# Code Review

Review changed code for naming, stale references, unnecessary complexity, and comment...

- Repository: https://github.com/dzhng/skills (1394 stars)
- Category: Engineering
- License: MIT
- Last updated: 2026-11-01
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add dzhng/skills --skill code-review -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add dzhng/skills --skill code-review -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add dzhng/skills --skill code-review -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add dzhng/skills --skill code-review -g -a gemini-cli -y`

## Description

Review changed code for naming, stale references, unnecessary complexity, and comment quality. Use after completing implementation work, before committing, or when the user asks to review or audit code.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# Code Review

Review the diff or specified files against these principles.

## 1. Names must reflect current reality

- Variable and function names should describe what they ARE, not what they used to be.
- If the underlying mechanism changed (e.g. FUSE → NFS), all related names must update.
- Ask: would a new reader be confused by this name?

## 2. No stale references

- After refactoring, grep for references to the old approach, dead detection logic, abandoned feature flags, comments mentioning removed code.
- If something was tried and reverted, remove ALL traces. The codebase should look like the current approach was always the plan.

## 3. Simplify detection and guard logic

- A gate like "can this feature run" should check the ONE thing that actually matters.
- Don't chain fallback detections (binary exists OR source exists OR toolchain exists) when one check covers it.

## 4. Comments document WHY, not WHAT HAPPENED

- **Keep:** non-obvious technical discoveries, platform quirks, "if you remove this, X breaks because Y."
  - Good: `// com.apple.provenance causes SIGKILL when spawned as child process`
  - Good: `// umount while server is alive panics the macOS NFS client`
  - Good: `// NFS client uses cookie verifier to decide if cached readdir is valid`
- **Remove:** narrative of what was tried, what was abandoned, what was renamed.
  - Bad: `// We changed this from cp to cat to work around the provenance issue`
  - Bad: `// Wrapper added because FUSE-T was zero-padding (see commit abc123)`
  - Bad: `// Previously this was called fuseAvailable but we renamed it`
- **Remove:** comments that just restate what the code does without adding reasoning.
- Often no comment is needed at all.

## 5. Separate install-time from runtime

The rest: https://github.com/dzhng/skills/blob/HEAD/skills/engineering/code-review/SKILL.md