review-bot

AI-powered code review bot for Gitea pull requests. Fetches diff + context, sends to an LLM, and posts a structured review (APPROVE / REQUEST_CHANGES) back to the PR.

Features

• Multi-provider: OpenAI-compatible, Anthropic Messages API, and SAP AI Core
• Context-aware: Fetches full file content, conventions, language patterns, CI status
• Smart budget: Automatically trims context to fit model token limits
• Idempotent reviews: Posts new review, then cleans up stale ones (one review per bot)
• Custom prompts: Load additional instructions from a file (e.g. security-focused review)
• Zero dependencies: Go stdlib only

Quick Start: Composite Action

The easiest way to use review-bot in your Gitea CI:

# .gitea/workflows/review.yml
name: Review
on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize]

jobs:
  review:
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: https://gitea.weiker.me/rodin/review-bot/.gitea/actions/review@v0.1.0
        with:
          reviewer-token: ${{ secrets.REVIEW_TOKEN }}
          reviewer-name: code-review
          llm-base-url: ${{ secrets.LLM_BASE_URL }}
          llm-api-key: ${{ secrets.LLM_API_KEY }}
          llm-model: gpt-4.1

That's it. Every PR gets an automated review.

Examples

Single reviewer with conventions

jobs:
  review:
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: https://gitea.weiker.me/rodin/review-bot/.gitea/actions/review@v0.1.0
        with:
          reviewer-token: ${{ secrets.REVIEW_TOKEN }}
          reviewer-name: reviewer
          llm-base-url: ${{ secrets.LLM_BASE_URL }}
          llm-api-key: ${{ secrets.LLM_API_KEY }}
          llm-model: gpt-4.1
          conventions-file: CONVENTIONS.md
          timeout: '600'

Two reviewers with different models (diversity of opinion)

jobs:
  review:
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    strategy:
      matrix:
        include:
          - name: gpt
            model: gpt-4.1
            token_secret: GPT_REVIEW_TOKEN
          - name: claude
            model: claude-sonnet-4-20250514
            token_secret: CLAUDE_REVIEW_TOKEN
            provider: anthropic
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: https://gitea.weiker.me/rodin/review-bot/.gitea/actions/review@v0.1.0
        with:
          reviewer-token: ${{ secrets[matrix.token_secret] }}
          reviewer-name: ${{ matrix.name }}
          llm-base-url: ${{ secrets.LLM_BASE_URL }}
          llm-api-key: ${{ secrets.LLM_API_KEY }}
          llm-model: ${{ matrix.model }}
          llm-provider: ${{ matrix.provider }}
          conventions-file: CONVENTIONS.md

Each reviewer posts independently and only cleans up its own stale reviews.

Multiple review types from a single bot account

Use the same Gitea token but different reviewer-name values to run specialized reviews without needing multiple bot accounts:

jobs:
  review:
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    strategy:
      matrix:
        include:
          - name: code-quality
            model: gpt-4.1
          - name: security
            model: gpt-4.1
            system_prompt_file: .review/SECURITY.md
          - name: performance
            model: gpt-4.1
            system_prompt_file: .review/PERFORMANCE.md
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: https://gitea.weiker.me/rodin/review-bot/.gitea/actions/review@v0.1.0
        with:
          reviewer-token: ${{ secrets.REVIEW_TOKEN }}
          reviewer-name: ${{ matrix.name }}
          llm-base-url: ${{ secrets.LLM_BASE_URL }}
          llm-api-key: ${{ secrets.LLM_API_KEY }}
          llm-model: ${{ matrix.model }}
          system-prompt-file: ${{ matrix.system_prompt_file }}

The sentinel <!-- review-bot:security --> ensures the security review only replaces previous security reviews, never the code-quality or performance reviews.

With language patterns from another repo

- uses: https://gitea.weiker.me/rodin/review-bot/.gitea/actions/review@v0.1.0
  with:
    reviewer-token: ${{ secrets.REVIEW_TOKEN }}
    reviewer-name: reviewer
    llm-base-url: ${{ secrets.LLM_BASE_URL }}
    llm-api-key: ${{ secrets.LLM_API_KEY }}
    llm-model: gpt-4.1
    conventions-file: CLAUDE.md
    patterns-repo: rodin/go-patterns,rodin/kubernetes-conventions
    patterns-files: "README.md,patterns/"

Pattern repos are fetched at review time. The reviewer uses them as criteria for idiomatic code.

Dry run (test without posting)

- uses: https://gitea.weiker.me/rodin/review-bot/.gitea/actions/review@v0.1.0
  with:
    reviewer-token: ${{ secrets.REVIEW_TOKEN }}
    reviewer-name: test
    llm-base-url: ${{ secrets.LLM_BASE_URL }}
    llm-api-key: ${{ secrets.LLM_API_KEY }}
    llm-model: gpt-4.1
    dry-run: 'true'

Prints the review to CI logs without posting to the PR. Useful for testing prompt changes.

