---
title: "Good Code Review"
description: "A checklist for reviewing code, for people and for agents. Every check ends in PASS, FAIL, or N/A with file:line evidence."
canonical: "https://goodcodereview.com/"
updated: "2026-10-25"
---

# Good Code Review

A checklist for reviewing code, for people and for agents. A card is one rule that a reviewer marks `PASS`, `FAIL`, or `N/A`. Each card has a FAIL example and a PASS example.

## Choose a review

Pick the level that matches your input and work through its checklist. Only stable cards are vetted.

- [Change review](https://goodcodereview.com/change.md): Checks a diff or pull request: scope, size, compatibility, tests, and the description. Input: diff / PR. 12 stable, 23 draft.
- [Function audit](https://goodcodereview.com/function.md): Checks one file or function: names, errors, concurrency, and security at the call level. Input: file / function. 33 stable, 23 draft.
- [Module audit](https://goodcodereview.com/module.md): Checks a package or path: boundaries, state, dependencies, and the public surface. Input: package / path. 6 stable, 21 draft.
- [Service audit](https://goodcodereview.com/service.md): Checks one running service: its API, failure handling, limits, and security. Input: service. 21 stable, 27 draft.
- [System audit](https://goodcodereview.com/system.md): Checks a design that spans services: shared data, caches, migrations, and failure modes. Input: cross-service design doc. 12 stable, 7 draft.
- [Codebase audit](https://goodcodereview.com/codebase.md): Checks a whole repository: CI gates, dependencies, setup, and conventions. Input: repo. 11 stable, 6 draft.
- [Production audit](https://goodcodereview.com/production.md): Checks a release or launch: rollout, rollback, alerts, and load. Input: release / launch. 6 stable, 4 draft.
- [Incident audit](https://goodcodereview.com/incident.md): Checks an incident and its follow-up: evidence, guards, and owned actions. Input: incident. 2 stable, 2 draft.

## Scope a review

To review only some concerns, such as performance, use the [Concerns page](https://goodcodereview.com/concerns.md).

## Start a review with an agent

Paste this to your agent:

```text
Read https://goodcodereview.com/llms.txt and use it to review my code.
```

To install it as a skill, run:

```text
npx skills add n0nuser/goodcodereview
```

To install it as a Claude Code plugin, run:

```text
/plugin marketplace add n0nuser/goodcodereview
/plugin install goodcodereview@goodcodereview
```

## Report format

Report each check as `PASS`, `FAIL`, or `N/A` with `file:line` evidence. A `FAIL` carries the card's severity. Any `block` `FAIL` means request changes. A `should-fix` or `discuss` `FAIL` goes in the review but does not block.

```text
FAIL [block] chg-expand-contract - src/a.py:42 - renames the column and drops the old one in one migration
FAIL [should-fix] chg-one-concern - src/b.py:7 - a logging rewrite rides along with the bug fix
PASS chg-breaking-change-taxonomy - src/c.py:15 - no signature or return shape changes
N/A chg-perf-claim-evidence - the description makes no performance claim
```

## Packs

- [Python pack](https://goodcodereview.com/pack-python.md)