review

name	review
description	| Use when this capability is needed.

Multi-AI Review

Consensus-driven quality verification using multiple AI models. Claude orchestrates external model CLIs, each performing independent reviews. Claude then synthesizes findings into a confidence-scored consensus report with cross-references and actionable recommendations.

Why multi-model? Different models have different blind spots. Redundant independent review catches issues any single model would miss. Consensus findings (found by 2+ models) are high-confidence signals.

Quick Start

Natural language works best. All of these trigger the skill:

What You Say	What Happens
/review	Review uncommitted changes (standard profile)
/review security focus	Security-focused deep review
/review ux focus	UX and accessibility review
/review quick	Fast single-model review
/review deep	All domains, all models, multiple passes
review the spec at specs/029/plan.md	Document/spec review
review src/auth/login.ts	Review a specific file
review this code for security issues	Natural language trigger

Claude interprets your intent from natural language — no special flag syntax needed. If the intent is ambiguous, Claude will ask which profile and scope you want.

Prerequisites

At least one external model CLI is recommended for multi-model consensus. Without external CLIs, Claude performs a solo review with reduced confidence.

# Verify available models (run all, use what's available):
codex --version
gemini --version

Works without external CLIs (solo mode with reduced confidence), but multi-model consensus requires at least one. See config.md for adding models and full profile definitions.

Review Profiles

Profile	Domains Reviewed	Min Models	Passes	Best For
quick	Bugs & Logic, Maintainability	1 + Claude	1	Small changes, typo fixes
standard	All 8 code domains	2 + Claude	1-2	Default for most work
deep	All 8 code domains	All available	2-3	Critical features, releases
security	Security, Robustness, Bugs & Logic	All available	2	Auth, APIs, data handling
ux	UX Impact, Performance, Architecture	All available	1-2	UI components, user flows
doc	8 document domains (different set)	2 + Claude	1-2	Specs, plans, PRDs
pre-merge	All 8 code domains	All available	1	Final gate before merge

Code domains (profiles: quick, standard, deep, security, ux, pre-merge): Security, Bugs & Logic, Robustness, Performance, Architecture, Scalability, UX Impact, Maintainability

Document domains (profile: doc): Completeness, Technical Accuracy, Consistency, Clarity, User Experience, Simplicity, Product Thinking, Polish

See references/domains.md for detailed criteria per domain.

---

Workflow Phases

Phase 1: Scope & Context

1a. Determine what to review:

# Auto-detect: staged > unstaged > recent commits
git diff --cached --stat                    # Staged changes
git diff --stat                             # Unstaged changes
DEFAULT_BRANCH=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref origin/HEAD 2>/dev/null | sed 's@origin/@@' || echo main)
git log --oneline $DEFAULT_BRANCH..HEAD 2>/dev/null    # Commits not on default branch

If the user specified files, a PR number, or a document path, use that instead.

1b. Build the reviewable file list:

• Include: source code (.ts, .tsx, .js, .jsx, .py, .go, .rs, .java, .rb, .sql, .c, .cpp, .h, .cs, .php, .swift, .kt, .vue, .svelte)
• Include for doc profile: .md, .mdx, .txt, .rst
• Exclude: lockfiles, node_modules/, dist/, generated files, binary files
• For large diffs (>3000 lines): split into logical chunks and review sequentially

1c. Gather project context:

• Read CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md / .cursorrules / .windsurfrules for project-specific standards
• Read .eslintrc / tsconfig.json for configured linting rules
• Note the active profile and which domains are enabled

1d. Confirm scope (if >20 files or ambiguous):

"Found {N} changed files. Reviewing with {profile} profile using {models}. Proceed?"

Phase 2: Parallel External Reviews

Run each external model review simultaneously using run_in_background: true on the Bash tool.

For each model, construct a review prompt from references/prompts.md containing:

1. The diff or file contents (inline — external models may lack workspace access)
2. The active domain criteria from references/domains.md
3. The structured output format specification
4. Project-specific context (from CLAUDE.md, linting rules, etc.)

Invocation commands:

# Codex CLI (non-interactive, reads workspace files in its sandbox)
codex exec --full-auto "PROMPT_HERE"

# Codex built-in review (alternative — auto-generates review of current repo)
codex exec review

# Gemini CLI (headless/non-interactive)
gemini -p "PROMPT_HERE"

For large prompts (>32KB — hits OS ARG_MAX limits, especially on Windows): Write the prompt to a temp file and pipe via stdin to avoid shell argument limits:

# Write prompt to temp file
cat > /tmp/review-prompt.txt << 'REVIEW_EOF'
{COMPLETE_PROMPT}
REVIEW_EOF

# Codex via stdin (avoids ARG_MAX)
cat /tmp/review-prompt.txt | codex exec --full-auto -

# Gemini via stdin
cat /tmp/review-prompt.txt | gemini -p -

# Clean up
rm /tmp/review-prompt.txt

Sandbox note: Codex CLI runs in a sandbox scoped to the current git repository. It CANNOT read files outside the workspace root. If the files to review are outside the repo (e.g., ~/.claude/skills/), you must either:

1. Copy the files into the workspace temporarily, or
2. Include the full file contents inline in the prompt text

Timeout: 5 minutes per model. If a model times out, log it and continue with remaining models.

