How to Attach Line-Specific Review Comments to Pull Requests

This guide explains how to add line-specific review comments to pull requests using the GitHub CLI (gh) API or mcp__github_inline_comment__create_inline_comment if it not available, similar to how the GitHub UI allows commenting on specific lines of code.

Preferred Approach: Using MCP GitHub Tools

If available, use the mcp__github_inline_comment__create_inline_comment MCP tool for posting line-specific inline comments on pull requests. This approach provides better integration with GitHub's UI and is the recommended method.

Fallback: If the MCP tool is not available, use the GitHub CLI (gh) API methods described below:

• For single comments: Use the /comments endpoint (see Adding a Single Line-Specific Comment)
• For multiple comments: Use the /reviews endpoint (see Adding Multiple Line-Specific Comments Together)

Overview

While gh pr review provides basic review functionality (approve, request changes, general comments), it does not support line-specific comments directly. To add comments on specific lines of code, you must use the lower-level gh api command to call GitHub's REST API directly.

Prerequisites

1. GitHub CLI installed and authenticated:

   gh auth status
   

2. Access to the repository and pull request you want to review

Understanding GitHub's Review Comment System

GitHub has two types of PR comments:

1. Issue Comments - General comments on the PR conversation
2. Review Comments - Line-specific comments on code changes

Review comments can be added in two ways:

• Single comment - Using the /pulls/{pr}/comments endpoint
• Review with multiple comments - Using the /pulls/{pr}/reviews endpoint

Adding a Single Line-Specific Comment

Basic Syntax