Requesting Code Review

Before another set of eyes — yours or a reviewer's — do the cheap pass yourself. Self-review catches 60% of issues without burning anyone else's attention.

When to run this

• Before git commit
• Before opening a PR
• Before handing work off to another agent / human
• Before invoking the code-reviewer subagent (don't waste its budget on lint issues)

Iron Law

Read your own diff before anyone else does. Open the diff, scroll top-to-bottom, every line. No skipping.

Self-Review Checklist

Correctness

• Tests pass (see [[verification-before-completion]] — don't assume)
• The change actually does what the task asked
• Edge cases handled: empty input, null, zero, negative, very large, unicode
• Error paths considered — not just the happy path

Cleanliness

• No print / console.log / Write-Host debug statements left behind
• No commented-out code blocks ("might need later" — no, delete it, git remembers)
• No TODOs added without a ticket / follow-up
• No dead code (unreachable branches, unused imports/vars)

Naming & Clarity

• Variable / function names communicate intent, not type (userList not arr)
• No abbreviations only you understand
• Functions do one thing; if a name needs "and", split it

DRY / Reuse

• Not duplicating an existing helper — searched the codebase first
• If duplicating intentionally (different abstraction), noted why
• Not introducing a third copy of something — extract instead

Error Handling

• Failures throw / return meaningfully (not swallowed)
• Resources released on error path (files closed, connections returned)
• User-facing errors are actionable, not stack traces

Security

• No hardcoded secrets / tokens / passwords
• User input validated before use in query / shell / path
• Authn / authz check on any new endpoint or sensitive path
• Dependencies are pinned and from trusted sources

Diff Hygiene

• Diff is the minimum needed for the task
• No unrelated reformatting (that goes in a separate commit)
• No accidental file deletions / renames
• Generated files / build artifacts not committed

Red Flags during self-review

• "I'll clean that up later" — clean it now, "later" is a lie.
• "This part is ugly but it works" — reviewer will land on exactly that line.
• Files in the diff you didn't intend to touch.
• A function over ~50 lines you added in one sitting.
• A test you wrote that has never seen the code fail.

After self-review

1. Fix what the checklist flagged.
2. Re-run verification ([[verification-before-completion]]).
3. Now invoke the code-reviewer agent / open the PR / hand off.
4. Approach feedback per [[receiving-code-review]].

MUST

You MUST run the checklist top-to-bottom. Cherry-picking items defeats the point — the items you skip are the ones that catch you.

Cross-references

• [[verification-before-completion]] — verification is a prerequisite, not a substitute.
• [[receiving-code-review]] — how to handle the feedback you'll get next.
• [[finishing-a-development-branch]] — self-review is part of wrap-up.