ReviewForge

AI-powered code reviewer with personality — GitHub Action & CLI.

ReviewForge reviews GitHub pull requests using AI (OpenAI, Anthropic, or Gemini), posting line-level comments with severity levels and review verdicts. It supports reviewer personas that add personality to reviews, multilingual output, and learning reports for developer growth.

Features

Multi-provider AI: OpenAI, Anthropic, and Gemini support
Line-level comments: Precise feedback on specific code lines with severity (critical/warning/suggestion)
Review verdicts: Approve, request changes, or comment with confidence scores
Incremental reviews: Only review new changes since the last bot review (default: on)
Reviewer personas: Built-in personalities (Bob, Robert, Maya, Eli) or custom personas
Multilingual reviews: Write review comments in any language via --language
Learning reports: Save JSON reports with techniques spotted, what went well, and areas to improve
File filtering: Exclude files by glob patterns
Context files: Include project files (README, package.json) for better AI context
Dry-run mode: Test locally without posting to GitHub
High-performance Composite Action: Fast execution, downloads pre-built binaries
Standalone CLI: Run reviews from your terminal

Quick Start (GitHub Action)

name: Code Review

on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize]

permissions:
  contents: read
  pull-requests: write

jobs:
  review:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      # Main for latest version or specify version tag based on our releases
      - uses: AxeForging/reviewforge@main
        with:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          AI_PROVIDER: openai
          AI_MODEL: gpt-4
          AI_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.OPENAI_API_KEY }}

Reusable Workflow

For teams that want a shared, consistent setup across multiple repos:

# .github/workflows/reviewforge.yml (in a shared workflow repo)
name: ReviewForge

on:
  workflow_call:
    inputs:
      ai_provider:
        type: string
        default: 'openai'
      ai_model:
        type: string
        default: 'gpt-4'
      persona:
        type: string
        default: ''
      language:
        type: string
        default: ''
      max_comments:
        type: string
        default: '25'
      exclude_patterns:
        type: string
        default: '**/*.lock,**/*.json,**/*.md'
      show_token_usage:
        type: boolean
        default: false
    secrets:
      ai_api_key:
        required: true
      github_token:
        required: true

permissions:
  contents: read
  pull-requests: write

jobs:
  review:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      # Main for latest version or specify version tag based on our releases
      - uses: AxeForging/reviewforge@main
        with:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.github_token }}
          AI_PROVIDER: ${{ inputs.ai_provider }}
          AI_MODEL: ${{ inputs.ai_model }}
          AI_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.ai_api_key }}
          PERSONA: ${{ inputs.persona }}
          LANGUAGE: ${{ inputs.language }}
          MAX_COMMENTS: ${{ inputs.max_comments }}
          EXCLUDE_PATTERNS: ${{ inputs.exclude_patterns }}
          SHOW_TOKEN_USAGE: ${{ inputs.show_token_usage }}

Then in each repo, just call it:

# .github/workflows/code-review.yml
name: Code Review
on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize]

jobs:
  review:
    uses: your-org/.github/.github/workflows/reviewforge.yml@main
    with:
      ai_provider: gemini
      ai_model: gemini-2.5-flash
      persona: eli
      language: pt-br
      show_token_usage: true
    secrets:
      ai_api_key: ${{ secrets.GEMINI_API_KEY }}
      github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

Quick Start (CLI)

# Install
go install github.com/AxeForging/reviewforge@latest

# Review a PR (dry-run)
reviewforge review \
  --provider openai \
  --model gpt-4 \
  --api-key $OPENAI_API_KEY \
  --github-token $GITHUB_TOKEN \
  --repo owner/repo \
  --pr 42 \
  --dry-run

# With a persona + language + learning report
reviewforge review \
  --provider gemini \
  --model gemini-2.5-flash \
  --api-key $GEMINI_API_KEY \
  --github-token $GITHUB_TOKEN \
  --repo owner/repo \
  --pr 42 \
  --persona eli \
  --language pt-br \
  --save-report review-report.json

Personas

ReviewForge includes built-in reviewer personas that modify the review style:

Persona	Name	Style
`bob`	Bob Lil Swagger	Friendly, encouraging. Celebrates good code, suggests improvements warmly, teaches while reviewing.
`robert`	Robert Dover Clow	Nerdy tech expert. Names every pattern spotted, references CS concepts and SOLID principles.
`maya`	Maya Simplifica	Everyday analogies teacher. Explains concepts using cooking, building, gardening and other real-world parallels.
`eli`	Eli Passo	Clear and patient mentor. Simple explanations, avoids jargon, celebrates good decisions, suggests learning paths.
(empty)	Default	Standard expert code reviewer. Professional, thorough, no personality overlay.

