Classifying Review Findings
Severity Categories
| Emoji | Category | Criteria |
|---|---|---|
| ❌ | CRITICAL | Will break, crash, expose data, or violate requirements |
| ⚠️ | IMPORTANT | Missing error handling, unhandled edge cases, could cause bugs |
| ♻️ | DEBT | Duplicates patterns, violates conventions, needs rework within 6 months |
| 🎨 | SUGGESTED | Measurably improves security, reduces complexity by 3+, eliminates bug classes |
| ❓ | QUESTION | Requires human knowledge - unclear requirements, intent, or system conflicts |
ALWAYS use hybrid emoji + text format for each finding (if multiple severities apply, use the most severe: ❌ > ⚠️ > ♻️ > 🎨 > ❓):
Before Classifying
Verify ALL three:
- Can you trace the execution path showing incorrect behavior?
- Is this handled elsewhere (error boundaries, middleware, validators)?
- Are you certain about framework behavior and language semantics?
If any answer is "no" or "unsure" → DO NOT classify as a finding.
Not Valid Findings (Reject)
- Praise ("great implementation")
- Vague suggestions ("could be simpler")
- Style preferences without enforced standard
- Naming nitpicks unless actively misleading
- PR metadata issues (title, description, test plan) - handled by summary skill, not classified here
- Renovate/Dependabot minor/patch updates to existing dependencies with passing CI — these are routine Stage 5 monitoring, not reviewable findings
Suggested Improvements (🎨) Criteria
Only suggest improvements that provide measurable value:
- Security gain - Eliminates entire vulnerability class (SQL injection, XSS, etc.)
- Complexity reduction - Reduces cyclomatic complexity by 3+, eliminates nesting level
- Bug prevention - Makes entire category of bugs impossible (type safety, null safety)
- Performance gain - Reduces O(n²) to O(n), eliminates N+1 queries (provide evidence)
Provide concrete metrics:
- ❌ "This could be simpler"
- ✅ "This has cyclomatic complexity of 12; extracting validation logic would reduce to 6"
If you can't measure the improvement, don't suggest it.