Write a Code Review Checklist
Create a code review checklist for a [language] pull request. Include categories: functionality, performance, security, readability, testing coverage, and documentation. Add specific questions the reviewer should ask for each category.
Structured checklists prevent rubber-stamp reviews that miss critical issues.
If you're managing a development team or conducting code reviews, you know how easy it is for critical issues to slip through when reviewers are in a hurry. The Write a Code Review Checklist prompt for ChatGPT solves this problem by generating a structured, comprehensive checklist tailored to your specific programming language. This prompt works especially well for teams that want to standardize their review process, eliminate inconsistent feedback, and catch security vulnerabilities, performance problems, and readability issues before code reaches production. Whether you're reviewing Python, JavaScript, Java, or Go pull requests, this prompt adapts to your needs.
To use this prompt effectively, simply replace the [language] placeholder with your actual programming language. For example, if your team primarily works with JavaScript, you'd input "Create a code review checklist for a JavaScript pull request." ChatGPT will then generate a detailed checklist with six distinct categories: functionality, performance, security, readability, testing coverage, and documentation. Each category includes specific, actionable questions that reviewers should ask themselves during the review process.
When you run this prompt through ChatGPT, expect a well-organized checklist with questions like "Does the code handle edge cases properly?" under functionality, "Are there unnecessary loops or inefficient queries?" under performance, and "Does the code follow security best practices for user input validation?" under security. The output includes similar targeted questions for every category, giving your team a repeatable framework that takes the guesswork out of code reviews.
To get even better results, customize the prompt further by adding your team's specific standards. For instance, you could modify it to "Create a code review checklist for a JavaScript pull request following our company's React conventions and accessibility guidelines." This generates a checklist that aligns perfectly with your team's existing practices, making adoption faster and reviews more consistent across your entire codebase.