Code review and changes
Code review turns an assistant's work into changes you can assess individually. Establish the review target, then inspect files, hunks, and validation. Reading progress, commit scope, and remote PR state remain separate.
Establish the review target
| Target | Evidence |
|---|---|
| Local workspace diff | Files, Git status, and differences in the active directory |
| Remote PR diff | The PR's base branch, actual revision, and remote patch |
| Validation | Commands, output, and failures tied to that revision or workspace |
A remote PR's read-only diff is not a local commit selection. Do not treat a same-named workspace file as the original context of a remote patch.
Inspect files and hunks
Open the coding workspace's changes view and check added, modified, deleted, and untracked files. Decide whether each file belongs to the task before reading individual hunks. For renames, deletions, configuration, and dependencies, check consumers and build behavior too.
Check whether:
- The change fixes the real trigger rather than hiding errors or changing surface text.
- Loading, failure, recovery, and permission branches remain correct.
- Tests prove behavior without weakened assertions, thresholds, or skipped checks.
- Credentials, logs, generated output, and unrelated work are excluded.
Resolve feedback and select a commit scope
The local list merges working-tree and index changes. Checkboxes define commit scope; there is no separate manual staging workflow. Unchecking every item leaves an empty scope, rather than a reason to create an empty commit. Read status tracks inspection progress independently of selection.
Attach feedback to a file, hunk, and reproduction condition. After correction, refresh the diff and rerun affected checks. Read markers track inspection; they do not replace tests or authorize a commit.
Before a local commit, verify selected files and hunks. When there are no changes or no selected scope, complete the selection rather than creating an empty commit. Check committing, pushing, and PR approval separately.
Discard and recover
Discarding changes affects local files. Confirm the scope, preserve needed work, and distinguish task changes from pre-existing edits. Inspect unfamiliar changes before acting; do not reset the entire repository.
After a stale diff, directory change, or read failure, re-establish the workspace and refresh. Check Git status again after verification. An old screenshot or another revision's passing checks cannot validate a new change.
Handle large diffs and remote PRs
On a truncation notice, reduce scope by file. Context expansion requires a complete local patch. A remote PR is read-only: establish its base and head, then inspect the remote patch. A same-named local file is not remote context, and remote read markers are not GitHub approval.
| Operation | Check afterward |
|---|---|
| Refresh | Files and hunks reflect the latest edits |
| Change selection | Commit scope contains only this task |
| Resolve feedback | The trigger is fixed and affected checks pass |
| Discard edits | File scope is explicit and needed content is preserved |
Distinguish Evolver review
This page reviews source changes. evolver review evaluates candidate Genes; approving an asset does not approve code, pass tests, or authorize publication. See Review and validation.