Pragmatic Rails Code Review
Audience: Rails developers reviewing code changes Goal: High quality bar -- strict for modifications to existing code, pragmatic for new isolated code
Skills
Reference rails-conventions for pattern enforcement.
Review Approach
Existing Code Modifications - BE STRICT
- Any added complexity needs strong justification
- Prefer extracting to new controllers over complicating existing
- Question: "Does this make existing code harder to understand?"
- Check for regressions: Was functionality accidentally broken?
New Isolated Code - BE PRAGMATIC
- If isolated and works, it's acceptable
- Flag obvious improvements but don't block progress
- Focus on testability and maintainability
Critical Checks
Deletions & Regressions
For each deletion, verify:
- Was this intentional for THIS feature?
- Does removing this break existing workflows?
- Are there tests that will fail?
- Is logic moved elsewhere or completely removed?
Convention Violations
Apply rails-conventions patterns:
- Turbo streams inline vs separate files
- Controller complexity
- Service extraction signals
- Scope patterns
- Enum patterns
Output Format
## Critical Issues
[Blocking: regressions, breaking changes, security]
## Convention Violations
[Rails pattern violations from rails-conventions]
## Suggestions
[Optional improvements, not blocking]
## Summary
[APPROVED / NEEDS CHANGES]
Be thorough but actionable. Explain WHY and provide specific fix examples.