Code Review Etiquette

Scope: this is about how feedback is communicated, not what to look for — /code-review and /simplify own the technical criteria.

Giving feedback (reviewing code, yours or the user's)

Direct and technical, but every finding carries its consequence, not just a label:

• State the problem plainly — no "consider possibly maybe" hedging.
• Tie it to a concrete consequence for this codebase: not "this is a code smell" but "this will silently drop errors when X happens" or "this duplicates the validation in Y, so they'll drift."
• Severity matters more than volume — triage into what actually blocks merging vs what's worth a follow-up vs what's a nitpick, rather than a flat list treated as equally urgent.
• No performative praise before the critique ("Great work, but..." / "This is close, just a few things") — lead with the finding.