# How to Review a Pull Request with Claude Code

> Run /code-review (alias /review) on a diff, or check out a PR with gh. Ask for correctness over style, then have Claude apply only the fixes you accept.

- Canonical: https://guides-ai.pages.dev/guides/claude-code-review-a-pr/
- Plate 04.03 · Topic: Workflows (https://guides-ai.pages.dev/topics/workflow/)
- Published: 02 Sept 2026 · Updated: 06 Sept 2026 · 3 min read
- Source site: guides-ai — https://guides-ai.pages.dev/

Claude Code reads a diff the way a reviewer does, and unlike a reviewer it can apply the fixes
straight after. There's a built-in command for it, so you don't have to invent the prompt.

## 1. Run the built-in review

```text
/code-review
```

What it does: reviews the current changes. `/review` is an alias for the same command, so
either works. Start here before writing your own prompt — it already knows to look at the diff.

## 2. Or point it at a specific PR

```text
Use gh to check out PR #142, then review it for bugs, missing error handling,
and test coverage. This PR adds rate limiting to the login route.
```

What it does: has Claude fetch the branch with the `gh` CLI and review it against the PR's
actual intent. That last sentence matters more than it looks — without the goal, it judges the
code against a guess.

## 3. Ask for correctness, not style

Vague review prompts get vague results. Name what you care about and what to ignore:

```text
Review this diff for: (1) correctness bugs, (2) missing edge cases, (3) anything touching
auth or payments that deserves extra scrutiny. Skip formatting and naming comments.
```

What it does: aims the review at the failures a linter can't catch, and suppresses the
low-value nitpicks that bury them.

For a large PR, ask for a file-by-file pass, or hand the reading to a
[subagent](/guides/claude-code-subagents/) so forty files of diff fill the
[subagent's](/glossary/#subagent) context window rather than your session's.

## 4. Apply only what you accept

```text
Apply the fixes for issues 1 and 3 only. Keep the changes minimal and don't touch anything else.
```

What it does: turns findings into a patch, scoped to what you agreed with. Numbering the ones
you want is what keeps it from "improving" the rest of the file.

## Verify it worked

Read the diff Claude produces, then run the tests. Treat it as a colleague's suggested patch,
not an auto-merge — it won't push or merge on its own, and you stay the one who lands the
change. If the review found nothing on a PR you know is risky, your prompt was too broad.

To run the same review automatically on every PR, see
[Claude Code with GitHub Actions](/guides/claude-code-github-actions/). For the habits that
keep multi-file changes reviewable in the first place, see
[working on a whole codebase safely](/guides/claude-code-whole-codebase-safely/).

Source: [Claude Code slash commands reference](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/commands).