Using Anthropic directly

- uses: https://gitea.weiker.me/rodin/review-bot/.gitea/actions/review@v0.1.0
  with:
    reviewer-token: ${{ secrets.REVIEW_TOKEN }}
    reviewer-name: claude
    llm-base-url: https://api.anthropic.com
    llm-api-key: ${{ secrets.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }}
    llm-model: claude-sonnet-4-20250514
    llm-provider: anthropic

Using SAP AI Core

For SAP environments with AI Core deployments, use the aicore provider for native authentication:

- uses: https://gitea.weiker.me/rodin/review-bot/.gitea/actions/review@v0.1.0
  with:
    reviewer-token: ${{ secrets.REVIEW_TOKEN }}
    reviewer-name: aicore-review
    llm-model: anthropic--claude-4.6-sonnet  # or gpt-5
    llm-provider: aicore
    aicore-client-id: ${{ secrets.AICORE_CLIENT_ID }}
    aicore-client-secret: ${{ secrets.AICORE_CLIENT_SECRET }}
    aicore-auth-url: ${{ secrets.AICORE_AUTH_URL }}
    aicore-api-url: ${{ secrets.AICORE_API_URL }}
    aicore-resource-group: default

AI Core handles OAuth token management and deployment discovery automatically. Model names must match the deployment name in AI Core (e.g. anthropic--claude-4.6-sonnet, gpt-5).

Action Inputs

Input	Required	Default	Description
reviewer-token	Yes	—	Gitea token for posting reviews (needs write:issue, write:repository)
reviewer-name	No	""	Logical identity for this reviewer. Used as sentinel for idempotent cleanup. Set this when running multiple review bots on the same PR.
llm-base-url	No*	""	LLM API base URL (required unless using aicore provider)
llm-api-key	No*	""	LLM API key (required unless using aicore provider)
llm-model	Yes	—	Model name
llm-provider	No	openai	API provider: openai, anthropic, or aicore
aicore-client-id	No**	""	SAP AI Core client ID
aicore-client-secret	No**	""	SAP AI Core client secret
aicore-auth-url	No**	""	SAP AI Core authentication URL
aicore-api-url	No**	""	SAP AI Core API URL
aicore-resource-group	No	default	SAP AI Core resource group
conventions-file	No	""	Path to coding conventions file in the repo
patterns-repo	No	""	Comma-separated repos with language patterns (e.g. rodin/go-patterns)
patterns-files	No	README.md	Files/directories to fetch from pattern repos
system-prompt-file	No	""	Local file with additional system prompt instructions
persona	No	""	Built-in persona name (security, architect, docs)
persona-file	No	""	Path to persona JSON file with custom review focus
temperature	No	0	LLM temperature (0 = server default)
timeout	No	300	LLM request timeout in seconds
dry-run	No	false	Print review to stdout instead of posting
update-existing	No	true	Delete previous review from same bot before posting. Accepts: true/1/yes or false/0/no
version	No	latest	review-bot version to install

*Required for openai and anthropic providers, not for aicore. **Required only for aicore provider.

Runner Requirements

The composite action requires these tools on the runner:

Tool	Used For
python3	JSON parsing during version detection
sha256sum	Checksum verification of downloaded binary
curl	Downloading releases and querying the API

All three are pre-installed on ubuntu-* runners (e.g. ubuntu-24.04). If you use a custom runner image, ensure these are available.

How Review Cleanup Works

When reviewer-name is set, the bot embeds a hidden sentinel in each review:

<!-- review-bot:code-review -->

On the next run, it finds and deletes any review containing its own sentinel (except the one it just posted). This means:

• One review per bot per PR — no clutter from repeated pushes
• Multiple bots coexist — each only cleans up its own reviews
• Same token, different roles — a single bot account can post "code-review" and "security" reviews without conflict
• No extra permissions — identity comes from the sentinel, not the API

If reviewer-name is empty, cleanup is skipped (reviews stack like before).

Shared Token: Worst-Wins Behavior

When multiple review types share the same Gitea bot account (e.g. code-quality and security), Gitea determines the user's approval state from their most recent review. This creates a race condition: if security finds issues (REQUEST_CHANGES) but code-quality finishes last (APPROVE), the PR appears approved.

review-bot handles this automatically with worst-wins reconciliation: before posting, each job checks whether any sibling review from the same user already has REQUEST_CHANGES. If so and this job would post APPROVE, it posts as REQUEST_CHANGES instead — maintaining the block. This ensures the PR stays blocked until all checks pass, regardless of execution order.

If you need independent approval/block per review type, use separate Gitea bot accounts with their own tokens.

Custom Review Prompts

Use system-prompt-file to specialize the review focus. The file contents are appended to the base system prompt as "Additional Review Instructions."

Example SECURITY_REVIEW.md:

You are performing a security-focused code review.

