Chapter 12: Review

Blocking and non-blocking

A blocking comment must be dealt with before the change can merge. A non-blocking one is advice. Saying which one you mean is half of what makes a review useful.

An AI reviewer can produce a dozen comments in seconds, written in the same serious tone. If all of them block, the queue stops; if none do, the real one gets lost. A good rule for agents: only what can be demonstrated blocks, and the rest goes in the notes.

Say it to your agent

“Label every finding blocking or non-blocking. Blocking means you ran it and can show me the failure. Everything else is non-blocking, however serious it sounds. Put the blocking ones first.”

The workshop

Name a word, or describe what you mean in everyday language.