PR Reviews made simpleCreated at: 30 December, 2025

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Modern engineering teams often work remotely across multiple time zones and asynchronously. In such environments pair programming is not always practical and Pull Request reviews can easily become a bottleneck.

A clear and consistent PR review process helps teams get faster feedback reduce unnecessary back and forth and ship high quality code with confidence. Below are practical responsibilities and best practices that make PR reviews smoother for everyone involved.

As a Pull Request Author

If a developer is an artist, the Pull Request is their artwork

While implementing a feature or task

  • Fully understand the acceptance criteria from the JIRA ticket or the GitHub issue before writing code
  • Discuss the proposed architecture with a Tech Lead, Senior Engineer or Architect when the change impacts system design
  • Ensure the solution follows modern engineering practices and aligns with SOLID principles
  • Write meaningful test cases that validate the implementation against the acceptance criteria

When creating the Pull Request

  • Always link the PR to a JIRA ticket or GitHub issue that clearly describes the task and acceptance criteria
  • Use a clear and meaningful PR title that includes the team or project prefix, ticket number, and short description
    Good example: VC-10355 Fix app crash when clicking start button in login page
    VC refers to the Voice Control team then ticket number
    Bad examples: Issue resolved, Fix, Bug fixed
    A clear PR title helps reviewers quickly understand what was changed, improves searchability in GitHub history and makes release note creation easier and more accurate
  • Add code comments where the logic may not be immediately obvious to reviewers
  • Write a clear and detailed PR description explaining what changed and why
  • Keep the PR small and focused so it can be reviewed quickly

There is no strict rule for PR size, but as a general guideline, avoid changing more than 30 files and keep total additions and deletions under 1000 lines of code.

If the change is likely to grow large, split it into multiple PRs and clearly describe the review order. For example, a mobile feature can be divided into:

  • PR 1: UI implementation with accessibility support and tests
  • PR 2: API or database integration with tests
  • PR 3: Feature configuration such as feature flags, analytics, and localization

Important note: never separate implementation and tests into different PRs. Tests should always be part of the same change.

After opening the Pull Request

  • Review your own PR before requesting reviews to catch simple issues early
  • Treat feedback positively, be patient, and stay open to learning from teammates
  • If requested changes are unclear, reach out directly to the reviewer via Slack, Zoom or MS Teams
  • If direct communication is not possible due to time zone differences, respond politely in the PR and ask for clarification or examples

As a Pull Request Reviewer

  • Be respectful and constructive with the goal of improving the codebase
  • Read the PR description and linked JIRA ticket or GitHub issue to understand the intent of the change
  • When possible, check out the branch and run the code to catch issues not visible in diffs such as folder structure problems, unused imports, or UI and UX issues
  • Review the PR in a single pass whenever possible to reduce time to merge and avoid frustration
  • Avoid requesting changes for simple questions in most cases, but block the merge if unanswered questions affect confidence
  • Be specific in feedback and include concrete suggestions or pseudo code instead of vague comments
  • Follow up promptly on PRs where you requested changes to avoid re review delays
  • Reserve dedicated time each day for PR reviews, as they are a core part of engineering work
  • Even if a PR is already approved by others, review it carefully since you may still spot bugs or improvements

As a Team

  • Treat code reviews as equally important as writing code and plan time for them in daily work
  • Add Code Review as an explicit step in the JIRA workflow
  • Use PR reviews as a collaboration tool for teams across different backgrounds and time zones
  • Treat every piece of feedback as an opportunity to learn, share knowledge, and improve together
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