Custom Personas

# Inline JSON
reviewforge review --custom-persona '{"name":"strict","prompt":"Be extremely strict..."}' ...

# From file
reviewforge review --custom-persona-file ./my-persona.json ...

GitHub Action with Persona

# Main for latest version or specify version tag based on our releases
- uses: AxeForging/reviewforge@main
  with:
    GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
    AI_PROVIDER: anthropic
    AI_MODEL: claude-sonnet-4-20250514
    AI_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }}
    PERSONA: maya
    LANGUAGE: pt-br

Language Support

Use locale codes or language names for --language / LANGUAGE:

Code	Language
`en-us`	English (US)
`en-gb`	English (UK)
`pt-br`	Brazilian Portuguese
`pt-pt`	European Portuguese
`es`	Spanish
`es-mx`	Mexican Spanish
`fr`	French
`fr-ca`	Canadian French
`de`	German
`it`	Italian
`ja`	Japanese
`ko`	Korean
`zh-cn`	Simplified Chinese
`zh-tw`	Traditional Chinese

You can also use full language names directly: --language "Brazilian Portuguese".

Learning Reports

Use --save-report <path> to save a JSON report with learning insights:

reviewforge review \
  --provider gemini \
  --model gemini-2.5-flash \
  --api-key $GEMINI_API_KEY \
  --github-token $GITHUB_TOKEN \
  --repo owner/repo \
  --pr 42 \
  --persona eli \
  --save-report report.json

The report includes:

{
  "repo": "owner/repo",
  "pr_number": 42,
  "pr_title": "Add retry logic",
  "provider": "gemini",
  "model": "gemini-2.5-flash",
  "persona": "eli",
  "review": {
    "summary": "...",
    "comments": [...],
    "suggestedAction": "comment",
    "confidence": 88,
    "learning": {
      "techniques_spotted": ["Error wrapping", "Retry with backoff", "Builder pattern"],
      "what_went_well": ["Clean separation of concerns", "Good error messages"],
      "areas_to_improve": ["Add context.Context for cancellation", "Consider exponential backoff"],
      "key_takeaways": ["Always close response bodies with defer", "Retry only idempotent operations"]
    }
  },
  "files_reviewed": ["helpers/http.go"]
}

Great for tracking developer growth, onboarding, and team learning.

Token Usage Tracking

ReviewForge can optionally display the exact token usage breakdown (prompt tokens, completion tokens, and total tokens) from the AI provider in the review summary.

To enable this, pass the --show-token-usage CLI flag or set SHOW_TOKEN_USAGE: true in your GitHub Action configuration. This feature is disabled by default to save space in PR summaries.

Review Rules

ReviewForge ships with default review rules (concise) that focus the AI on what matters:

Default rules (always active):

Only comment on bugs, security vulnerabilities, performance issues, and breaking changes
Ignore variable naming, code style, minor optimizations, and linting issues
Prepend a warning emoji for critical issues only
If unsure, don't comment

Built-in Presets

Preset	Focus
`concise`	(default) Only bugs, security, performance, and breaking changes. Ignores style, naming, minor optimizations.
`thorough`	Bugs, security, performance, error handling, resource leaks, concurrency, API design. Ignores pure style.
`none`	Disables all review rules. The AI uses its own judgment with no constraints.

# GitHub Action — switch to thorough preset
# Main for latest version or specify version tag based on our releases
- uses: AxeForging/reviewforge@main
  with:
    REVIEW_RULES: thorough
    # ...

# GitHub Action — disable rules entirely
# Main for latest version or specify version tag based on our releases
- uses: AxeForging/reviewforge@main
  with:
    REVIEW_RULES: none
    # ...

