Review loop

review-loop — Umbrella Orchestration Skill

Drive a work item from description to delivery using an Executor and an independent Reviewer in an iterative loop. The Reviewer catches bugs, design issues, and gaps a single agent would miss — and the user sees every finding in real time.

This is the umbrella skill. For finer-grained control, see:

• review-loop:plan — planning phase only.
• review-loop:execute — three entry modes (--session, --plan, --review-only), --stop-after, multi-batch delivery.

The umbrella preserves the original end-to-end UX: Step 1.5 auto-routes (plan-exists / code-exists / fresh) and hands off internally into the planning or execution loops described by the protocol docs below. entry_point: review-loop is written to the session metadata. Codex Stage 1 follows the same broad exec -> polish -> docs -> security -> delivery lifecycle. Codex Stage 1 assumes a single orchestrator-owned workspace for the session.

Protocol Imports

The Orchestrator MUST Read each of these files at start. They are the single source of truth for this skill's planning loop, execution loop, session schema, and output schemas.

• docs/protocol/session-file.md
• docs/protocol/planning.md
• docs/protocol/execution.md
• docs/protocol/executor-output.md
• docs/protocol/reviewer-output.md

Do not re-derive any rule that already lives in a protocol doc. When a step below says "see docs/protocol/<doc>.md §Foo", follow that doc verbatim. Reading only session-file / planning / execution is insufficient for this umbrella skill. The startup read set is complete only after all 5 docs above have been read explicitly; embedded schemas in agent bodies are not a substitute for reading executor-output.md and reviewer-output.md.

Orchestrator rules

• Plugin agent-type sandbox bug: every Executor / Reviewer / quality agent invocation MUST use subagent_type: general-purpose with the agent's full .md body inlined in the prompt parameter. Never use subagent_type: review-loop:<name>. See CLAUDE.md §"Plugin agent type sandbox bug" for background.
• Only the Orchestrator writes to the session file. Sub-agents read.
• Live Reports after each round are not optional.

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Invocation

run review-loop on: <work item description> [--handsfree]

--handsfree (optional): fully autonomous mode. Decision-type questions go to the Reviewer instead of pausing. External-info questions (credentials, file paths outside repo, business rules not in context) always pause. See docs/protocol/planning.md §Question classification.

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Configuration

Read .review-loop/config.md if present, else defaults:

reviewer: codex                 # "codex" | "subagent"
reviewer_model: ""              # path-specific reviewer override
judgment_model: ""              # shared tier override for judgment-tier agents
cheap_model: ""                 # shared tier override for cheap-tier agents
executor_model: inherit         # path-specific Claude executor override; "" and inherit fall through to judgment_model
soft_limit_plan: 3              # see docs/protocol/planning.md §Loop control
soft_limit_exec: 3              # see docs/protocol/execution.md §Per-stage max-round caps
auto_commit: false
commit_message_prefix: "feat"
docs_file: CHANGELOG.md
handsfree: false
review_focus: ""                # free text injected into code-review prompts only
quality_focus: ""               # `quality_focus` applies only when Step 3.5 Quality Polish actually runs.
review_style: ""                # free text injected into ALL reviewer prompts
skip_quality_polish: false      # `skip_quality_polish: true` mints `polish` as a no-op completion and still continues through docs and security.

--handsfree flag at invocation overrides the config value.

Shared tier contract:

• Dispatch precedence is path-specific override -> tier override -> runtime backstop.
• Missing tier defaults to judgment.
• Cheap-tier backstop is claude-haiku-4-5-20251001.
• In Codex Stage 1, cheap_model is accepted by the shared config but is a documented no-op because Stage 1 only ships judgment-tier Codex agents.
• In Codex Stage 1, review stays on the outside-sandbox Claude CLI reviewer path unless codex_reviewer_backend: codex is explicitly set.
• On that default Codex Stage 1 Claude reviewer path, the model resolves as reviewer_model -> judgment_model -> claude-sonnet-4-6.

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Orchestrator Instructions

When triggered, you are the Orchestrator. Coordinate Executor and Reviewer; enforce the loop; keep the user informed via Live Reports. Never do the planning or coding yourself.

Step 0 — Load config and parse flags

Before loading config or doing any routing, Read the 5 Protocol Imports docs listed above.

Read .review-loop/config.md (or defaults). Detect --handsfree. Reviewer backend availability check (which codex for reviewer: codex; suggest reviewer: subagent fallback if absent).

