local-review

Local code review UI that turns GitHub PRs, GitLab MRs, and local diffs into actionable review files for AI agents.

Import review comments from a PR or MR, review local changes from scratch, or browse an agent-generated review — all in a browser-based diff viewer with syntax highlighting and inline comments. Export the result as a review.xml that any AI coding agent can pick up and apply to your working tree.

Workflow:

1. Import comments from a GitHub PR, GitLab MR, or AI agent review
2. Review the diff with syntax highlighting, inline comments, and progress tracking
3. Export to review.xml
4. Apply — let an AI agent implement the review comments as code changes

Agent Skill

local-review ships an agent skill that automates the import and apply steps. Compatible with any AI coding agent that supports skill invocation (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf).

Actions

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | /local-review import <URL> | Fetch comments from a GitHub PR or GitLab MR and write review.xml | | /local-review apply | Read review.xml and apply suggestions / instructions to the working tree | | /local-review open | Launch the review UI in the browser | | /local-review help | Show all available options |

Setup

Copy the skill into your project:

# From a clone of the local-review repo
cp -r .claude/skills/local-review <your-project>/.claude/skills/local-review

Your agent will automatically detect the skill on the next session.

Requirements

• An AI coding agent that supports skills (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf)
• gh CLI (GitHub) or glab CLI (GitLab), or a GITHUB_TOKEN / GITLAB_TOKEN environment variable

Importing PR/MR comments

# Import all comments from a GitHub PR
/local-review import https://github.com/owner/repo/pull/42

# Import all comments from a GitLab MR
/local-review import https://gitlab.com/group/project/-/merge_requests/7

# Import only the last comment (useful for AI-generated review summaries)
/local-review import https://github.com/owner/repo/pull/42 --last-comment

# Write to a custom path
/local-review import https://github.com/owner/repo/pull/42 --output /tmp/pr-42.xml

What gets imported:

• Inline diff comments (attached to specific file + line)
• General PR/MR discussion comments (the agent resolves file references from prose using git ls-files)
• Comments with no resolvable file reference are stored under the synthetic path _discussion

Applying code suggestions

# Apply all suggestions from review.xml
/local-review apply

# Apply suggestions for a single file only
/local-review apply --file src/cli/server.ts

# Apply a specific comment by id
/local-review apply --id gh-102

# Read from a custom path
/local-review apply --input /tmp/pr-42.xml

The skill handles three types of comment bodies:

• GitHub suggestion fences (```suggestion): replaces the referenced line(s) directly
• GitLab suggestion fences (```suggestion:-N+M): replaces the specified line range
• Prose instructions (e.g. "rename foo to bar"): the agent interprets and applies the change

Changes are applied to the working tree only — no automatic git add or git commit.

XML schema reference

The review.xml format is documented by the XSD schema bundled with the skill at .claude/skills/local-review/assets/review.xsd.

Installation

npm install -g @loureirodev/local-review

Also available from GitHub Packages — configure .npmrc first:

@loureirodev:registry=https://npm.pkg.github.com

Requirements

• Bun runtime (the CLI runs on Bun)
• A git repository

Standalone Usage

The review UI can also be used directly from the CLI, without the agent skill:

# Review unstaged changes
local-review

# Review staged changes
local-review --mode staged

# Review all changes in current branch vs base (main/master/develop)
local-review --mode branch

# Load a previously saved review
local-review --existing

CLI Options

Options:
  --port <port>        Port to listen on (default: random available port)
  --no-open            Don't open the browser automatically
  --output-file <file> Output file for review XML (default: ./review.xml)
  --mode <mode>        Diff mode: unstaged, staged, branch (default: unstaged)
  --existing           Load existing review.xml on startup
  -h, --help           Show this help message
  -v, --version        Show version number

Features

• Three diff modes: Unstaged, staged, or full branch diffs
• Syntax highlighting: Powered by Shiki with 300+ language grammars
• Split & unified views: Toggle between side-by-side and unified diff
• Line-level & file-level comments: Add comments to specific lines or entire files
• Progress tracking: Mark files as viewed and track your review progress
• File filtering: Quickly find files with search
• XML export: Save your review for AI agents or later reference
• GitHub/GitLab integration: Import PR/MR comments via agent skill
• Cross-platform: Linux, macOS, and WSL2

Future

• Performance optimizations for large diffs
• Markdown support in comments
• Keyboard shortcuts for navigation
• Light/dark theme toggle

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup, architecture details, and the release process.

License

MIT