Code review Instructions

CodeAnt AI allows you to provide custom instructions to tailor the code review process for your specific project needs. These instructions help CodeAnt understand your coding standards, ignore false positives, and focus on what matters most for your codebase.

Setup

1. Create Configuration Folder

Create a .codeant folder in your repository root (same level as your .git folder):

your-repo/
├── .git/
├── .codeant/
│   └── instructions.json
├── src/
└── package.json

2. Create Instructions File

Inside the .codeant folder, create an instructions.json file with your custom review instructions.

Configuration Format

The instructions.json file uses the following structure:

{
    "instructions": [
        {
            "id": "unique-instruction-id",
            "description": "Clear description of what this instruction does",
            "files": ["glob-pattern-1", "glob-pattern-2"],
            "scope": ["ide", "pr"]  // Optional, defaults to ["ide"]
        }
    ]
}

File Pattern Examples

CodeAnt uses minimatch for glob patterns. Here are common patterns:

Pattern	Description
`*/.js`	All JavaScript files in any directory
`src/*/.ts`	All TypeScript files in src directory and subdirectories
`*.test.js`	Test files in root directory only
`*/.{js,ts,jsx,tsx}`	All JavaScript/TypeScript files
`!/node_modules/`	Exclude node_modules directory
`components/*/.vue`	All Vue files in components directory
`*/.spec.{js,ts}`	All spec test files

Instruction Examples

Common Use Cases

1. Ignore Specific Patterns:

{
    "id": "ignore-console-logs",
    "description": "Allow console.log statements in development files",
    "files": ["src/dev/**/*.js", "**/*.dev.js"],
    "scope": ["ide"]
}

2. Framework-Specific Rules:

{
    "id": "react-hooks-exception",
    "description": "Allow useEffect without dependencies in specific components",
    "files": ["src/components/legacy/**/*.jsx"]
}

3. API Integration Guidelines:

{
    "id": "api-error-handling",
    "description": "Ensure all API calls in services have proper error handling and timeout",
    "files": ["src/services/**/*.ts", "src/api/**/*.ts"],
    "scope": ["ide", "pr"]
}

4. Security Focus:

{
    "id": "auth-security",
    "description": "Extra scrutiny for authentication and authorization code",
    "files": ["src/auth/**/*.js", "**/middleware/auth.js"],
    "scope": ["pr"]
}

Sample instructions.json

Here’s a complete example configuration:

{
    "instructions": [
        {
            "id": "add-exception",
            "description": "Do not show error where add function is subtracting",
            "files": ["**/*.js", "**/*.ts", "**/*.jsx", "**/*.tsx"],
            "scope": ["ide", "pr"]
        },
        {
            "id": "test-file-exceptions",
            "description": "Allow mock functions and testing utilities without warnings",
            "files": ["**/*.test.js", "**/*.spec.ts", "**/tests/**/*.js"]
        },
        {
            "id": "legacy-code-review",
            "description": "Focus only on security issues for legacy code, ignore style warnings",
            "files": ["src/legacy/**/*.js", "old-modules/**/*.ts"],
            "scope": ["pr"]
        },
        {
            "id": "config-files",
            "description": "Skip complexity warnings for configuration files",
            "files": ["*.config.js", "webpack.config.js", "**/config/**/*.js"],
            "scope": ["ide"]
        }
    ]
}

Best Practices

Use descriptive IDs: Make instruction IDs clear and meaningful
Be specific with patterns: Target exact files or directories that need special treatment
Document reasoning: Use clear descriptions explaining why each instruction exists
Test patterns: Verify your glob patterns match the intended files
Keep it minimal: Only add instructions when necessary to avoid over-customization
Scope appropriately: Use scope to control where instructions apply - IDE only, PR reviews only, or both

Once you’ve created your instructions.json file, CodeAnt will automatically apply these custom instructions during the next code review.

Get Started

AI Code Review

Scan Center

Code Security

Cloud Security

Code Quality

Engineering Metrics

IDE

CLI

CI/CD

Integrations

Rule Reference

How CodeAnt Uses CodeAnt

Resources

Code review Instructions

Setup

1. Create Configuration Folder

2. Create Instructions File

Configuration Format

File Pattern Examples

Instruction Examples

Common Use Cases

Sample instructions.json

Best Practices

​Setup

​1. Create Configuration Folder

​2. Create Instructions File

​Configuration Format

​File Pattern Examples

​Instruction Examples

​Common Use Cases

​Sample instructions.json

​Best Practices

Setup

1. Create Configuration Folder

2. Create Instructions File

Configuration Format

File Pattern Examples

Instruction Examples

Common Use Cases

Sample instructions.json

Best Practices