# A Practical Review Checklist — AI Coding Assistants: Use Them Well and Review Them Hard

Source: https://www.geekswithgeeks.com/en/ai-coding-assistants/rev-checklist

> Review an AI-generated diff systematically using git and a short checklist.

## Read the diff, not the chat

What matters is the **diff**, not the assistant's confident summary. Read every changed line, run the tests, and ask yourself: Does it solve the actual request? Does it do anything I did not ask for (extra files, config changes, deleted tests)? Could I explain every line to a teammate? If not, simplify it or learn it before you commit. Use `git add -p` to stage only the hunks you accept.

## The checklist

Keep it short enough that you will actually use it every time.

```text
[ ] Solves the request I actually made (and nothing extra)
[ ] Every new function / method / package exists (checked docs)
[ ] Tests pass; at least one fails if I break the code
[ ] Edge cases: empty, one, many, invalid input
[ ] No secrets, no string-built SQL / shell commands, no disabled checks
[ ] No unrelated edits (config, deleted tests, formatting churn)
[ ] I can explain each line to a teammate
```

**Quiz:** What should you review: the assistant's summary or the diff?

- [x] The diff itself
- [ ] Only the summary
- [ ] Neither
- [ ] The commit time

*Answer:* The diff itself. The summary can omit or misdescribe changes; the diff is the truth about what will ship.