Smarter Week

How to automate it

How to automate “write and review pull requests”

Here are 2 ways to spend less time on this, best first. Each comes with steps you can follow today.

45 min
typically, every day
35%
of the time can be automated
Easy
to set up

Fix 1 of 2

AutomationBest fix

Add an AI reviewer to every pull request

AI review bots post a summary and line comments within minutes of a PR opening, so human reviewers spend their time on design and logic instead of typos and obvious bugs.

Typically saves about 25% of the time30 min to set up
  1. 1Pick one: GitHub Copilot code review, CodeRabbit, Cursor Bugbot, Graphite Diamond, or the Claude Code GitHub Action.
  2. 2Install it on one repo first and set it to comment, not block.
  3. 3Add a short review guide (your conventions, what to ignore) to its config.
  4. 4After two weeks, check how many comments were useful and tune or roll out wider.

Tools: GitHub Copilot code review · CodeRabbit · Cursor Bugbot · Graphite · Claude Code GitHub Action

Fix 2 of 2

Process fix

Keep pull requests small and set a review turnaround

Big PRs sit in review for days and get skimmed. Small PRs with an agreed turnaround time get reviewed faster and better.

Typically saves about 20% of the time30 min to set up
  1. 1Agree a soft limit, for example 400 changed lines, and use stacked PRs for bigger work (Graphite or GitHub stacked PRs).
  2. 2Write the "why" and how to test it in the description (AI can draft it from the diff).
  3. 3Agree a review turnaround, for example same day, and set review reminders in Slack or Teams.
  4. 4Use CODEOWNERS so the right reviewer is assigned automatically.

Tools: GitHub or GitLab · Graphite · CODEOWNERS · Slack or Teams PR reminders

Quick wins

Have you tried…

Does an AI reviewer comment on your pull requests before a human looks at them?
Tools like Copilot code review, CodeRabbit or Cursor Bugbot read each PR and leave a summary and line comments within minutes, catching obvious issues early.

Who does this task

Roles in our library that list this as one of their common tasks. Each guide covers the rest of that role’s week.

Software engineer

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Other common tasks for Software engineers