Focus areas:
- Injection attacks (SQL, command, path traversal, template)
- Authentication/Authorization (missing checks, privilege escalation)
- Secrets exposure (hardcoded credentials, tokens in logs)
- Input validation (unsanitized input, unsafe deserialization)
- Race conditions (TOCTOU, unsynchronized shared state)

Rules:
- Only report findings with security implications
- Ignore style, naming, and general code quality
- MAJOR = exploitable vulnerability, MINOR = hardening opportunity, NIT = theoretical risk
- If no security-relevant changes exist, APPROVE with empty findings

CLI Usage

review-bot \
  --gitea-url https://gitea.example.com \
  --repo owner/name \
  --pr 42 \
  --reviewer-token "$GITEA_TOKEN" \
  --reviewer-name "code-review" \
  --llm-base-url https://api.openai.com/v1 \
  --llm-api-key "$OPENAI_API_KEY" \
  --llm-model gpt-4.1 \
  --conventions-file CONVENTIONS.md

Environment Variables

All flags have environment variable equivalents:

Flag	Env Var
--gitea-url	GITEA_URL
--repo	GITEA_REPO
--pr	PR_NUMBER
--reviewer-token	REVIEWER_TOKEN
--reviewer-name	REVIEWER_NAME
--llm-base-url	LLM_BASE_URL
--llm-api-key	LLM_API_KEY
--llm-model	LLM_MODEL
--llm-provider	LLM_PROVIDER
--conventions-file	CONVENTIONS_FILE
--patterns-repo	PATTERNS_REPO
--patterns-files	PATTERNS_FILES
--system-prompt-file	SYSTEM_PROMPT_FILE
--llm-temperature	LLM_TEMPERATURE
--llm-timeout	LLM_TIMEOUT
--update-existing	UPDATE_EXISTING

Setup

1. Create a Gitea bot account (e.g. review-bot)
2. Generate a token with scopes: write:issue, write:repository
3. Add secrets to your Gitea repo (Settings → Actions → Secrets):
   • REVIEW_TOKEN — the bot's Gitea token
   • LLM_BASE_URL — your LLM endpoint
   • LLM_API_KEY — your LLM key
4. Add the workflow (see Quick Start above)

Token Scopes Required

Scope	Purpose
write:issue	Post and delete reviews
write:repository	Read PR diffs, file content, commit statuses

No read:user scope needed — the bot identifies itself from the review response.

Development

go test ./...        # Unit tests
go vet ./...         # Static analysis
go build -o review-bot ./cmd/review-bot

# Integration tests (requires env vars set)
go test -tags=integration ./...

Architecture

cmd/review-bot/     CLI entrypoint + orchestration
gitea/              Gitea API client (reviews, PRs, files)
llm/                Multi-provider LLM client (OpenAI + Anthropic)
review/             Prompt building, response parsing, formatting
budget/             Token estimation + context trimming

License

MIT

Review Personas

Personas provide role-based review specialization. Instead of generic code review, each persona focuses on a specific domain (security, architecture, documentation) with tailored prompts and severity calibration.

Built-in Personas

Persona	Focus
security	Vulnerabilities, auth bypass, secrets exposure, injection attacks
architect	Design patterns, code organization, API contracts, testability
docs	Documentation quality, API clarity, error messages

Using Built-in Personas

- uses: rodin/review-bot/.gitea/actions/review@v1
  with:
    reviewer-name: security
    persona: security
    llm-model: claude-opus-4-20250514  # Security benefits from strong reasoning
    ...

Multiple Personas in Parallel

jobs:
  review:
    strategy:
      matrix:
        include:
          - name: security
            persona: security
          - name: architect
            persona: architect
    steps:
      - uses: rodin/review-bot/.gitea/actions/review@v1
        with:
          reviewer-name: ${{ matrix.name }}
          persona: ${{ matrix.persona }}
          ...

Each persona posts independently with its own sentinel, so reviews don't interfere.

Custom Personas

Create a JSON file with your domain-specific review focus:

// .review/personas/trading.json
{
  "name": "trading",
  "display_name": "Trading Domain Expert",
  "identity": "You are a trading systems expert reviewing code for correctness.\n\nYour expertise:\n- Order lifecycle and state machines\n- Fill handling and partial fills\n- Position tracking and P&L calculations\n- Event sourcing invariants",
  "focus": [
    "Order state machine correctness",
    "Fill handling edge cases (partial, overfill)",
    "Position and P&L calculation accuracy",
    "Event replay determinism",
    "Decimal precision for money"
  ],
  "ignore": [
    "Code style",
    "General performance",
    "Documentation formatting"
  ],
  "severity": {
    "major": "Bugs that cause incorrect positions, fills, or money calculations",
    "minor": "Edge cases that could cause issues under unusual conditions",
    "nit": "Clarity improvements for domain logic"
  }
}

Use it in CI:

- uses: rodin/review-bot/.gitea/actions/review@v1
  with:
    reviewer-name: trading
    persona-file: .review/personas/trading.json
    ...

Persona vs system-prompt-file

Feature	persona / persona-file	system-prompt-file
Replaces base prompt	Yes	No (appends)
Structured format	Yes (JSON)	No (freeform)
Focus/ignore lists	Yes	Manual
Severity calibration	Yes	Manual
Header display name	Yes	No
Built-in options	Yes	No

Use personas for domain-specialized reviews. Use system-prompt-file for minor tweaks to the generic review.