Superpowers Requesting Code Review

Request code reviews with precise context after tasks, major features, or before merges to catch issues early and ensure code meets requirements.

Security Scan

The skill is an instruction-only code-review helper that only asks for git commit ranges and a review template — its requirements and instructions are consistent with requesting focused code reviews.

Purpose & Capability

Name and description match the content: the skill instructs getting git SHAs, supplying a concise implementation/plan, and running a review subagent that uses git diff for the specified range. No unrelated binaries, env vars, or installs are requested.

Instruction Scope

Runtime instructions are focused: they ask for BASE_SHA/HEAD_SHA and a concise description/plan and show git commands (git rev-parse, git diff). The reviewer template confines the reviewer to the provided change range and plan. Instructions do not request unrelated files, system history, or external endpoints.

Install Mechanism

Instruction-only skill with no install spec and no code files to execute. Nothing is downloaded or written to disk by a provided installer.

Credentials

The skill declares no environment variables or credentials (appropriate). However, it implicitly requires access to the repository and commit history: any secrets, keys, or sensitive data present in the commit range or repo will be visible to the reviewer subagent. This is expected for code review but is a data-sensitivity consideration.

Persistence & Privilege

always:false and no special persistence requested. Autonomous invocation is allowed (platform default) but not combined with other concerning factors.

Assessment

This skill is coherent for requesting code reviews: it only needs git commit SHAs and a short plan/description and will inspect diffs between those commits. Before using it, ensure the commit range you send doesn't expose secrets or credentials (API keys, private certs, passwords) you don't want reviewed by a subagent. If you plan to run reviews on private or sensitive repos, run the review locally or in a controlled environment and scrub secrets from the diff or use a narrowly-scoped range. Also verify the PLAN_OR_REQUIREMENTS text you supply doesn't leak unrelated context. If you are uncomfortable with an autonomous subagent seeing repository contents, avoid granting broad agent permissions or invoke the skill manually.

<!-- Original: https://github.com/obra/superpowers, MIT License -->

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name: superpowers-requesting-code-review description: Use when completing tasks, implementing major features, or before merging to verify work meets requirements version: 1.0.0

Requesting Code Review

Dispatch a code-reviewer subagent to catch issues before they cascade. The reviewer gets precisely crafted context for evaluation — never your session's history. This keeps the reviewer focused on the work product, not your thought process, and preserves your own context for continued work.

Core principle: Review early, review often.

When to Request Review

Mandatory:

• After each task in subagent-driven development
• After completing major feature
• Before merge to main

Optional but valuable:

• When stuck (fresh perspective)
• Before refactoring (baseline check)
• After fixing complex bug

How to Request

1. Get git SHAs:

BASE_SHA=$(git rev-parse HEAD~1)  # or origin/main
HEAD_SHA=$(git rev-parse HEAD)

2. Dispatch code-reviewer subagent with context crafted from code-reviewer.md in this skill's directory:

Fill in the template:

• {WHAT_WAS_IMPLEMENTED} — What you just built
• {PLAN_OR_REQUIREMENTS} — What it should do
• {BASE_SHA} — Starting commit
• {HEAD_SHA} — Ending commit
• {DESCRIPTION} — Brief summary

3. Act on feedback:

• Fix Critical issues immediately
• Fix Important issues before proceeding
• Note Minor issues for later
• Push back if reviewer is wrong (with reasoning)

Example

[Just completed Task 2: Add verification function]

You: Let me request code review before proceeding.

BASE_SHA=$(git log --oneline | grep "Task 1" | head -1 | awk '{print $1}')
HEAD_SHA=$(git rev-parse HEAD)

[Dispatch code-reviewer subagent]
  WHAT_WAS_IMPLEMENTED: Verification and repair functions for conversation index
  PLAN_OR_REQUIREMENTS: Task 2 from docs/superpowers/plans/deployment-plan.md
  BASE_SHA: a7981ec
  HEAD_SHA: 3df7661
  DESCRIPTION: Added verifyIndex() and repairIndex() with 4 issue types

[Subagent returns]:
  Strengths: Clean architecture, real tests
  Issues:
    Important: Missing progress indicators
    Minor: Magic number (100) for reporting interval
  Assessment: Ready to proceed

You: [Fix progress indicators]
[Continue to Task 3]

Integration with Workflows

Subagent-Driven Development:

• Review after EACH task
• Catch issues before they compound
• Fix before moving to next task

Executing Plans:

• Review after each batch (3 tasks)
• Get feedback, apply, continue

Ad-Hoc Development:

• Review before merge
• Review when stuck

Red Flags

Never:

• Skip review because "it's simple"
• Ignore Critical issues
• Proceed with unfixed Important issues
• Argue with valid technical feedback

If reviewer wrong:

• Push back with technical reasoning
• Show code/tests that prove it works
• Request clarification

See code-reviewer.md in this skill's directory for the full review template.