How to set up code review guidelines for a team

Why code review guidelines matter

Establishing team-based code review guidelines ensures consistency, enhances code quality, and improves collaboration. Clear guidelines minimize misunderstandings, reduce friction in reviews, and provide a shared understanding of what good code looks like. By adopting tools like the Graphite PR inbox, teams can further accelerate and organize the review process.

Steps to set up team code review guidelines

1. Define team goals for code reviews

Establish what your team hopes to achieve through code reviews. Examples include:

• Improving code quality and maintainability.
• Reducing bugs and technical debt.
• Ensuring adherence to coding standards.
• Enhancing team collaboration and knowledge sharing.

2. Create review standards

Document what reviewers should look for:

• Code functionality: Ensure the code performs as expected without introducing bugs.
• Readability: Verify that code is clear and well-documented.
• Consistency: Check adherence to team coding standards, such as naming conventions and formatting.
• Scalability: Evaluate if the code can handle future growth or increased load.
• Test coverage: Confirm that adequate unit and integration tests are included.

For example, create a checklist to guide reviews:

- [ ] Does the code solve the problem it was intended to?
- [ ] Are variable names descriptive?
- [ ] Does the code conform to our coding style guide?
- [ ] Are edge cases tested?

3. Define reviewer roles and responsibilities

Clearly assign roles to team members:

• Primary reviewers: Focus on functionality and design.
• Secondary reviewers: Ensure compliance with standards and readability.
• Approvers: Have the final say on whether code is merged.

4. Set up the Graphite PR inbox to manage reviews

The Graphite PR inbox organizes pull requests (PRs) into actionable sections, such as "Needs your review," "Waiting for review," and "Merging and recently merged". Encourage your team to:

• Add default repositories: Select repositories to track for efficient review management.
• Customize sections: Tailor views to prioritize PRs that require immediate attention.
• Share configurations: Use shareable filters to align team review processes.

5. Establish a review workflow

Define how PRs should move through the review process:

1. Authoring PRs: Ensure code is complete, tests are written, and the PR description is clear.
2. Assigning reviewers: Use tools like Graphite's shared filters to automatically distribute reviews among team members.
3. Reviewing and commenting: Encourage constructive feedback and use blocking comments only for critical issues.

For example, a reviewer could leave comments like:

• "Consider renaming this function to improve clarity." (Non-blocking)
• "This logic seems to break for edge case X. Please address." (Blocking)

6. Automate and enforce guidelines

Use tools to enforce rules automatically:

• Code linters and formatters: Apply consistent styling before reviews.
• Pull request templates: Provide a standard checklist for authors.
• GitHub branch protection rules: Require at least one approval before merging.
• Graphite Automations: Integrate automated checks for faster, more consistent reviews.

7. Track and improve the process

Use metrics to evaluate and refine your guidelines:

• Review turnaround time: Monitor how quickly PRs are reviewed.
• Bug rates: Assess if bugs are decreasing post-review.
• PR approval rates: Check if guidelines improve approval consistency.

With Graphite Insights, you can track these metrics and identify bottlenecks to address.

Examples of team-based code review rules

1. All pull requests must:

   • Have at least one approval before merging.
   • Be reviewed for readability and scalability.
   • Pass automated tests and linting checks.

2. Reviewers must:

   • Leave at least one actionable comment.
   • Respond to review requests within 24 hours.

3. Authors must:

   • Tag relevant teammates in the PR description.
   • Address all blocking comments before requesting re-review.

How the Graphite PR inbox supports code review

The Graphite PR inbox acts as a centralized hub for managing reviews. It ensures no PRs are overlooked and enables reviewers to focus on high-priority tasks. Customizable sections like "Needs your review" and "Returned to you" keep the process transparent and organized.

For example:

• A reviewer sees a PR labeled "Needs your review" and clicks to access the PR directly.
• The shared filter config dynamically assigns the correct teammates, reducing manual effort.
• Fuzzy search capabilities in the inbox make it easy to locate PRs based on keywords like "fix" or "optimization."

By integrating the Graphite PR inbox into your code review workflow, your team can adhere to the guidelines consistently while reducing the overhead of managing reviews.