Table of contents

• Motivation & benefits
• Core architecture: how AI code review works
• Integrating into GitHub: webhook, GitHub Actions, bots
• [Graphite + Graphite Agent: what they bring to the table](#graphite--Graphite Agent-what-they-bring-to-the-table)
• Best practices & caveats
• FAQ

Motivation & benefits

Pull requests (PRs) are often a bottleneck in the development cycle. Even small delays in assigning reviewers, triaging comments, or waiting on reviewer bandwidth add up. An AI code reviewer can help by:

• Surfacing low-hanging feedback (style, naming, anti-patterns) before a human looks
• Catching obvious bugs or security issues early
• Reducing back-and-forth cycles by preempting common reviewer comments
• Improving consistency (same rule set applied uniformly)
• Freeing human reviewers to focus on high-level design, domain logic, and architecture

Used well, this can cut PR turnaround time significantly — especially for routine checks and small PRs.

Core architecture: how AI code review works

To integrate AI code review, you need a mechanism to invoke the AI tool on PR events and publish feedback back to GitHub. The typical flow is:

1. A pull request (or commit push) triggers a webhook or action (GitHub’s pull_request event)
2. The AI review system clones (or fetches) the diff/patch, along with relevant context (files changed, lines, project metadata)
3. Static analysis or linters run first (e.g., ESLint, flake8)
4. The diff + context is passed to an AI model (LLMs or fine-tuned models), which analyzes intent, patterns, possible issues, naming, etc.
5. The AI tool generates review comments, suggestions, potentially “fix proposals”
6. Via GitHub’s Review APIs (or as comments/status checks), the tool posts feedback to the PR
7. Optionally, the review tool can gate merging (fail status, require review) or annotate with severity/badness
8. Human reviewers jump into that feedback, accept or override, and finish the review

This architecture ensures AI acts as a first-pass reviewer, catching what’s mechanical so humans don’t repeat tedious checks.

Discover the seamless integration of Graphite with your GitHub workflow for a more efficient review process.

Integrating into GitHub: Webhook, GitHub Actions, bots

There are multiple patterns to hook an AI reviewer into your GitHub workflow:

In many AI review tool setups, the vendor provides a GitHub app that you install into your organization or repo; behind the scenes, it handles the webhook, computing, and comment feedback. Graphite with Graphite Agent is such a tool: it offers code review that layers atop GitHub, with AI-powered reviews that integrate seamlessly into your existing workflow.

With GitHub Actions, you might have a YAML like:

name: ai-review
on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, edited, synchronize]
jobs:
  run-ai-review:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: invoke ai reviewer
        run: |
          # call your AI service, passing diff or using CLI
          ai-reviewer analyze --pr ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
      - name: post comments
        run: |
          ai-reviewer post-comments

The AI tool (or its client) uses the GitHub API to post line comments, status checks, or request changes.

You should also think about:

• Permissions: the AI bot must have write or comment permissions
• Rate limits / concurrency
• Secrets (API keys) stored securely
• Incremental runs (only analyze changed files, not whole repo)

Graphite Agent setup: Rather than building custom integrations, you can use Graphite Agent, which handles all of the above automatically. Simply install the Graphite GitHub app, enable Graphite Agent for your repositories, and AI reviews begin appearing on your PRs immediately—no YAML configuration or custom webhooks required.

Graphite + Graphite Agent: what they bring to the table

Graphite is a developer platform built on top of GitHub that enhances the code review and pull request experience. It introduces features like:

• A stacked changes / stacked PR model (breaking a big change into a series of dependent PRs) to make each PR smaller, more digestible, and reviewable independently
• A PR inbox / review queue abstraction so reviewers can see prioritized PRs in one place
• Merge protections, reviewer assignment logic, automations, and code owner integrations
• Real-time syncing with GitHub so Graphite acts as a “layer” over your GitHub repos

On top of Graphite’s review features, Graphite offers an AI code reviewer product named Graphite Agent. Graphite Agent can:

• Detect bugs, style inconsistencies, security vulnerabilities, performance issues, documentation gaps, naming issues, etc.
• Propose actionable fixes or suggestions
• Integrate seamlessly into Graphite’s review pipeline and PR inbox, surfacing AI feedback inline with human reviews
• Operate with high speed, reducing feedback loops massively (Graphite claims going from ~1 hour to ~90 seconds)
• Maintain developer trust: Graphite reports 96% positive feedback on AI comments and ~67% of suggested changes are implemented

Because Graphite Agent is tightly integrated with Graphite’s review model, you get:

• AI feedback aligned with the stacked PR approach (so each small PR can get AI review)
• A unified experience (Graphite UI + AI comments)
• Support for gating merges or flagging issues before human review
• Less friction in adoption (you don’t have to bolt on an AI tool separately)

Setting up Graphite Agent's AI code reviews with GitHub is straightforward. Get started here.

Best practices and caveats

• Start small / pilot: roll out AI review to a subset of repos or teams first. Tools like Graphite Agent make this easy by allowing you to enable AI review on a per-repository basis.
• Tweak the false-positive budget: avoid overly aggressive AI feedback. Graphite Agent maintains a 96% positive feedback rate by focusing on high-confidence, actionable suggestions.
• Human-in-the-loop always: humans must review nontrivial logic, architecture, and domain decisions. AI tools like Graphite Agent complement human reviewers, not replace them.
• Monitor metrics: track PR latency, comment counts, reviewer time, merge failures.
• Establish guidelines: define which AI suggestions are "must-fix" vs "optional".
• Contextual awareness: AI models sometimes miss domain or business logic context.
• Security & privacy: ensure the AI reviewer does not leak sensitive code or data. Graphite Agent does not train on your private codebase.
• Review large diffs carefully: AI sometimes struggles with very large or monolithic diffs.

FAQ

How do I prevent AI from spamming trivial comments?

Start with conservative thresholds (only flag issues with high confidence), disable lower-impact suggestions initially, and gather team feedback. Iterate configuration so AI does not become a distraction.

What languages and frameworks do tools like Graphite Agent support?

Support depends on the AI tool, but Graphite Agent targets general-purpose use across common backend/frontend stacks. Check documentation for details.

Does Graphite store my code or train on it?

Graphite asserts that Graphite Agent does not train on your private codebase, preserving code confidentiality.

What kind of speed improvement is realistic?

With Graphite Agent, teams see a reduction in AI feedback loop time from ~1 hour to ~90 seconds (~40× faster). Results may vary based on repo size, diff size, and latency, but the speed improvements are typically dramatic compared to waiting for human reviewers to provide initial feedback.