Reviewing pull requests

Learn how to review pull requests with cubic

cubic makes reviewing pull requests fast, intuitive, and keyboard-driven, helping your team ship quality code faster.

Layout

When you open a pull request, you’ll first see the PR overview, which includes the description, AI review statuses, reviewers, and other key information. Below this overview, you’ll find two main tabs:

• Discussion tab: View and participate in discussions, comments, and general feedback.
• Changes tab: See code diffs, navigate file changes, and leave inline comments.

Within the Changes tab, you’ll see two main areas:

• Intelligently ordered files (left): Easily navigate between files and versions. Click on a file to view its changes.
• Actual diffs (right): View the detailed code differences and inline comments.

Navigating diffs

Quickly move through diffs to speed up your review:

• Toggle tabs: C (changes tab) / D (discussion tab).
• Scroll: J (down) / K (up).
• Navigate comments: Option + ↑ (previous comment) / Option + ↓ (next comment).
• Toggle diff view: Cmd + Shift + U (unified) / Cmd + Shift + S (split).

File versions

A version snapshot is created on every push to the PR branch. Switching versions lets you see exactly what changed since you last viewed the PR, rather than the full diff against main.

• Pick a version: In the file‑tree header, open the Version dropdown and choose the commit snapshot you want to compare.
• Review incrementally: Select Previous version → Latest to review only the new changes pushed after your last visit.
• Debug regressions: Jump back to the first version to understand how the PR evolved over time.
• Spot outdated comments: Any comment left on a line that changed in a newer version is automatically flagged with an Outdated tag, keeping discussions focused on the latest code.

Tip: Versions respect all the same navigation shortcuts, so you can keep your hands on the keyboard while reviewing incremental updates.

Leaving comments

Comments help guide authors to refine code before merging. cubic supports two types of comments:

• Inline comments: Click on a specific line number to leave a line‑level comment.
• General file comments: Leave overall comments about the file at the bottom of the diff view.

cubic supports Markdown formatting for rich and readable feedback. Include code snippets clearly by using triple backticks:

```javascript
const add = (a, b) => a + b;
```

You can also click the GIF button—or press Cmd + Shift + G—to browse our GIF library and drop an animated image straight into your comment or review. This is perfect for celebratory approvals or quick visual cues.

Suggestions in one click

If you prefix the fenced block with the word suggestion, cubic transforms it into an apply‑in‑one‑click patch:

```suggestion
const add = (a, b) => a + b;
```

Reviewers can then click Apply suggestion and commit the change instantly.

AI‑generated suggestions

Not sure of the exact code? Click the Generate suggestion button next to the comment field (or hit Cmd + Enter after typing your comment). cubic sends the surrounding context to the AI and inserts a ready‑to‑apply patch inside your comment draft—edit as needed, then hit Submit.

Vercel Preview Deployments

For repositories integrated with Vercel, cubic automatically detects preview deployment URLs from PR comments and makes them easily accessible:

• Open from PR actions: Click the PR actions dropdown and select Open preview deployment.
• Use keyboard shortcut: Press Option + P to quickly open the preview deployment in a new tab.

This feature helps you quickly test and review frontend changes in a live environment without having to search through PR comments for the Vercel deployment link.

Submitting your review

cubic lets you submit your review clearly and quickly. At the top right of the PR page, use the buttons:

• Approve: Mark the PR as ready to merge. Shortcut: Shift + A.
• Request changes: Indicate that further work is needed. Shortcut: Shift + R.
• Comment: Leave neutral feedback or ask questions. Shortcut: Shift + C.

Your comments automatically save as drafts. When ready, click Submit review to publish.

Keyboard shortcuts

Speed up your workflow with keyboard shortcuts:

Shortcut	Action
C / D	Changes / Discussion tab
J / K	Scroll down / up
Cmd + Shift + U / Cmd + Shift + S	Unified / Split diff view
Option + ↑ / ↓	Previous / next comment
Option + P	Open preview deployment
Shift + A	Approve PR
Shift + R	Request changes
Shift + C	Add general comment
Cmd + Shift + G	Open GIF library