dv

A terminal code-review tool for GitHub PRs, with Claude Code built in. Read the diff with Helix keys and the comments beside the code; review, reply and merge without leaving the terminal; have Claude review, answer you, suggest fixes, or rewrite a low-effort PR as a proper one. A todo list ranks what needs you next.

• Diff: unified or side-by-side (Ctrl-w v), syntax highlighted, changed words emphasised, context expandable per hunk (+ / -, Z). Helix's cursor, motions and selections, your Helix theme and settings, and rust-analyzer (gd, gr, Space k).
• Drafts: Claude drafts replacements for PRs (A A) or new PRs from what you ask (N N), unpublished until you've reviewed them in dv.
• Files list on the left (Ctrl-w e): the changed files, viewed and comment counts, a click to jump; the file you're in keeps its header pinned. Under it, the PR's commits: view one, or a range.
• Comments pane on the right (Ctrl-w c): review threads beside their lines, and a second tab (gn) with the PR's description, conversation and checks, scrolled on its own.
• GitHub: comment on lines, suggest changes, reply, resolve, mark files viewed, submit reviews; new comments show up as they come.
• Claude Code: reviews (one PR, or a batch in the background), answers your replies, makes or suggests the changes, drafts replacement PRs. It never posts or pushes: you decide what goes to GitHub.

Install

cargo install dv-review   # installs `dv`

Or a binary for Linux or macOS from the releases.

Needs git, and for PRs gh (logged in). Optional: rust-analyzer, hx (or $VISUAL / $EDITOR) for writing comments, Claude Code (then dv install-skill, once), python3 for merging. Inside zellij, editors, Claude and the merge script get panes of their own beside dv.

Usage

dv                # the working tree vs the merge-base with the PR's base (or origin/HEAD)
dv main           # ... vs main
dv 2258           # review PR 2258 (checks it out)
dv 2258 -w        # ... in a worktree next to the repo (../<repo>-2258); -wb on its branch
dv 2258 --rm      # remove that worktree
dv list -w        # the PRs: what needs you, open ones, worktrees, replacements

? in dv (and dv list) lists every key; SPEC.md has the full key table and design notes. The mouse works: scroll, click, drag to select.

Reviewing a PR

1. Read: ]g / [g hop between hunks, ]f / [f between files, Space f picks a file, ]c / [c step through comments, Space v marks a file viewed.
2. Comment: select lines (x, v), then c to comment or s to suggest a change; r replies on a thread. These go into your pending review (Space p lists them); C posts right away instead.
3. Submit: S, then comment, approve or request changes.

With Claude

• Review: Space a → review. Claude's comments appear in the pane, tagged by how much they matter ([bug], [nit], …), and its summary sits at the top of the comments tab. In dv list, m marks PRs and a a has Claude review them in the background.
• Talk to it: r on Claude's comment replies, and Claude answers right away; a on selected lines leaves it a comment of your own. Space r resolves a thread, Space d dismisses one.
• Keep what you agree with: c copies Claude's comment into your pending review (edit it first, or keep it as is). Nothing goes to GitHub otherwise.
• Changes: Space a → make the changes (on someone else's PR: suggest them, as suggestion blocks to post). Then Space g shows just what Claude changed, commits and pushes.

Claude and dv share a review file in dv's data directory (~/.local/share/dv/), which dv reloads as Claude writes it; comments follow their code as it changes, and show [outdated] when it's gone.

Replacing a low-effort PR

For a PR not worth coaching into shape (often AI-generated): A A on it in dv list (or several marked ones that attempt the same change). Claude writes the change properly on a branch of its own (dv/replace-N, in <repo>-replace-N), drafts the new PR's description and a short, civil note for closing the originals, and publishes nothing. The replacements tab lists them; Enter opens one in dv to review like any branch (a on a draft asks for a redraft). S there publishes it as a draft PR from your own remote, and closes the originals with the note.

What needs you

dv list's todo tab lists the PRs and replacements waiting on you: approved and green, pushed since your review, Claude answered you, your review requested, conflicts with its base (b b asks for a rebase), no review from you yet, a replacement to publish, and so on. r r has Claude rank them, with a word on why and what next (one Claude run, so only when you ask: the header says what the last ranking cost and what's changed since). a a has Claude do its part on one (answer, update its review, review it); s defers one you can't act on yet; Enter opens it.

Merging: M M on a PR in dv list, or Space g → merge in its review, runs Bitcoin Core's github-merge.py (built into dv, pinned and checked; git config dv.mergescript <path> uses your own copy) in the main checkout. The PR's worktree is removed first, only if nothing in it is unpushed.

Layout

cargo test runs the tests.

License

MIT or Apache-2.0, at your option (LICENSE-MIT, LICENSE-APACHE). Releasing: RELEASING.md; changes: CHANGELOG.md.