Phase 3: Claude Self-Review

While external models run, Claude performs its own independent review:

1. Read every changed file completely (not just the diff — full file context matters)
2. Review against all active domains using criteria from references/domains.md
3. Leverage advantages external models lack:
   • Full codebase context (imports, callers, related files)
   • Project-specific patterns from CLAUDE.md and project rules
   • Knowledge of recent changes and architectural decisions
4. Document findings in the same structured format as external models

Phase 4: Consensus Synthesis

After all reviews complete, synthesize using the algorithm from references/synthesis.md:

4a. Parse and normalize findings:

• Extract findings from each model's output
• Normalize to common format: {severity, domain, file, line, title, description, fix}

4b. Cross-reference findings:

• Match findings by file + line range (within 5 lines = same finding)
• Match findings by semantic similarity (same issue, different wording)

4c. Assign confidence levels:

Found By	Confidence	Action
2+ models	HIGH	Address immediately — validated by independent reviewers
1 model only	MEDIUM	Likely valid, verify context before acting
Models conflict	REVIEW	Document both perspectives, Claude arbitrates

4d. Severity escalation: If ANY model rates a finding as Critical, it stays Critical.

4e. Calculate domain scores: Average scores across models, flag outliers (>2 point spread).

Phase 5: Generate Consensus Report

Output a structured report (template in references/synthesis.md):

# Multi-AI Review Report

**Profile:** {profile} | **Models:** {model_list} | **Files:** {count} | **Date:** {date}

## Verdict: {APPROVED | CHANGES_REQUESTED | BLOCKED}
## Overall Score: {X}/10

## Executive Summary
{2-3 sentences: overall quality, key concerns, standout strengths}

## Consensus Matrix
| Domain | Claude | {Model2} | {Model3} | Consensus |
|--------|--------|----------|----------|-----------|
| Security | 9/10 | 8/10 | 9/10 | 8.7 |
| ... | | | | |

## Findings

### Critical — HIGH Confidence (multi-model consensus)
{findings agreed upon by 2+ models}

### Critical — MEDIUM Confidence (single model)
{critical findings from one model, verified by Claude}

### Important
{important findings, grouped by domain}

### Suggestions
{nice-to-have improvements}

## Model Agreement
- Unanimous: {X} findings
- Majority: {Y} findings
- Single-model: {Z} findings
- Conflicts resolved: {W}

Phase 6: Fix & Re-review Loop

If verdict is not APPROVED:

1. Present findings to user with prioritized fix recommendations
2. After user approves, implement fixes starting with Critical findings
3. Re-run external reviews on changed files only (incremental)
4. Synthesize new findings, compare with previous iteration
5. Track: fixes confirmed, new issues introduced, remaining issues
6. Repeat until consensus APPROVED or user accepts current state

Max iterations: 3 (configurable). After 3, present final state and let user decide.

Phase 7: Final Certification

When all models approve:

## Multi-AI Quality Certification

APPROVED by consensus ({N} models)

| Model | Verdict | Score |
|-------|---------|-------|
| Claude | APPROVED | 9/10 |
| {Model2} | APPROVED | 8/10 |

All {profile} domains verified. Review confidence: HIGH.
Iterations: {N}. Total findings resolved: {X}.

---

Error Handling

Scenario	Action
CLI not installed	Skip model, warn user, continue with available
Model times out (>5 min)	Log timeout, continue with remaining models
Unparseable output	Extract what's usable, note reduced confidence for that model
All external models fail	Claude solo review, mark overall confidence REDUCED
No changes detected	Inform user, offer to review specific files
Diff too large (>5000 lines)	Split into chunks, review sequentially, merge findings
Model returns only praise	Flag as potentially shallow review, weight findings lower
Solo review (no external models)	Simplify report: single-column matrix, note REDUCED confidence, skip cross-referencing

Scope Guidance: Diff vs Pre-existing Code

When reviewing a small diff within a large file, focus findings on the changed code. Pre-existing issues in surrounding code may be noted as "out of scope" suggestions, but should NOT be counted in the verdict or domain scores. The review evaluates the change, not the entire file history.

Reference Files

Load these on-demand based on the current phase:

File	Load During	Contains
config.md	Setup / customization	Model registry, profile definitions, adding new models
references/domains.md	Phase 2-3 (reviewing)	Detailed criteria for all 16 review domains (8 code + 8 doc)
references/synthesis.md	Phase 4-5 (synthesizing)	Consensus algorithm, conflict resolution, report templates
references/prompts.md	Phase 2 (prompting models)	Exact prompt templates for code review, doc review, re-review

Adding New Models

Any CLI that accepts a text prompt and returns text output works. Add to config.md:

1. Model name and verify command
2. Invocation pattern (how to pass prompt)
3. Whether it reads the local workspace
4. Timeout preference

See config.md for examples including Aider, Ollama, sgpt, and custom scripts.

Principles

1. Redundancy over division — Every model reviews everything. No splitting responsibilities.
2. Confidence from consensus — Multi-model agreement is the strongest quality signal.
3. Structured output — Same format from every model enables automated synthesis.
4. Progressive depth — Quick profile for small changes, deep profile for critical code.
5. Project-aware — Reads CLAUDE.md and project rules, not just generic best practices.
6. Graceful degradation — Works with 1 model, better with 2, best with 3+.
7. Iterative improvement — Fix-and-re-review loop continues until consensus approval.

---

Source: craigkitterman/cross-model-code-review-skill — distributed by TomeVault.