pythia-review

Reviewing PL/SQL

Announce at start: "Using pythia-review — checking the database's signals first."

Phase: Learn → Ask — the database's own signals first, findings back to the developer

Review in two passes: what the database knows is wrong, then what the checklist says is likely wrong. Machine signals first — they are free and exact.

Pass 1 — the machine's verdict

1. pythia lint <file> (a proposed file) — the built-in standards and the LEAD's rules from conventions.json, anchored to line numbers. Report its errors as findings; do not re-derive them by hand.
2. pythia errors NAME — compile errors and warnings with line:column. An object that does not compile needs no style review yet.
3. pythia src NAME — read the source with the compiler's line numbers, so findings can be anchored (line 47: ...).
4. pythia impact NAME --depth 2 — how exposed is this object; a finding in something with 40 dependents outranks the same finding in a leaf.
5. For a proposed file (not yet applied): the compile verdict arrives at apply time — say explicitly that compilation is still unverified.

Pass 2 — the antipattern checklist

Work through reference/antipatterns.md — and the project's own .pythia/conventions.md when it exists, which outranks the generic list. The seven entries, each with wrong → right → why: row-by-row cursor loops, string-concatenated dynamic SQL, WHEN OTHERS THEN NULL, COMMIT inside loops, hand-copied types instead of %TYPE/%ROWTYPE, large OUT parameters without NOCOPY, and convention drift against the codebase (pythia similar shows the house style).

Reporting findings

• Anchor every finding: line N: <what> — <why it bites> — <the fix>.
• Severity order: breaks correctness → silently loses data or errors → performance at scale → style drift.
• Verify the claim before writing it: read the actual lines with src; never report from memory of the diff alone.
• A clean review says what was checked, not just "looks good": compiles clean, no new INVALID, checklist passed.

When NOT to use this skill

• Reviewing whether a change is safe to apply — that is pythia-impact plus pythia-apply's preview; this skill judges the code itself.
• Reviewing non-PL/SQL application code — outside this skill's scope.