Code Review

Code Review — Skill Entry

This SKILL.md is the entrypoint for the Code Review skill.

The skill provides a reusable review workflow for orchestrators and perspective subagents that evaluate code changes across functional, standards, accessibility, PR, security, readiness, and full review perspectives. It centralizes change-brief preparation, review depth selection, severity normalization, and output contract details so that review agents stay thin and consistent.

Shared principles

Review work should stay anchored in evidence and should avoid premature conclusions. Keep the review grounded in file and line evidence, use proportional depth based on risk, read the full diff range before narrowing, and keep factual orientation separate from structured findings.

Normative references

1. [Output Formats](references/output-formats.md) — reporting structure, merged report skeleton, and persisted artifact contract.
2. [Severity Taxonomy](references/severity-taxonomy.md) — severity levels, verdict normalization, and risk classification.
3. [Lens Checklists](references/lens-checklists.md) — perspective-specific review questions for functional, standards, accessibility, PR, security, and readiness reviews.
4. [Context Bootstrap](references/context-bootstrap.md) — Tier 0 procedure for proving the change surface, drafting a change brief, and scoping hotspots.
5. [Depth Tiers](references/depth-tiers.md) — basic, standard, and comprehensive verification rigor dials.
6. [Walkthrough Protocol](references/walkthrough-protocol.md) — firm orientation floor, full-diff reading contract, and Register 1 narrative guidance.
7. [Dispatch Loop](references/dispatch-loop.md) — human-steered dispatch board, manifest schema, and walk-back loop contract.
8. [Emission Modes](references/emission-modes.md) — capability-gated dual-mode emission and persisted emission record.
9. [Cross-Skill Forks](references/cross-skill-forks.md) — specialist review registry and collection-aware gating for follow-up reviews.

Skill layout

• SKILL.md — this file (skill entrypoint).
• references/ — durable review knowledge documents.
• output-formats.md — output schema, report skeleton, and persistence behavior.
• severity-taxonomy.md — severity and verdict normalization model.
• lens-checklists.md — per-perspective review checklists.
• context-bootstrap.md — Tier 0 context bootstrap and human-scoping workflow.
• depth-tiers.md — Tier 1/2/3 verification-depth guidance.
• walkthrough-protocol.md — orientation-first walkthrough contract and Register 1 narrative expectations.
• dispatch-loop.md — dispatch board, manifest schema, and walk-back loop.
• emission-modes.md — native and canonical emission strategies.
• cross-skill-forks.md — specialist review registry and gating rules.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: microsoft
• Source: microsoft/hve-core
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.