Read Anthropic’s case study about Graphite Reviewer

How to prioritize code reviews in large projects

Sara Verdi
Sara Verdi
Graphite software engineer
Try Graphite

Large projects often involve numerous pull requests (PRs) competing for attention, making code review prioritization essential. Without a clear strategy, reviews can become bottlenecks, slowing the development process and increasing the risk of bugs. This guide explains how to prioritize code reviews effectively in large projects, leveraging techniques like triage and tools such as Graphite's PR Inbox.

Effective prioritization guarantees:

  • Timely merges: Critical PRs are merged without delays.
  • Reduced context switching: Developers focus on high-impact reviews.
  • Improved code quality: Reviews align with project priorities and standards.

Establish criteria to categorize PRs by their importance and urgency:

  • Critical fixes: Bug fixes or hotfixes that unblock releases.
  • High-impact features: Changes that deliver significant value or meet deadlines.
  • Dependency blockers: PRs that other work depends on.

For example, a bug fix for a production issue should take precedence over a refactor PR.

Triage involves systematically evaluating PRs to decide their order of review:

  • Review the description for context and impact.
  • Assess the lines of code (LOC) to gauge effort.
  • Check dependencies, ensuring blockers are prioritized.

Graphite's PR Inbox acts as a central hub for managing and prioritizing pull requests. Features that support prioritization include:

  • Custom sections: Group PRs into categories like "needs urgent review" or "dependency blockers" by creating tailored sections.
  • Search and filters: Use fuzzy search and filters to identify high-priority PRs based on title, author, or tags.
  • Inbox sections: Pre-configured categories such as "Needs your review" streamline attention to pending reviews.

For example, you can create a custom section for PRs tagged with "critical" and reorder it to appear at the top of your inbox.

In large projects, involve team leads or architects to help prioritize. Teams can create shared filters in Graphite for consistent prioritization across the team.

Steps to share filters:

  1. Configure a section in the PR inbox with the desired filters.
  2. Generate a shareable link and distribute it among teammates.
  3. Ensure teammates integrate the section into their inbox for aligned priorities.

Enable notifications for critical PRs to ensure they are addressed promptly. Graphite's Notifications feature can integrate with Slack or email to alert teams about priority reviews.

Consider a scenario where a team is managing PRs for a major product launch:

  • A bug fix PR tagged as "hotfix" appears in the "Needs your review" section.
  • A feature PR tagged as "high-priority" is identified via a custom section.
  • Lower-priority refactor PRs are left in the "Waiting for review" section.

Using Graphite, the team configures filters to show "hotfix" PRs at the top of their inbox, ensuring immediate attention to critical issues.

  • Limit PR size: Encourage developers to create smaller, focused PRs.
  • Automate checks: Use automated tests and linters to pre-validate code, reducing manual effort.
  • Monitor metrics: Track review times and feedback loops using tools like Graphite Insights.

By following these strategies and leveraging tools like Graphite's PR Inbox, teams can efficiently manage code reviews in large projects while maintaining high standards of quality and delivery speed.

Git inspired
Graphite's CLI and VS Code extension make working with Git effortless.
Learn more

Built for the world's fastest engineering teams, now available for everyone