should reference each finding by severity and file, state what was
fixed, and note why any dismissed findings were skipped. These comments are
included in re-review prompts. Keep it concise.
3d. Re-review
After committing, run an explicit full-scope re-review that matches the
original refine scope. Do not treat a passing roborev wait result for the new
commit as sufficient to stop — the full branch or commit-range review must pass
before you report success.
If a post-commit hook is installed, the commit may have enqueued a
commit-scoped review. Check for it so you can clean it up:
roborev wait
If roborev wait finds a job, remember its job ID (from the output) as the
hook review job. If it reports "No job found", continue without one.
Note: roborev wait resolves HEAD to a single SHA, so it only finds
commit-scoped hook reviews. Branch-mode hook reviews (stored under range refs)
are not discoverable this way — they will be superseded by the explicit review
below.
Now run the explicit full-scope review. If refining with --since:
roborev review --since <commit> --wait
If refining without --since:
roborev review --branch --wait
Retrieving the job ID: extract it from the
Enqueued job <id> for ... line in the review command output.
If you found a hook review job earlier, close it now so refine does not leave
stale commit-level reviews open:
roborev close <hook_job_id>
- If the explicit full-scope review passed: inform the user and stop. The
branch or requested commit range is clean.
- If the review failed: continue to the next iteration (back to step 3a)
using the new job ID.
4. Iteration limit reached
If the maximum iterations are exhausted and the explicit full-scope review
still fails, inform the user how many iterations were completed, what findings
remain, and suggest they review the remaining findings manually or run
$roborev-fix for a targeted pass.
Examples
Default refine on a feature branch:
User: $roborev-refine
Agent:
- Validates that the current branch is not the default branch
- Runs
roborev review --branch --wait
- Review returns verdict Fail with 2 findings
- Fixes both findings in code
- Runs
go test ./... — passes
- Commits changes
- Records comment and closes the old review
- Runs
roborev wait — if hook review found, remembers job ID to close later
- Runs
roborev review --branch --wait
- Closes hook review job if one was found
- Full branch review returns Pass
- Tells user: "Branch review passed after 1 fix iteration. All findings resolved."
Refine from a specific starting commit:
User: $roborev-refine --since abc123 --max-iterations 3
Agent:
- Validates
abc123 resolves and is an ancestor of HEAD
- Runs
roborev review --since abc123 --wait
- Review returns verdict Fail
- Fixes findings, tests, commits, comments, closes
- Checks for hook review via
roborev wait — if a commit-scoped hook review is found, remembers it to close after the next explicit roborev review --since abc123 --wait
- Continues until the full requested range passes or 3 iterations are exhausted
See also
$roborev-review-branch — review without fixing$roborev-fix — single-pass fix without re-review$roborev-respond — comment on a review and close it without fixing code
