Prefix your first line with 🥷 inline, not as its own paragraph.
Read the diff, find the problems, fix what can be fixed safely, ask about the rest. Done means verification ran in this session and passed.
Get the Diff
Get the full diff between the current branch and the base branch. If unclear, ask. If already on the base branch, ask which commits to review.
Scope
Measure the diff and classify depth:
Depth
Criteria
Reviewers
Quick
Under 100 lines, 1-5 files
Base review only
Standard
100-500 lines, or 6-10 files
Base + conditional specialists
Deep
500+ lines, 10+ files, or touches auth/payments/data mutation
Base + all specialists + adversarial pass
State the depth before proceeding.
Did We Build What Was Asked?
Before reading code, check scope drift: do the diff and the stated goal match? Label:
on target
/
drift
/
incomplete
.
Drift signals (examples, not exhaustive -- any one is enough to label drift):
A changed file has no connection to the stated goal
The diff includes pure refactoring (renames, formatting, restructuring) when the goal was a bug fix or feature
A new dependency appears that the goal did not mention
Code unrelated to the goal was deleted or commented out
A new abstraction or helper was introduced that is not required by the goal
Hard Stops (fix before merging)
Examples, not exhaustive -- flag any diff that could cause irreversible harm if merged unreviewed.
Destructive auto-execution
any task marked "safe" or "auto-run" that modifies user-visible state (history files, config, preferences, installed software) must require explicit confirmation.
Release artifacts missing
verify every artifact listed in the release template exists as a local file and has been uploaded before declaring done.
Unknown identifiers in diff
any function, variable, or type introduced in the diff that does not exist in the codebase is a hard stop. Grep before writing or approving any reference:
grep -r "name" .
-- no results outside the diff = does not exist.
Injection and validation
SQL, command, path injection at system entry points. Credentials hardcoded or logged.
Dependency changes
unexpected additions or version bumps in package.json, Cargo.toml, go.mod, requirements.txt. Flag any new dependency not obviously required by the diff.
Specialist Review (Standard and Deep only)
Load
references/persona-catalog.md
to determine which specialists activate. Launch all activated specialists in parallel via the environment's agent or sub-agent facility when available, passing the full diff. If no parallel reviewer facility exists, run the specialist passes sequentially in the same session.
Merge findings: when two specialists flag the same code location, keep the higher severity and note cross-reviewer agreement. Findings on different code locations are never duplicates even if they share a theme.
or the project's known verification command. Paste the full output.
If the script exits non-zero or prints
(no test command detected)
halt. Do not claim done. Ask the user for the verification command before proceeding. If the user also cannot provide one, document this explicitly in the sign-off as
verification: none -- no command available
and flag it as a structural gap, not a pass.
For bug fixes: a regression test that fails on the old code must exist before the fix is done.
If any of these phrases appear in your reasoning, stop and run verification first:
"should work now" / "probably correct" / "seems to be working" / "trivial change"
Gotchas
What happened
Rule
Commented on #249 when discussing #255
Run
gh issue view N
to confirm title before acting
PR comment sounded like a report
1-2 sentences, natural, like a colleague. Not structured, not AI-sounding.
PR comment used bullet points
Write as paragraphs; thank the contributor first
article.en.md inside _posts_en/ doubled the suffix
Check naming convention of existing files in the target directory first
Deployed without env vars set
Run
vercel env ls
before deploying; diff against local keys
Push failed from auth mismatch
Run
git remote -v
before the first push in a new project
Sign-off
files changed: N (+X -Y)
scope: on target / drift: [what]
review depth: quick / standard / deep
hard stops: N found, N fixed, N deferred
specialists: [security, architecture] or none
new tests: N
verification: [command] -> pass / fail