Step 1 / 5 · 8 min
Create a diff whose intent is easy to hold in working memory.One branch, one purpose
- Write user behaviour before touching branch mechanics.
- Separate unrelated cleanup and refactors.
Ship · Core skill lab
Reviewable Change Packet
Make one product change easy to inspect, reproduce, reverse, and release without oral history.
- Decision
- Can a reviewer understand the user impact and safely approve or reject this change?
- Timebox
- 45 minutes around one real pull request
- Output
- Reviewable change packet
Bring to the bench
- A single-purpose product change
- A repository with a runnable baseline
- A reviewer or self-review window
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Field tools
Use the instrument, not a blank page.
Copy these into your interview, agent, review, or working document. They are specific to this repetition.
template
Product-first PR description
Lead a reviewer through behaviour and risk, not a file inventory.
## User change Before / after / who is affected ## Scope Included / deliberately excluded ## Risk map Behaviour → file/system → failure to inspect ## Verification Command or scenario → result ## Review request Where judgment is most valuable ## Rollback + observation Reversal path / production signal / time window
checklist
Review sequence
Use the same order when self-reviewing or reviewing someone else.
1. Read the stated user change without opening files. 2. Inspect the diff shape and flag unrelated scope. 3. Trace the riskiest behaviour end to end. 4. Inspect failure, access, data, and rollback. 5. Reproduce verification. 6. State approve, changes required, or question with evidence.
Calibrate judgment
Compare the evidence, not the polish.
Review attention is designed
A small search-state change touches URL and focus behaviour.
The PR excludes ranking and refactors, asks the reviewer to inspect store side effects and focus, records exact keyboard and test evidence, and can be reverted without a data migration.
Why it works: Intent, boundary, risk, evidence, and reversal are all available before merge.
File list as explanation
Updated SearchResults, filter store, CSS, tests, and some cleanup. All checks green. Please review.
Why it fails: The reviewer cannot see user impact, intended scope, high-risk behaviour, verification detail, or rollback.
Review → revise → repeat
The artifact is the beginning of the rep.
Check only standards your current artifact actually meets. Then record one consequential revision before exporting it.