Code Review

Review the changes since a fixed point (commit, branch, tag, or merge-base) along two axes: Standards (does the code follow this repo's documented coding standards?) and Spec (does the code match what the originating issue/spec asked for?). Runs both reviews in parallel sub-agents and reports them side by side. Use when the user wants to review a branch, a PR, work-in-progress changes, or asks to "review since X".

307,829 stars 25,903 forksGit & Code Review Plugin marketplace

Install

Claude Code plugin
/plugin marketplace add mattpocock/skills

The repo is a Claude Code plugin marketplace. Run /plugin afterwards to pick the plugin that includes this skill.

skills CLI (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and more)
npx skills add mattpocock/skills --skill code-review
Manual install
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/mattpocock/skills.git /tmp/skills
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
cp -r /tmp/skills/skills/engineering/code-review ~/.claude/skills/code-review

Personal skills live in ~/.claude/skills. Use .claude/skills in a project folder to share a skill with your team.

From the SKILL.md

Two-axis review of the diff between `HEAD` and a fixed point the user supplies:

- **Standards**: does the code conform to this repo's documented coding standards?
- **Spec**: does the code faithfully implement the originating issue / spec?

Both axes run as **parallel sub-agents** so they don't pollute each other's context, then this skill aggregates their findings. Start every sub-agent with a fresh context window.

The issue tracker should have been provided to you. If not, tell the user to run `/setup-matt-pocock-skills`.

## Process

### 1. Pin the fixed point

Whatever the user said is the fixed point (a commit SHA, branch name, tag, `main`, `HEAD~5`, etc.). If they didn't specify one, ask for it.

Capture the diff command once: `git diff <fixed-point>...HEAD` (three-dot, so the comparison is against the merge-base). Also note the list of commits via `git log <fixed-point>..HEAD --oneline`.

Before going further, confirm the fixed point resolves (`git rev-parse <fixed-point>`) and the diff is non-empty. A bad ref or empty diff should fail here, not inside two parallel sub-agents.

### 2. Identify the spec source

Look for the originating spec, in this order:

1. Issue references in the commit messages (`#123`, `Closes #45`, GitLab `!67`, etc.), fetched via the workflow in the tracker doc.
2. A path the user passed as an argument.
3. A spec file under `docs/`, `specs/`, or `.scratch/` matching the branch name or feature.
Read the full skill on GitHub

Details

Skill name
code-review
Path
skills/engineering/code-review/SKILL.md
License
MIT
Repo updated
30 October 2026

FAQ

What does the Code Review skill do?

Review the changes since a fixed point (commit, branch, tag, or merge-base) along two axes: Standards (does the code follow this repo's documented coding standards?) and Spec (does the code match what the originating issue/spec asked for?). Runs both reviews in parallel sub-agents and reports them side by side. Use when the user wants to review a branch, a PR, work-in-progress changes, or asks to "review since X".

How do I install the Code Review skill?

Claude Code plugin: /plugin marketplace add mattpocock/skills. Skills go in ~/.claude/skills (personal) or .claude/skills (project), and Claude loads them automatically when a task matches the description.

Is Code Review popular?

It lives in mattpocock/skills, which has 307,829 GitHub stars and 25,903 forks, and is included in 1 curated skill list.

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