# CLI — switch preset
reviewforge review --review-rules thorough ...

# CLI — disable rules
reviewforge review --review-rules none ...

Custom Rules

Override the default rules with your own (inline text or from a file):

# GitHub Action — inline custom rules
# Main for latest version or specify version tag based on our releases
- uses: AxeForging/reviewforge@main
  with:
    CUSTOM_RULES: |
      ONLY comment on security vulnerabilities and breaking changes.
      DO NOT comment on style, naming, or minor issues.
      Prepend "⚠️" for critical issues only.
    # ...

# CLI — custom rules from file
reviewforge review --custom-rules-file ./my-rules.txt ...

# CLI — inline custom rules
reviewforge review --custom-rules "Only comment on bugs and security issues" ...

Priority: --custom-rules-file > --custom-rules > --review-rules preset > default (concise). Use --review-rules none to disable all rules. Custom rules can be combined with personas and language.

Configuration

GitHub Action Inputs

Input	Required	Default	Description
`GITHUB_TOKEN`	Yes	-	GitHub token for API access
`AI_PROVIDER`	Yes	`gemini`	AI provider: `openai`, `anthropic`, `gemini`
`AI_MODEL`	Yes	`gemini-2.5-flash`	Model name
`AI_API_KEY`	Yes	-	API key for the provider
`AI_TEMPERATURE`	No	`0`	Temperature (0-1)
`APPROVE_REVIEWS`	No	`true`	Allow approve/request changes verdicts
`MAX_COMMENTS`	No	`5`	Max line comments (0 = unlimited)
`INCREMENTAL`	No	`false`	Only review new changes
`EXCLUDE_PATTERNS`	No	`*/.lock,*/.json,*/.md`	Glob patterns to exclude
`CONTEXT_FILES`	No	`package.json,README.md`	Files for AI context
`PROJECT_CONTEXT`	No	-	Additional project context string
`PERSONA`	No	-	Built-in persona: `bob`, `robert`, `maya`, `eli`
`CUSTOM_PERSONA`	No	-	Custom persona JSON
`CUSTOM_PERSONA_FILE`	No	-	Path to persona JSON file
`LANGUAGE`	No	-	Review language (e.g. `pt-br`, `es`, `French`)
`STRICT_CHANGES`	No	`false`	Only request changes for syntax errors or degradation
`REVIEW_RULES`	No	`concise`	Comment rules preset: `concise`, `thorough`, `none`
`CUSTOM_RULES`	No	-	Custom review rules text (what to comment on / ignore)
`CUSTOM_RULES_FILE`	No	-	Path to a file with custom review rules
`SHOW_TOKEN_USAGE`	No	`false`	Append AI token usage metrics to the review summary

CLI Flags

All inputs are available as CLI flags with --kebab-case naming. Run reviewforge review --help for the full list.

Additional CLI-only flags:

--save-report <path> — Save JSON learning report to file
--dry-run — Print review JSON without posting to GitHub

Commands

reviewforge review [flags]    # Review a PR
reviewforge personas          # List available personas
reviewforge version           # Show version info
reviewforge --help            # Show help

Development

# Build
make build-local

# Test
make test

# Cross-platform build
make build

# Install locally
make install

License

MIT

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 37 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
actions		actions
doc		doc
domain		domain
helpers		helpers
integration		integration
services		services
.gitignore		.gitignore
.goreleaser.yml		.goreleaser.yml
.structlint.yaml		.structlint.yaml
LICENSE		LICENSE
Makefile		Makefile
README.md		README.md
action.yml		action.yml
flags.go		flags.go
go.mod		go.mod
go.sum		go.sum
lefthook.yml		lefthook.yml
main.go		main.go

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ReviewForge

Features

Quick Start (GitHub Action)

Reusable Workflow

Quick Start (CLI)

Personas

Custom Personas

GitHub Action with Persona

Language Support

Learning Reports

Review Rules

Built-in Presets

Custom Rules

Configuration

GitHub Action Inputs

CLI Flags

Commands

Development

License

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ReviewForge

Features

Quick Start (GitHub Action)

Reusable Workflow

Quick Start (CLI)

Personas

Custom Personas

GitHub Action with Persona

Language Support

Learning Reports

Review Rules

Built-in Presets

Custom Rules

Configuration

GitHub Action Inputs

CLI Flags

Commands

Development

License

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