Open Code Review — Delegation Mode

A skill for performing AI code review where OCR provides deterministic engineering (file filtering, rule resolution) and the host agent performs the actual review using its own intelligence and tools.

Prerequisites

which ocr || echo "NOT INSTALLED"

If ocr is not installed:

npm install -g @alibaba-group/open-code-review

No LLM configuration is needed for delegation mode.

Workflow

Step 1: Preview — Determine What to Review

ocr delegate preview --format json [--from <ref> --to <ref>] [--commit <hash>] [--exclude <patterns>]

This outputs:

• mode (workspace / range / commit)
• from / to / commit / merge_base — ref metadata for constructing git commands
• Reviewable file list — paths, status, insertions/deletions
• Excluded files — with exclusion reason

Common invocations:

Step 2: Get Rules for Files

ocr delegate rule --format json <path1> <path2> ...

Pass the reviewable file paths from Step 1. Output is grouped by rule content — files sharing the same rule appear under one group, avoiding repetition.

Step 3: Get Diffs

Use git directly based on the mode/ref info from Step 1:

Range mode (merge_base provided in preview output):

git diff <merge_base>..<to> -- <path>

Commit mode:

git show <commit> -- <path>

Workspace mode:

# Tracked files
git diff HEAD -- <path>
# New untracked files — read directly (entire file is new code)
cat <path>

Step 4: Review Each File

Create a checklist containing every reviewable_files entry. For each reviewable file:

Use (path, status) as the checklist identity. Workspace mode can report the same path twice when a staged deletion is followed by an untracked recreation.

1. Get its diff (Step 3)
2. Consult its Rule Group (from Step 2) for the review checklist
3. Conduct a thorough review, using appropriate context tools as needed
4. Mark the file reviewed, or skipped with a concrete reason

For large changes, review in bounded batches grouped by shared rules and diff size. Do not stop after finding the first high-severity issue.

Step 5: Format Output

Each comment must follow this structure:

Step 6: Classify and Report

Before reporting, verify that every previewed file is accounted for. Include total_files, reviewed_files, skipped_files, and coverage_rate in the summary. A skipped file must include its reason.

Group findings by severity:

• Critical/High: Bugs, security issues, data loss risks — always report
• Medium: Performance concerns, error handling gaps, maintainability issues — report with context
• Low: Style nits, minor suggestions — report only if clearly valuable

Discard likely false positives silently.

Step 7: Fix (Optional)

If the user requested "review and fix":

• Apply High/Critical fixes directly
• Describe Medium fixes that require manual intervention
• Skip Low-priority items unless trivial

Sub-commands Reference

Shared Flags

Gotchas

• No LLM needed on OCR side — delegation mode never calls an LLM. All intelligence comes from the host agent.
• Rules are grouped — Files sharing the same rule are grouped together in the output. You can pass any number of paths per call; for large changes, fetch rules per-batch as you review.
• Working directory matters — ocr delegate operates on the Git repo at the current directory. Use --repo /path to override.
• Untracked files in workspace mode — preview includes untracked files. For these, read the file directly instead of using git diff.
• Background context — pass --background to preview when you have requirement context; it appears in the output for your reference during review.
• Coverage is mandatory — every reviewable_files entry must end as reviewed or explicitly skipped; do not silently omit files.