How to Review PRs with Claude Code: A Complete Guide for Teams

Why Use AI for PR Review

Code review is essential but time-consuming. A typical developer spends 3-6 hours per week reviewing PRs — time that could be spent building features.

Claude Code can handle the initial pass of every PR, catching common issues before human reviewers ever see the code. This frees up senior developers for higher-level architectural feedback.

What Claude Code Excels At in PR Review

- ✅ TypeScript type errors and type safety issues - ✅ Missing error handling and edge cases - ✅ Security vulnerabilities (XSS, SQL injection, auth flaws) - ✅ Consistency with project conventions - ✅ Performance anti-patterns - ✅ Missing tests

What Claude Code Shouldn't Do Alone

- ❌ Architectural decisions - ❌ Business logic correctness - ❌ Design taste/fit - ❌ Team-specific knowledge

---

Method 1: Review a Specific PR (Local Setup)

# 1. Fetch the PR branch
git fetch origin pull//head:pr-
git checkout pr-
# 2. Review with Claude Code
claude --print "Review this PR. Compare with main branch (@src/) for:
1. TypeScript errors
2. Missing error handling
3. Security issues
4. Performance problems
5. Missing tests
6. Convention violations
Review each file changed and provide specific feedback."

Better: Use a PR Review Template

Create .claude/pr-review-template.md:

PR Review Instructions
You are reviewing a pull request. Review all changed files.
Checklist
- [ ] TypeScript: No any types, proper generics
- [ ] Error handling: try/catch on async operations, error boundaries on components
- [ ] Security: No SQL injection (use parameterized queries), XSS prevention, auth checks on all endpoints
- [ ] Performance: Unnecessary re-renders, large bundles, slow queries
- [ ] Tests: Changed code has test coverage
- [ ] Conventions: Follows project patterns (CLAUDE.md)
- [ ] Edge cases: Loading state, empty state, error state
Format
For each issue found:
- File and line: @file.ts:42
- Severity: 🔴 Critical / 🟡 Warning / 💡 Suggestion
- Explanation: Brief description
- Fix suggestion: Brief code example

Then review with:

claude --print "@.claude/pr-review-template.md — Review this PR against main"

---

Method 2: Automated PR Review with GitHub Actions

Set up automatic Claude Code review on every PR:

# .github/workflows/claude-pr-review.yml
name: Claude Code PR Review
on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize]
jobs:
  review:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0  # Need full history for diff
      - name: Install Claude Code
        run: npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
      - name: Run Claude Code Review
        env:
          ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }}
        run: |
          claude --print "
            Review this PR. Changed files: $(git diff --name-only origin/${{ github.base_ref }}...HEAD | tr '\n' ' ')
            
            For each file, check for:
            - TypeScript errors
            - Missing edge cases
            - Security issues
            Compare with base branch ${{ github.base_ref }}." > review-output.md
      - name: Post Review Comment
        uses: actions/github-script@v7
        with:
          script: |
            const fs = require('fs');
            const review = fs.readFileSync('review-output.md', 'utf8');
            github.rest.issues.createComment({
              issue_number: context.issue.number,
              owner: context.repo.owner,
              repo: context.repo.repo,
              body: ## 🤖 Claude Code Review\n\n${review}
            });

External Links: - GitHub Actions Documentation - GitHub Script Action

---

Method 3: Review Open PRs in Bulk

For team leads or reviewers with many PRs:

#!/bin/bash
# bulk-review.sh — Review all open PRs assigned to you
PRS=$(gh pr list --assignee @me --json number,headRefName,title --jq '.[] | "\(.number) \(.headRefName) \(.title)"')
echo "$PRS" | while read num branch title; do
  echo "=== Reviewing PR #$num: $title ==="
  
  # Fetch the PR
  git fetch origin pull/$num/head:pr-$num
  git checkout pr-$num
  
  # Review
  claude --print "Review PR #$num: $title" > "reviews/pr-$num-review.md"
  
  # Post review
  gh pr comment $num --body-file "reviews/pr-$num-review.md"
  
  echo "✓ PR #$num reviewed"
done

Requires GitHub CLI:

gh auth login

---

Method 4: Focused Review by Type

Security-Focused Review

claude --print "Security review of this PR (@src/) focused ONLY on:
- SQL injection in database queries
- XSS in rendered user input
- Missing authentication checks
- Exposed secrets/hardcoded credentials
- Insecure direct object references (IDOR)
- Rate limiting on API endpoints"