Step 0.5 — Initialize session file

Generate a lowercase UUID. Create .review-loop/sessions/{uuid}.md with the canonical section list per docs/protocol/session-file.md §Canonical sections (includes ## Problem Description, ## Context, ## Acceptance Criteria, ## Current Phase, ## Approved Plan, ## Review History, ## Files Changed, ## Key Related Files, ## Timing Log, ## Session Metadata). ## Current Phase: planning (fresh) or execution (when Step 1.5 routes to CR). entry_point: review-loop. Fresh baseline quintet from current repo state. plan_source is written only after the planning loop APPROVEs or Step 1.5 routes directly into Approved Plan / review-only; omitted during planning draft rounds.

Acquire the single-writer lock per docs/protocol/session-file.md §Lock file lifecycle. Print the session file path.

Step 1 — Parse the work item

Extract title, problem description, context, acceptance criteria. Ask ONE clarifying question if critical information is missing.

Step 1.5 — Auto-routing (preserved from v2.5.0)

The umbrella skill auto-routes based on detected state. Unlike plan, which only prints a suggestion, the umbrella dispatches internally:

• Plan already exists (user says "review this", approved plan in context): skip planning; populate ## Approved Plan with the existing plan and plan_source: reviewer-approved, set ## Current Phase: execution, jump to the execution round loop.
• Code already implemented (user asks for CR only, OR git diff shows substantial task-relevant changes): treat as --review-only-equivalent. Populate ## Approved Plan with the canonical sentinel per docs/protocol/session-file.md §Canonical sentinel for review-only, populate ## Review Target, set plan_source: review-only, and jump to the execution loop with the first-round Executor skip per docs/protocol/execution.md §--review-only first-round skip.
• Existing session context file matching this task: read it and resume (equivalent to execute --session <uuid>).
• No prior state: start from the planning phase as normal.

Current Codex Stage 1 uses the orchestrator's current workspace only. Executor-created hidden worktrees are forbidden in Codex Stage 1.

Also check for .claude/checkpoint.md. If present, read it and inject the content into the session file under ## Previous Session Context. Silently load — do not ask.

Display the detected state to the user:

Detected: {plan exists / code already implemented / fresh start}
{if checkpoint.md found: + Previous session checkpoint loaded}
→ Starting from: {Planning / Execution / Code Review only}

User can override if they disagree.

Step 1.6 — Historical context retrieval (optional, fail-silently)

Strictly optional. Skip silently if no external memory tool is available. Never ask the user to install anything. Never mention the tool name to users who don't have it. The fail-silently contract applies to the entire lifecycle per CLAUDE.md §"Optional integrations must fail silently" — probe failure, runtime failure, malformed output all fall through silently.

1. Availability probe: check if a mempalace_search MCP tool is listed, OR run which mempalace via Bash. If neither, skip.
2. Resume dedup: if the session file already has a ## Historical Context section, skip.
3. Extract 1-2 specific search terms from the work item. Prefer MCP, else CLI with a 10-second timeout. On any error / hang / timeout / non-zero exit / stderr / malformed output → silently skip and continue. Do not log the error; treat as "no context".
4. Append top 3 validated results under ## Historical Context. If none, skip — do not add an empty section.

Display:

── review-loop: Starting ──────────────────────────
Work item: {title}
Problem: {problem_description}
Reviewer: {codex | subagent} ({reviewer_model})
Mode: {interactive | handsfree}
Soft limit: {soft_limit_plan} (plan) / {soft_limit_exec} (exec)
{if historical context found: Historical context: {N} relevant memories loaded}
────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Step 2 — Planning phase (fresh only)

When Step 1.5 selected "fresh start", run the planning loop per docs/protocol/planning.md §Round loop. All per-round dispatch, Executor/Reviewer prompts, loop control, soft limit (soft_limit_plan), stuck detection, and question classification behavior are defined in that doc and not duplicated here.

On VERDICT: APPROVE: promote ## Draft Plan → ## Approved Plan with - Source: reviewer-approved, write plan_source: reviewer-approved to ## Session Metadata, remove ## Draft Plan entirely, and proceed to Step 3.

Step 3 — Execution phase

Run the execution loop per docs/protocol/execution.md §Step 3. The provenance-aware reviewer prompts in that doc select the right strictness level from plan_source:

• reviewer-approved (planning-approved or imported) → strict plan-conformance.
• review-only (code-exists auto-route) → pure CR mode; first Executor round is skipped.

