Use Code Review

How to run a standalone code review

Note

Goal: Adversarially review any diff or PR with the /code-review command — no /work cycle, no commit required. Prereqs: the code-review plugin installed (Install crickets plugins); git. Optional: gh (for PR review) and gemini (for the cross-model pass).

/code-review is the standalone command from the code-review plugin. It dispatches the adversarial reviewers against a diff and reports — it never fixes. Run it on an open PR, a branch, a commit range, or your uncommitted working tree.

Steps

1. Invoke the command with a target — or none, to review the working-tree diff:

   /code-review                 # uncommitted working-tree diff (git diff HEAD)
   /code-review main...HEAD     # a commit range
   /code-review #123            # a PR by number (needs gh)
   /code-review <PR URL>        # a PR by URL (needs gh)
   

   If the resolved diff is empty, the command says so and stops.

2. It dispatches up to two reviewers against the diff (plus the spec / .harness/PLAN.md task when obvious, plus the relevant AGENTS.md slice):

   • adversarial-reviewer-cross — the cross-model reviewer. Runs first when gemini is on PATH; it escapes the same-model echo chamber.
   • adversarial-reviewer — the in-process reviewer (same model). It corroborates, or becomes the sole reviewer when the cross-model pass falls back.

3. Read the contract output. Each reviewer returns exactly one of:

   • a failing test in a fenced code block (first line a // or # path comment), or
   • a line DEFECT: <path>:<line> (with spec / actual / a minimal reproducer), or
   • NO ISSUES FOUND (with the files + categories it checked).

   Prose-only critiques are rejected. When the two reviewers disagree (one finds a defect, one says clean), both are surfaced — disagreement is signal. Any file:line or failing test is verified to reproduce before it's reported.

4. Act on the findings yourself — /code-review reports, it doesn't edit. Standalone, the fixes are yours. (Inside a /work loop, the same reviewers feed a follow-up /work task instead.)

Cross-review privacy note

The cross-model pass sends your diff to the Gemini CLI → Google. Treat it as opt-in:

• It's operator-opt-in per invocation — the cross-model reviewer runs only when you invoke /code-review and gemini is present.
• The model is editable — point the cross-review reviewer at claude instead of Gemini to keep the diff inside your model boundary.
• It graceful-skips when gemini is absent or unauthed: cross-review.sh exits non-zero and the command falls back to the in-process adversarial-reviewer (same model, no external send).
• The in-process adversarial-reviewer always stays on the current model — it never sends the diff anywhere.

See also

• Install crickets plugins — get the code-review plugin onto your host.
• Installing and using the code-review plugin — the hands-on first run, if you haven't done one.
• Use the evaluator — PASS / NEEDS_WORK grading against a rubric (a different reviewer role).
• Compatibility — the evidence-tracker hook (also in code-review) is Claude-only-effective.
• Modify a crickets plugin — edit the reviewers / cross-review.sh and dogfood.