reviewer

5-dimension structural code review agent that enforces Gate 2 with written verdicts.

Overview

The reviewer performs deep structural reviews across five dimensions: architecture fit, type safety, test coverage, security, and performance. It produces a written verdict file at tasks/reviews/YYMMDD-name-verdict.md with PASS, FAIL, or PASS WITH NOTES. A FAIL verdict blocks shipping (Gate 2). Every finding must be actionable — no vague feedback.

The reviewer can also invoke the meow:review skill for extended capabilities: scope drift detection, adversarial red-teaming, and auto-fix.

Quick Reference

Quality & Review

Dimension	What it checks
Architecture fit	Matches existing patterns? Respects ADRs? Accidental complexity?
Type safety	No any types? No unsafe casts? Generics used appropriately?
Test coverage	Adequate tests? Edge cases? Testing behavior not implementation?
Security	Runs .claude/rules/security-rules.md checklist. Delegates to security agent if deep audit needed.
Performance	No N+1 queries? No blocking in async? No unnecessary re-renders? No unbounded fetches?

Verdicts

Verdict	Meaning	What happens next
PASS	No blocking issues	→ Shipper (Phase 5)
PASS WITH NOTES	Non-blocking suggestions	→ Shipper (suggestions noted for future)
FAIL	Critical findings	→ Back to developer (must fix before re-review)

How to Use

The reviewer runs automatically in Phase 4. You can also invoke meow:review directly for the extended multi-pass review with adversarial analysis.

# Automatic (Phase 4 of pipeline)
# Triggered after developer + tester green phase

# Explicit review with extended capabilities
/meow:review              # branch diff
/meow:review #42          # specific PR
/meow:review --pending    # uncommitted changes

Under the Hood

Handoff Example

Reviewer verdict file: tasks/reviews/260327-auth-verdict.md

Verdict: PASS WITH NOTES
Architecture Fit: PASS — follows existing middleware pattern
Type Safety: PASS — no any types, proper generics
Test Coverage: PASS — 87% coverage, edge cases for auth
Security: PASS — no hardcoded secrets, proper input validation
Performance: PASS WITH NOTE — consider caching token validation

Suggestions:
1. Cache JWT validation result for 5min to reduce repeated crypto ops

→ Handoff to: shipper (PASS WITH NOTES allows shipping)

Troubleshooting

Issue	Cause	Fix
Review stuck on one dimension	Missing context (e.g., no ADRs for architecture check)	Reviewer issues FAIL for unevaluated dimension — provide missing context
FAIL verdict on implementation that matches plan	Plan may have architectural issues	Check if plan itself needs revision via planner
Security dimension triggers concern	Sensitive code detected	Reviewer delegates to security agent for deep audit
Can't proceed to ship	Gate 2 — FAIL verdict active	Fix the critical findings, then re-review