Performance-Focused Review

claude --print "Performance review of this PR (@src/) focused ONLY on:
- N+1 database queries
- Missing memoization in React components
- Large bundle additions (>10KB)
- Unnecessary re-renders
- Inefficient loops or data structures"

Test Coverage Review

claude --print "Test coverage review of this PR (@src/) focused on:
- Check if changed files have corresponding tests
- Are edge cases covered? (empty, null, error states)
- Are the tests meaningful (not just snapshot tests)?
- Suggest any missing test cases"

---

Method 5: Compare with Project Standards

Ensure PRs follow your team's conventions:

claude --print "Review this PR against our team's standards:
@.claude/CLAUDE.md @.eslintrc.json @tsconfig.json
Check for:
1. Does the code follow our TypeScript strict rules?
2. Are imports using import type where appropriate?
3. Does the code match our error handling patterns?
4. Are any linting rules being violated?
5. Is the code structure consistent with the project?
For each violation, specify the exact rule and how to fix it."

---

Best Practices for AI-Powered PR Review

DO:

- ✅ Review the output — Claude makes mistakes. Read its reviews before posting. - ✅ Set clear focus areas — Don't ask Claude to review "everything." Be specific. - ✅ Use as a first pass — Have Claude catch surface issues before human review. - ✅ Combine with human review — Claude catches types/conventions, humans catch architecture/design. - ✅ Customize for your stack — Add project-specific rules to CLAUDE.md.

DON'T:

- ❌ Don't auto-post reviews without human approval — Claude can be overly critical or miss context. - ❌ Don't rely on Claude for business logic — It doesn't understand your domain. - ❌ Don't skip human review — AI catches patterns, humans catch meaning. - ❌ Don't review massive PRs — >1000 line changes exceed Claude's effective review range.

---

PR Review Checklist Template

Save this as .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md:

Description
[Brief description of changes]
Type of Change
- [ ] Bug fix
- [ ] New feature
- [ ] Refactor
- [ ] Documentation
AI Review Checklist
- [ ] No TypeScript errors
- [ ] Error handling added
- [ ] Edge cases covered (loading, empty, error states)
- [ ] No hardcoded values (uses env vars or config)
- [ ] Tests added for new/changed code
- [ ] Performance impact considered
- [ ] Security review completed
- [ ] Follows project conventions (CLAUDE.md)
Manual Review Needed
- [ ] Architecture/design decisions
- [ ] Business logic correctness
- [ ] API compatibility

---

Integration with CI Pipeline

A full PR pipeline combining Claude Code with other tools:

name: PR Pipeline
on: [pull_request]
jobs:
  quality:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
      # Standard checks
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run lint
      - run: npm run typecheck
      - run: npm test
      
      # Claude Code review
      - name: AI Code Review
        run: |
          claude --print "
            @src/ — Review this PR. 
            Changed: $(git diff --name-only origin/main...HEAD)
            Focus: types, errors, security, conventions.
            Ignore: style (Prettier handles this).
          " > claude-review.md
      
      - name: Post Review
        uses: actions/github-script@v7
        with:
          script: |
            const review = require('fs').readFileSync('claude-review.md', 'utf8');
            await github.rest.issues.createComment({...});

External Links: - GitHub Actions — CI/CD - GitHub CLI

---

Summary: The Smart PR Workflow

1. Developer submits PR
       ↓
2. CI runs: lint → typecheck → tests
       ↓
3. Claude Code reviews (automated)
   - Catches: type errors, security, conventions
       ↓
4. Human approves Claude's review
   - Posts as PR comment
       ↓
5. Developer addresses AI + human feedback
       ↓
6. Senior developer reviews high-level concerns
       ↓
7. Merge

Estimated time savings: - Manual review: 20-30 min per PR - Claude + human: 5 min + 10 min = 15 min per PR - ~40% time savings while improving thoroughness.

Related Articles: - Multi-Agent Coding Workflow Setup — scale reviews with multiple agents - How to Fix TypeScript Errors in AI-Generated Code — fix issues Claude finds - Claude Code Hooks Automation Guide — automate review triggers - How to Debug AI-Generated Code — systematic code review approach