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skillx

Code Review

The code-review skill turns your AI agent into a structured code reviewer. It defines a review process, output format, severity levels, and review guidelines — all in a single SKILL.md.

Design Rationale

Code reviews are one of the most common uses for AI coding agents, but unstructured reviews produce inconsistent results. This skill solves that by defining:

  • A repeatable process — five steps from understanding context to checking performance
  • Severity levels — CRITICAL, WARNING, SUGGESTION, NOTE — so the author knows what to fix first
  • A structured format — [SEVERITY] file:line — description for every finding
  • A summary template — approve, request changes, or flag for discussion

This ensures every review follows the same pattern regardless of which team member runs it.

SKILL.md

The skill is a single-file directory:

code-review/
└── SKILL.md

Key sections of the SKILL.md:

  • Review Process — 5-step checklist: context, correctness, style, security, performance
  • Output Format — [SEVERITY] file:line — Brief description with a suggested fix
  • Severity Levels — CRITICAL (bugs, security), WARNING (performance, code smells), SUGGESTION (style), NOTE (observations)
  • Guidelines — Be specific, constructive, proportional; acknowledge good code
  • Summary — Counts by severity, overall verdict, key concern

Usage Scenarios

Run from GitHub

You can run this official example directly from the docs without cloning the repository:

Terminal window
skillx run github:skillx-run/skillx/examples/skills/code-review "Review the changes in the last commit"

The agent fetches the example from GitHub, scans it, and produces a structured review.

Run from a Local Clone of this Repository

If you are already inside a local clone of skillx-run/skillx, use the repository path instead:

Terminal window
skillx run ./examples/skills/code-review "Review the changes in the last commit"

Review Staged Changes

Terminal window
skillx run github:skillx-run/skillx/examples/skills/code-review "Review my staged changes before I commit"

Useful as a pre-commit quality check.

Review a Specific File

Terminal window
skillx run github:skillx-run/skillx/examples/skills/code-review "Review src/handlers/auth.rs for security issues"

Focus the review on a specific file or concern.

Pipe a Diff Directly

For non-interactive use, pipe the diff via stdin:

Terminal window
git diff HEAD~3 | skillx run github:skillx-run/skillx/examples/skills/code-review --stdin

This sends the diff of the last 3 commits as input. The agent receives the diff content and reviews it using the structured format defined in the skill.

You can also pipe a PR diff:

Terminal window
gh pr diff 42 | skillx run github:skillx-run/skillx/examples/skills/code-review --stdin

Scan Output

Scanning the code-review skill:

Terminal window
skillx scan github:skillx-run/skillx/examples/skills/code-review
  Scanning  code-review
  ────────────────────────────────
  ✓ PASS — No issues found


  Files scanned: 1
  Risk level: PASS

The skill is purely instructional — no scripts, no URLs, no sensitive references — so it passes cleanly.

If you want to inspect the exact files in a local checkout instead, run:

Terminal window
skillx scan ./examples/skills/code-review

Team Configuration with skillx.toml

For teams that want every member using the same code-review skill, add it to your project’s skillx.toml:

[project]
name = "my-project"


[agent]
preferred = "claude-code"
targets = ["claude-code", "cursor", "copilot"]


[skills]
code-review = "github:skillx-run/skillx/examples/skills/code-review"

Now any team member can run:

Terminal window
# Run all skills defined in skillx.toml
skillx run


# Or install persistently
skillx install

Pinning a Version

Pin to a specific commit or tag to prevent unexpected changes:

[skills]
code-review = "github:skillx-run/skillx/examples/skills/[email protected]"

Combining with Other Skills

[skills]
code-review = "github:skillx-run/skillx/examples/skills/code-review"
testing-guide = "github:skillx-run/skillx/examples/skills/testing-guide"


[skills.dev]
commit-message = "github:skillx-run/skillx/examples/skills/commit-message"

The [skills.dev] section is for development-only skills that are not needed in CI or production.

Why this example exists

This example exists to demonstrate how a broad instruction like “review this code” can be narrowed into a predictable reviewer role, a ranked severity model, and a response shape that is useful in real pull requests.

Next Steps

If you want to see a different pattern for developer workflow automation, try Commit Message. If you want to author a review skill with your team’s terminology, move on to Writing Skills. For a curated external reference point, see Famous Skills.