Self Review

---
name: self-review
description: Self-review a changeset until merge-ready — a fresh-context reviewer checks it as a maintainer would, the author answers every finding, and a compact report for the PR proves the review happened.
disable-model-invocation: true
type: flow
license: MIT
metadata:
  version: "0.7"
---

# Self-review

Make a changeset merge-ready before submission — no regressions, sound code, the project's
conventions respected — and prove it was scrutinized: a fresh-context reviewer hunts for what
would block the merge, the author answers every finding, and a compact report — scannable by a
maintainer in seconds — records the outcome. The report is the review record only; the change's
what/why belongs to the PR description (e.g. via /handover), never here.

Only for a changeset you authored. The fresh-context reviewer exists to escape authoring
blindness, so someone else's PR has nothing to escape and belongs to `maintainer-review`.

## Resolve the changeset

1. Resolve source and target. No input → current branch against the auto-detected target: the
   default branch of the `upstream` remote when one exists (fork workflow), else of `origin` —
   via `git ls-remote --symref <remote> HEAD`, never the often-absent local
   `refs/remotes/<remote>/HEAD`; that failing (e.g. offline), the sole existing candidate among
   `main`, `master`, `develop`/`development` (preferring `upstream`'s remote-tracking ref, then
   `origin`'s, then the local branch) — still ambiguous or none → ask. Explicit branches in the
   invocation win; a detached HEAD → ask which branch is under review. State the chosen target.
2. The reviewed state is the source as it stands — working tree when checked out, else tip.
   Uncommitted work is reviewed, not blocked, once the author sorts it: modified tracked files
   are part of the change or deliberate local-only tweaks (build config, data paths), the latter
   excluded from the diff (pathspec) and named in a procedural caveat — exclusion drops the whole
   path, so a tweak atop a changed file the author stashes first; untracked files likewise, and
   since the diff can't see them, those that belong the author `git add`s first — a forgotten one
   ships unreviewed later. The report this skill writes needs no sorting and is always excluded.
   Nothing beyond the tip reviewed → **pinned** to its SHA; otherwise **unpinned** — reviewed,
   but with no SHA for a maintainer to check the pushed head against, until stamped. Pinned is
   preferable, so suggest committing first when the work is ready for it — never insist, the
   stamp closes the gap later.
3. `git fetch` the target's remote (local-only target → nothing to fetch; a failed fetch → say
   so and ask rather than diff stale refs), then diff from the merge base `<base>` of target and
   source: `git diff <base>` for the working tree, `git diff <base> <source>` for a tip. No merge
   base → usually a shallow clone or wrong target: deepen (`git fetch --unshallow`) and retry,
   else ask — never fall back to diffing against the target itself, which presents its own
   commits as the author's. Empty diff → probably a wrong target (typical: a fork's default
   branch already holding the commits) — say so and ask for the true one; it needs no local
   ref, `git fetch <url> <branch>` works by URL.

Done when source branch, target, reviewed state (SHA, or working tree on SHA) and the diff's
hash (`git diff … | git hash-object --stdin`) are recorded and the diff is non-empty.

## Project rules file

`.agents/docs/self-review-rules.md`, when the project carries one, adds project-specific rules or
overrides to the review mandate and process (extra focus areas, round cap, report handling, a pinned
review required — modified tracked files then block every round, fixes committed before the next) —
never to the Boundaries below. Absent → skip silently. Either way, the report states whether it was
found and applied.

## Review

A report already present → Stamp (below) first.

Load and follow [fresh-eyes-review](../fresh-eyes-review/SKILL.md) on the reviewed state —
inputs all explicit, so it runs without its confirmation step — with:

- an intent statement — one or two sentences distilled from the task's ticket or requirements
  when the planning home holds them, never the document itself (it carries the author rationale
  excluded below), else derived from the branch name and commit subjects; derivation yielding
  noise (`wip` commits, opaque names) → ask the author for a one-liner, proposing a draft.
  Either way, state the intent used — the author must see what the change is judged against;
- excluded paths: the planning home and the report — author rationale and past dispositions must
  never reach the reviewer. Planning files the changeset itself touches ship in the PR, so they
  are reviewed like any other change; the report stays excluded always;
- the mandate framed as a maintainer's merge gate — would anything here block the merge? — and
  extended by: the project's own governing docs (contributing, agent instructions, codestyle) run
  as a checklist, not as background reading, against every changed file and the submission itself,
  whose metadata the prompt must carry (commit subjects, and any PR title, description, linked
  issues); and leftovers — debug prints, commented-out code, stray TODOs, accidentally committed
  files;
- the grounded bar: a finding exists only with a nameable concrete failure, violated rule, or
  redundancy — hedged speculation is out, zero findings is a valid outcome;
- an instruction to the reviewer to report back the harness and model it ran on, and whether it
  covered every changed file — naming any it didn't.

Done when the reviewer has returned its findings — possibly none — its provenance, and its
coverage.

## Disposition walk

Before the first finding, check which planning documents the task has (ticket, requirements,
plan) and read any that exist: recommendations must weigh the full story. These documents still
never reach the reviewer, which sees only the distilled intent (Review above).

One finding at a time, recommending a disposition with a one-line why — the author decides, and
discussing the finding is offered as visibly as the dispositions themselves, never left an implicit
escape hatch. Anything the author says that isn't a disposition is discussion, not a decision:
answer the question, check the code, revise the recommendation, do what they ask with the finding —
then the walk returns to that same finding, still open. Three dispositions close one:

- **fix** — apply it to the working tree now; committing stays the author's move.
- **dismiss** — record the author's reason, pushing once toward one a maintainer can evaluate
  ("the caller already null-checks", not "disagree"); "mirrors the existing pattern" counts only
  once that pattern is verified sound — an unchecked one ratifies its bugs; if the author
  insists, their words go in verbatim.
- **defer** — not fixed and not dismissed but handed onward: a follow-up ticket, a comment on
  another PR, a note the author keeps. Record the destination in one line; drafting the text is
  in scope, filing or posting it is not (Boundaries).

