Codex Review

Run Codex's built-in code review as a closeout check. This is code review (

codex review

), not Guardian

auto_review

approval routing.

Use when:

user asks for Codex review / autoreview / second-model review
after non-trivial code edits, before final/commit/ship
reviewing a local branch or PR branch after fixes

Contract

Treat review output as advisory. Never blindly apply it.
Verify every finding by reading the real code path and adjacent files.
Read dependency docs/source/types when the finding depends on external behavior.
Reject unrealistic edge cases, speculative risks, broad rewrites, and fixes that over-complicate the codebase.
Prefer small fixes at the right ownership boundary; no refactor unless it clearly improves the bug class.
Keep going until Codex review returns no accepted/actionable findings.
If a review-triggered fix changes code, rerun focused tests and rerun Codex review.
Never switch or override the review model. If the review hits model capacity, retry the same command a few times with the same model. If it hits sandbox/permission limits, use the helper's
```
--full-access
```
option instead of changing models.
Stop as soon as the review command/helper exits 0 with no accepted/actionable findings. Do not run an extra direct
```
codex review
```
just to get a nicer "clean" line, a second opinion, or clearer closeout wording.
Treat the helper's successful exit plus absence of actionable findings as the clean review result, even if the underlying Codex CLI output is terse.
If rejecting a finding as intentional/not worth fixing, add a brief inline code comment only when it explains a real invariant or ownership decision that future reviewers should know.
Do not push just to review. Push only when the user requested push/ship/PR update.

Pick Target

Dirty local work:

bash

codex review --uncommitted

Use this only when the patch is actually unstaged/staged/untracked in the current checkout. For committed, pushed, or PR work, review the branch against its base instead; do not force

--mode local

--uncommitted

just because the helper docs mention dirty work first. A clean

--uncommitted

review only proves there is no local patch.

Branch/PR work:

bash

git fetch origin
codex review --base origin/main

Do not pass an inline prompt with

--base

; current CLI rejects

--base

[PROMPT]

even though help text is ambiguous. If custom instructions are needed, run the plain base review first, then do a local/manual follow-up pass.

If an open PR exists, use its actual base:

bash

base=$(gh pr view --json baseRefName --jq .baseRefName)
codex review --base "origin/$base"

Committed single change:

bash

codex review --commit HEAD

Parallel Closeout

Format first if formatting can change line locations. Then it is OK to run tests and review in parallel:

bash

scripts/codex-review --parallel-tests "<focused test command>"

Tradeoff: tests may force code changes that stale the review. If tests or review lead to code edits, rerun the affected tests and rerun review until no accepted/actionable findings remain. Once that rerun exits cleanly, stop; do not spend another long review cycle on redundant confirmation.

Context Efficiency

Codex review is usually noisy. Default to a subagent filter when subagents are available. Ask it to run the review and return only:

actionable findings it accepts
findings it rejects, with one-line reason
exact files/tests to rerun

Run inline only for tiny changes or when subagents are unavailable.

Helper

Bundled helper:

bash

~/.codex/skills/codex-review/scripts/codex-review --help

If installed from

agent-scripts

, path is:

bash

/Users/steipete/Projects/agent-scripts/skills/codex-review/scripts/codex-review --help

The helper:

chooses dirty
```
--uncommitted
```
first
otherwise uses current PR base if
```
gh pr view
```
works
otherwise uses
```
origin/main
```
for non-main branches
should be left in
```
--mode auto
```
or forced to
```
--mode branch
```
for committed/PR work; do not force
```
--mode local
```
after committing
writes only to stdout unless
```
--output
```
or
```
CODEX_REVIEW_OUTPUT
```
is set
supports
```
--dry-run
```
and
```
--parallel-tests
```
supports
```
--full-access
```
for nested review runs that need localhost bind/listen tests

prints

codex-review clean: no accepted/actionable findings reported

when the selected review command exits 0

Final Report

Include:

review command used
tests/proof run
findings accepted/rejected, briefly why
the clean review result from the final helper/review run, or why a remaining finding was consciously rejected

Do not run another Codex review solely to improve the final report wording. If the final helper run exited 0 and produced no accepted/actionable findings, report that exact run as clean.

codex-review

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Codex Review

Contract

Pick Target

Parallel Closeout

Context Efficiency

Helper

Final Report