Soft limit is soft_limit_exec (default 3). When Step 3 reviewer returns APPROVE, run Step 3.4 before Step 3.5 if the terminal gate has not yet run in this execution convergence. Step 3.4 is single-pass per execution convergence. Do not mint exec yet. Step 3.4 APPROVE or controlled SKIP mints exec into completed_stages, then proceeds to Step 3.5. Step 3.4 REQUEST_CHANGES withholds exec and feeds the gate findings into ordinary Step 3 Executor/Reviewer repair rounds; do not run Step 3.4 again while repairing those findings. A later normal Step 3 reviewer APPROVE after those repairs mints exec. completed_stages is the required protocol field for a clean execution pass. Do not replace it with ad hoc metadata such as completed_at. This applies to both edit rounds and reviewed no-op rounds.

Step 3.5 — Quality Polish

Run Step 3.5 per docs/protocol/execution.md §Step 3.5. quality_focus applies only when Step 3.5 Quality Polish actually runs. If skip_quality_polish: true, mint polish as a no-op completion and continue to Step 3.6. skip_quality_polish: true mints polish as a no-op completion and still continues through docs and security. All substeps use subagent_type: general-purpose with the agent body inlined — never plugin-defined agent types. Hallucination guard on tool_uses: 0.

On a no-write clean finish, mint polish. Any writing substep clears completed_stages and replays from exec per docs/protocol/session-file.md §completed_stages lifecycle.

Step 3.6 — Documentation Consistency

Single pass per docs/protocol/execution.md §Step 3.6. Writes → clear completed_stages, replay. No-write → mint docs. After minting docs, proceed to Step 3.7 — a no-op docs stage is not a terminal state.

Step 3.7 — Security Preflight

Single scan per docs/protocol/execution.md §Step 3.7. Writes to .gitignore or git rm --cached → clear completed_stages, replay. No-write → mint security. BLOCKED → halt; do not proceed.

Step 3.7 runs unconditionally after Step 3.6, regardless of whether any prior stage wrote files. A no-op session (zero code changes, zero doc updates) still runs this scan. The only exits before 3.7 are --stop-after before-security / before-docs / before-polish / exec-round.

Step 4 — Delivery

Gated by the runtime delivery gate: Claude Code requires {exec, polish, docs, security} ⊆ completed_stages. Per docs/protocol/execution.md §Step 4 — Delivery: if auto_commit: true, stage only the Executor-reported files, commit {commit_message_prefix}: {title}, append sha to session_commits. Print the Delivery Summary (status, reviewer backend, plan / exec rounds, Quality Polish summary, Review Findings table, Files Changed, Autonomous Decisions, Unresolved Minor Issues, Time Breakdown, Token Usage, Suggested Next Steps). Append to docs_file if set. Cleanup round temp files; preserve the session file. Clear delivery_blocked_by ← null. Release the lock.

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Reviewer Dispatch, Question Classification, Context Management

• Reviewer Dispatch — per docs/protocol/planning.md §Reviewer dispatch, Claude Code block. Two modes (codex / subagent). subagent uses subagent_type: general-purpose with agents/reviewer.md inlined plus a "Report only" instruction. Never subagent_type: review-loop:<name>. For Claude reviewer prompts, explicitly tell the reviewer to ignore unrelated SessionStart / UserPromptSubmit injections (for example HANDOFF pickup banners or LEARNINGS sync text) that do not pertain to the current session file.
• Question Classification — per docs/protocol/planning.md §Question classification. External-info always pauses. Decision-type pauses by default; --handsfree forwards to Reviewer and logs under loop_state.autonomous_decisions.
• Context Management — per docs/protocol/planning.md §Context management discipline. Session file on disk is the single source of truth. Orchestrator keeps minimal conversation context: session path, latest Reviewer feedback, loop control state. All durable state is on disk.

Important Orchestrator Behaviors

• Never do the work yourself — delegate planning to the Executor and reviewing to the Reviewer.
• Keep the session file up to date — both agents read it each round.
• Use protocol metadata only — do not invent session completion fields such as completed_at; the shared lifecycle state must be represented through completed_stages, delivery_blocked_by, and the baseline metadata defined by the protocol docs.
• Preserve the Reviewer's VERDICT — never override APPROVE, never skip REQUEST_CHANGES.
• Surface blockers immediately — pause and ask on unrecoverable situations.
• Make findings visible — Live Report after each round is not optional.