Give your reviews the context they deserve.

A review without context is just a linting pass. Drop a few configuration files in your repository and FriendlyReviewer will understand your architecture, ignore what doesn't matter, and write more relevant feedback.

How It Works

FriendlyReviewer reads up to three optional files from the .friendlyreviewer/ directory at the root of your repository. Each one tunes a different aspect of the review:

ignore-reviewer.md

Which authors to skip entirely. List bot accounts (dependabot, renovate, etc.) so their automated commits don't trigger a review.

dependabot[bot]

ignore.md

Which additional files to skip. FriendlyReviewer already ignores common files (lock files, build artifacts, generated code) automatically. This file is for project-specific directories that only your repository knows about — legacy code, vendored dependencies, or any folder that should never be reviewed.

legacy/ vendor/

helper.md

What the AI should know. Injected into every review prompt. Contains a functional overview of your application, architectural rules, testing conventions, and project-specific best practices.

## Architecture - Layer dependency flow: routes → tools → database

Bootstrap These Files In One Shot

helper.md is where the magic happens. Instead of writing it from scratch, paste this prompt into Claude Code, Cursor, or any AI coding assistant running from your repository:

I want to bootstrap FriendlyReviewer configuration for this project.
Fetch the bootstrap guide:
curl -s https://friendlyreviewer.fr/bootstrap-config.md

Then follow its instructions to generate all 3 files in .friendlyreviewer/

The assistant will fetch the bootstrap guide, analyze your repository, and generate all three configuration files — including a helper.md with a functional overview of your app, architectural rules, and best practices extracted from your project's docs.

You can also download the bootstrap guide directly:

curl -s https://friendlyreviewer.fr/bootstrap-config.md

Download bootstrap guide

Why Context Matters

Catch real problems, not style issues
When the AI knows your architecture, it can flag a route handler that contains business logic — a real defect. Without context, it only catches syntax.

Ignore noise automatically
Lock files, generated code, and bot commits disappear from the review queue. Your team only sees meaningful feedback.

Enforce team conventions
Testing rules, dependency flow, exception patterns — write them once in helper.md and every review will enforce them.

Understand the impact of a change
The functional overview tells the AI what your app does. A change to the billing module is reviewed differently when the AI knows it processes invoices.

Want to know the exact format of each file? Read the bootstrap guide or check the example files from the FriendlyReviewer repository.