DEV Community

Deep PR Review
Deep PR Review

Posted on

I built a Claude Code skill that actually catches bugs in code review

Claude Code reviews PRs if you ask, but the output is shallow — one pass, surface-level findings, generic test advice. It misses the systematic coverage a disciplined reviewer provides.

I built Deep PR Review — a Claude Code skill (a single markdown file) that forces 5 sequential review passes:

The 5 Passes

1. Correctness

Logic errors, edge cases, race conditions, type safety issues.

2. Security (OWASP-aligned)

Injection flaws, auth/authz gaps, data exposure, XSS.

3. Performance

N+1 queries, missing indexes, unbounded operations, full table scans.

4. Maintainability

Complexity, dead code, naming consistency, pattern violations.

5. Test Coverage

Specific missing test scenarios — not generic "add tests" advice.

What You Get

Every finding includes:

  • Severity (critical / high / medium / low)
  • Exact file + line number
  • What is wrong
  • How to fix it

Output is a structured verdict: APPROVE, REQUEST_CHANGES, or NEEDS_DISCUSSION.

Real Example

A 45-line Express endpoint that passed a standard "review this" prompt had 7 actionable findings when run through Deep PR Review:

  • SQL injection via string interpolation in the query
  • No auth middleware (any user could search)
  • LIKE %query% causing full table scans
  • No input validation on the limit parameter
  • Missing rate limiting
  • No error handling for database failures
  • Zero test coverage

Why It Works

The insight is simple: Claude already knows how to check for all of this. Without structure, it optimizes for a fast, helpful response. With the skill protocol, it is forced to do 5 complete passes and cannot skip the uncomfortable findings.

Install

cp deep-pr-review.md .claude/skills/
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

That is it. One file. Works with any language.

Get It

$19 on Polar: Deep PR Review

MIT-licensed. You are paying for the structured protocol, the ready-to-use package, and the examples.

Happy to answer questions or discuss the approach in the comments.

Top comments (0)