custom-review-instructions.md

Custom Code Review Instructions

The Claude Code Reviewer Action supports custom code review instructions, allowing you to add organization-specific review priorities and standards.

Overview

The default general review covers correctness, reliability, performance, maintainability, testing, and security. However, organizations often have specific requirements based on their:

• Architecture and invariants
• Performance or latency SLOs
• Testing and release practices
• Domain-specific constraints

The custom-review-instructions input allows you to extend the general review focus beyond the defaults.

Usage

1. Create a text file containing your custom review instructions (e.g., .github/custom-review-instructions.txt)
2. Reference it in your workflow:

- uses: PSPDFKit-labs/nutrient-code-review@main
  with:
    custom-review-instructions: .github/custom-review-instructions.txt

File Format

The file should contain additional review guidance in plain text. Consider using headings and bullet points to keep it clear. Aim for:

• Specific requirements or invariants to protect
• Known fragile areas to scrutinize
• Performance/scale constraints to enforce
• Testing expectations for high-risk changes

Example Structure:

**Architecture Invariants:**
- All writes must be idempotent for retry safety
- API responses must include correlation IDs

**Performance Constraints:**
- No new O(n^2) algorithms in request handlers
- P95 latency must remain under 200ms

**Testing Expectations:**
- Add unit tests for all validation branches
- Include integration tests for payment flows

Best Practices

1. Be Concrete: Focus on actionable rules and invariants
2. Keep It Short: Favor a concise list over an exhaustive checklist
3. Avoid Duplicates: Don’t restate the default categories unless you need emphasis
4. Review Regularly: Update instructions as your architecture evolves

Example

See examples/custom-review-instructions.txt for a ready-to-use template.