Never drop or soften a finding: every one appears in the report with its disposition. Anything fixed
→ a fresh round runs on the new state — fixes are new unreviewed code; committing between rounds
stays the author's move (propose a commit message in the repo's style), demanded only where project
rules require a pinned review. Rounds stop when one yields nothing fixed — clean, or every new
finding dismissed or deferred — or at the cap of 3 rounds per invocation, there to bound cost; the
author can stop earlier at any point, or explicitly ask for rounds beyond the cap. Every fix no
later round covered leaves a "fixes not re-reviewed" caveat in the report. Dispositions carry
forward across rounds: a re-raised finding matching a dismissed or deferred one keeps that
disposition and is not re-walked; one matching a fixed finding means the fix didn't hold — reopen it
and walk it again. The report lists each finding once, with its latest disposition.

Done when every finding is dispositioned and a stop condition has ended the rounds.

## Report

`<slug>.SELF-REVIEW.md` in the task's planning home, per the project's planning-directory
convention (e.g. `.agents/plans/<slug>/`); reuse the slug of the task's existing artifacts
(ticket, requirements, plan) — none → derive it from context (branch name, the changes); no
planning home resolvable → default to `.agents/plans/<slug>/`, stating the choice rather than
asking. Re-runs and later rounds update the file in place — read it first and carry its rounds
and dispositions forward, under the carry-forward rule — one file per task, never versioned
copies: its destination is a single upload. It is for pasting into the PR description or a
comment, not for committing, unless the project rules file says otherwise — either way committing
is the author's move, never the agent's.

Two parts — maintainers drown in AI-generated review walls, so the visible part stays minimal.
Visible, each line its own paragraph (blank lines between, no blockquote): the heading, **Outcome**,
outcome-weakening caveats, **Reviewed**, **By**, verification evidence (e.g. testing performed).
Everything else collapses into `<details>`, in order: **Intent**, **Project rules**, **Diff**,
procedural caveats, the rounds; the blank line after `</summary>` is required — without it the
markdown inside won't render. Placement, unless project rules explicitly override: a caveat is
visible iff it weakens what **Outcome** claims (fixes not re-reviewed, incomplete coverage naming
the unreviewed files, a same-context fallback), procedural confirmations (e.g. files confirmed
local-only) collapse; any other line is visible iff it records verification performed or qualifies
the outcome — proof-of-process collapses.

Compact above all: one line per finding, fusing location and concrete failure; the full prose stays
in the session. The **Reviewed** line always carries the latest round's state (`working tree on
<SHA>`, marked `unpinned`, when not a commit; once stamped, the new SHA with `stamped from <that
state>`) and diffstat; **Diff** its full hash, for the Stamp; history lives in the round headings,
each naming the state it reviewed. Provenance exactly as the environment reports it, `unknown` when
it doesn't — never guessed or recalled; the reviewer's model, when it differs from the session's,
appended to the **By** line as `review by <model>`; skill version from this file's frontmatter,
date = today.

```markdown
# Self-review — my-feature → main

**Outcome** 4 findings — 2 fixed, 1 deferred, 1 dismissed — final round clean

**Reviewed** `def5678` (`my-feature` vs `main`, merge-base diff — 12 files, +340 −120)

**By** <harness>, <model> — self-review v<version>, <date>

<details>
<summary>Review details (2 rounds)</summary>

**Intent** <the intent statement the review ran against>

**Project rules** `.agents/docs/self-review-rules.md` not present

**Diff** `9f2c1e0b7d3a4c5e6f718293a4b5c6d7e8f90123`

## Round 1 — `abc1234`, 4 findings

1. `src/foo.c:142` — null deref when the timer expires mid-update → **fixed**
2. `db/updates/xyz.sql:3` — DELETE misses linked_id rows, orphans on re-run → **fixed**
3. `src/bar.c:210` — retry loop has no backoff, hammers the API during an outage → **deferred**:
   predates this change, author files it as a follow-up ticket
4. `src/foo.c:97` — guard duplicates the check 4 lines up → **dismissed**: mirrors the pattern in
   this file, checked sound at :61 and :88; refactor out of scope

## Round 2 — `def5678`, clean

</details>
```

Done when the report holds the outcome line, intent, changeset refs with diffstat, diff hash,
provenance with skill version and date, rules-file status, and every round with its reviewed state
and dispositioned findings — each on its mandated side of the split.

## Stamp

Step 3's hash equal to the report's **Diff** → content unchanged (after committing the reviewed
work, an amend, a rebase leaving the diff byte-identical): no round; **Reviewed** line set to the
current state — a tip → `stamped from <previous state>` replacing `unpinned` — then Wrap up.
Different → say so, Review onward. Done when the report carries the current state or Review has
started.

## Wrap up

Print: the report's project-relative path, with the instruction to paste its content into the PR
description or a comment; a warning not to commit the report — a later `git add .` drags it into
the PR — unless the project rules file says otherwise; a reminder to run the project's usual
checks (build, lint, tests) before pushing — this skill never runs them; and that the pushed head
must match the reported SHA: unpinned → commit, then re-invoke to stamp; any later commit → the
same re-invocation, a stamp when the content held, else a re-run. Done when all four are printed.

## Boundaries

- Files written: the report, and the fixes the author approved during the walk — nothing else.
- Read-only git plus `git fetch`; no commit, push, or PR operation — publishing is the author's.