CodeRabbit CI Integration
Overview
Integrate CodeRabbit into your CI/CD pipeline as a merge gate. CodeRabbit posts a GitHub Check on each PR, and you can require this check to pass before merging. This skill covers branch protection rules, GitHub Actions workflows that react to CodeRabbit reviews, and strategies for enforcing review quality in CI.
Prerequisites
- CodeRabbit GitHub App installed on your repository
- GitHub repository with branch protection enabled
.coderabbit.yaml committed to repository root- GitHub Actions enabled on the repository
Instructions
Step 1: Enable CodeRabbit as a Required Status Check
1. Go to GitHub repo > Settings > Branches > Branch protection rules
2. Click "Add rule" (or edit existing rule for `main`)
3. Enable "Require status checks to pass before merging"
4. Search for "coderabbitai" in the status checks list
5. Select it as a required check
6. Save changes
Result: PRs cannot be merged until CodeRabbit completes its review.
Step 2: Configure Review Approval Behavior
reviews:
request_changes_workflow: true
profile: "assertive"
auto_review:
enabled: true
drafts: false
base_branches:
- main
- develop
- "release/*"
ignore_title_keywords:
- "WIP"
- "DO NOT MERGE"
Step 3: Create a Review Gate Workflow
name: CodeRabbit Review Gate
on:
pull_request_review:
types: [submitted]
jobs:
check-review:
if: github.event.review.user.login == 'coderabbitai[bot]'
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- name: Evaluate CodeRabbit review
uses: actions/github-script@v7
with:
script: |
const reviews = await github.rest.pulls.listReviews({
owner: context.repo.owner,
repo: context.repo.repo,
pull_number: context.issue.number,
});
const crReview = reviews.data
.filter(r => r.user.login === 'coderabbitai[bot]')
.pop();
if (!crReview) {
core.info('No CodeRabbit review found yet.');
return;
}
core.info(`CodeRabbit
{
}
Step 4: Add PR Size Check with CodeRabbit
name: PR Size Check
on:
pull_request:
types: [opened, synchronize]
jobs:
check-size:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
with:
fetch-depth: 0
- name: Check PR size
run: |
CHANGES=$(git diff --stat origin/${{ github.base_ref }}...HEAD | tail -1)
LINES=$(echo "$CHANGES" | grep -oP '\d+ insertion' | grep -oP '\d+' || echo 0)
DELETIONS=$(echo "$CHANGES" | grep -oP '\d+ deletion' | grep -oP '\d+' || echo 0)
TOTAL=$((LINES + DELETIONS))
echo "Total lines changed: $TOTAL"
if [ "$TOTAL" -gt 1000 ]; then
echo "::warning::PR has $TOTAL lines changed. CodeRabbit works best with PRs under 500 lines."
echo "Consider splitting into smaller PRs for better review quality."
fi
Step 5: Notify on CodeRabbit Findings
name: CodeRabbit Notification
on:
pull_request_review:
types: [submitted]
jobs:
notify:
if: >
github.event.review.user.login == 'coderabbitai[bot]' &&
github.event.review.state == 'changes_requested'
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- name: Post Slack notification
uses: slackapi/slack-github-action@v1.27.1
with:
payload: |
{
"text": "CodeRabbit found issues in PR #${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}: ${{ github.event.pull_request.title }}",
"blocks": [
{
"type": "section",
"text": {
"type": "mrkdwn",
"text": "*CodeRabbit Review*: Changes requested on <${{ github.event.pull_request.html_url }}|PR #${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}>"
}
}
]
}
env:
SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL }}
Step 6: Enforce CodeRabbit via Branch Protection API
set -euo pipefail
OWNER="your-org"
REPO="your-repo"
BRANCH="main"
gh api "repos/$OWNER/$REPO/branches/$BRANCH/protection" \
--method PUT \
--field 'required_status_checks={"strict":true,"contexts":["coderabbitai"]}' \
--field 'required_pull_request_reviews={"required_approving_review_count":1}' \
--field 'enforce_admins=true' \
--field 'restrictions=null'
echo "Branch protection updated: CodeRabbit review required for merge"
Output
- CodeRabbit configured as a required status check on protected branches
- GitHub Actions workflow that gates merges on CodeRabbit approval
- PR size warnings to improve review quality
- Slack notifications for CodeRabbit findings
- Branch protection enforced via API
Error Handling
| Issue | Cause | Solution |
|---|
| "coderabbitai" not in status checks list | App not installed or no PRs reviewed yet | Install App, create a test PR, then configure |
| Review blocks all PRs | request_changes_workflow: true with aggressive profile | Switch to chill or set to false |
| CI times out waiting for review | Large PR or CodeRabbit backlog | Reviews take 2-15 min depending on PR size |
| Draft PRs blocked | drafts: true in config | Set drafts: false to skip draft PR reviews |
| Status check stays pending | CodeRabbit outage | Check status.coderabbit.ai; admin merge if needed |
Resources
Next Steps
For deployment and multi-repo rollout, see coderabbit-deploy-integration.
