PR Improver skill

PR Improver

Improve the current branch by running /code-improver:improve — a dynamic workflow that loops a PR reviewer and a fixer subagent over the branch's changes until a review reports zero critical/major findings. The loop, its ledger, and its guards live in the workflow; this skill derives the scope from the branch diff and relays the outcome.

Starting the loop

The user provided: $ARGUMENTS (if empty, take base branch and preferences from the conversation).

1. Resolve the branch and its change surface

1. Repo root: git rev-parse --show-toplevel. Fail loudly outside a repository.
2. Base: the argument if given, else the repository's default branch (git symbolic-ref refs/remotes/origin/HEAD → its short name, falling back to main). Refuse to run when the current branch IS the base — there is no diff to improve.
3. Changed files: git diff --name-only <base>...HEAD. If empty, say so and stop.
4. Scope: the changed files' directories, widened — per-file globs are too tight (PR fixes legitimately add tests next to changed code). Map each changed file to its repo-relative directory glob <dir>/** (** at the repo root only if files at the root changed), then deduplicate and drop globs covered by another.

2. Resolve the loop script

Resolve improve.js from this SKILL.md's installed location to an absolute path and confirm the file exists. Its plugin directory is pluginRoot. Use this exact plugin copy; if the file is missing, stop.

3. Invoke the workflow

Run it with the Workflow tool, {scriptPath: "<the path from step 2>", args: {...}}:

{
  "target": "<repo root>",
  "reviewer": {
    "kind": "skill",
    "name": "pr-review-toolkit:review-pr",
    "notes": "Review the working tree's changes against <base> as a pull request: correctness, tests, error handling, and the review dimensions the skill prescribes."
  },
  "scope": ["<derived-dir-glob>/**"],
  "pluginRoot": "<the plugin directory from step 2>",
  "maxRounds": 5
}

• reviewer — the default above requires the pr-review-toolkit plugin. When the user names a different PR reviewer (skill or agent), use it, with kind set accordingly.
• maxRounds only if the user asked for a different cap.
• pluginRoot is the resolved plugin directory from step 2, for the metrics collector.
• finalize defaults are right for PRs: no version bump unless the branch sits inside a plugin, narration strip and docs pass on.
• decision only on continuation (below).

The loop's baseline snapshot is the tree at loop start — its scope guard protects the branch's uncommitted work; the PR's own commits are what the reviewer reviews.

The workflow runs in the background and needs no babysitting: it reviews, fixes, re-reviews, checks scope after every fix round, and can only complete on a clean review. It never commits; all changes stay in the working tree.

If the Workflow tool is unavailable or denied, stop and say so. Do not improvise the loop inline with direct edits — the ledger, scope guard, and escalation guarantees live in the workflow, and an inline imitation has none of them.

If the result is halted: "reviewer-unavailable", relay it and stop. The reviewer is not installed in this session; tell the user which plugin provides it (the default needs pr-review-toolkit) and re-run after installing. Do not review the branch yourself.

Do not end your turn while the loop is running. The Workflow tool returns a task id immediately; the result comes later. In an interactive session the completion notification re-invokes you — wait for it. In a non-interactive run (scripted, CI, eval) there is no later turn: stopping abandons the loop mid-round, so after launching, poll the task (TaskOutput with the returned task id, or sleep-and-recheck) until it completes, then relay the result. A session that answers "the loop is running, I'll report later" has lost the run.

Relaying the result

The workflow returns a structured result. Report it honestly — the distinctions matter:

• converged: true — the last action was a review with zero critical/major findings. Report rounds used, remaining minor findings (open_minor_count), and the artifact paths (ledger_path, metrics).
• capped: true — the fix budget ran out and the FINAL review still found blocking issues. Say plainly: capped, NOT converged, and list open_blocking. Do not present this as success.
• escalation — the loop detected it was not converging (recurring findings, non-decreasing counts, or a fix relocating a problem). Relay the escalation message and finding ids to the user: this needs a design decision, not more rounds.
• halted — a guard fired (scope violation, unregistered new files, a dead or unavailable reviewer, or a finalize pass whose own edits failed the check that follows it). Relay the paths in violations/new_untracked_files, the sites in finalize_regressions, and the notes.
• notes always travel with the result — surface them; they include loud warnings such as "a git repository was initialized".

Continuing after an escalation

The loop stops on escalation by design. When the user decides, start a fresh run with the same args plus:

{ "decision": "<the user's ruling, verbatim>" }

The new run reloads the on-disk ledger, so every finding, rejection, and verdict carries over — rounds restart, re-derivation does not.

To stop a running loop, stop the workflow task (TaskStop); the ledger on disk is current to the last round and a re-run resumes from it.

When NOT to use

• One-time review: run the PR-review skill directly; the loop's value is iteration
• A skill: use the skill-improver entry — it wires the right reviewer
• Unpushed exploratory work: review-and-fix loops harden a diff; while the shape is fluid, manual iteration gives more control