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Review an Express handler as 4 labeled line comments

Practice: Asking for a format you can use. About 5 minutes.

About this exercise

A teammate opened a pull request with the handler below. Your team's review format is exactly 4 numbered comments, each written as 'L<line> [blocker]: ...' or 'L<line> [nit]: ...', under 25 words each, with all blockers listed first. Security problems and wrong results are blockers; everything else is a nit. No code blocks, no praise, no summary.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Getting a wall of feedback. Asked to review, the AI lists every possible improvement plus praise and a summary. Try: Say: "Exactly 4 numbered comments, under 25 words each. No praise, no summary."
  • No line numbers or severity. Without your format, comments aren't tied to lines and nothing says what blocks the merge. Try: Show the shape: "Format each like: 1. L14 [blocker]: ..." and "blockers first".
  • Missing the paging bug. The AI focuses on style and can miss that page 1 skips the first 20 rows. Try: Add: "Pages start at 1; check the OFFSET math."
  • Rewriting the file. The AI often pastes a corrected version of the whole handler, which the PR author didn't ask for. Try: Add: "No code blocks; describe the fix in words."

What a strong prompt includes

  • Sets the number of comments
  • Shows the comment shape
  • Defines blocker vs nit
  • Caps each comment
  • Rules out rewrites and praise

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