Date: 2026-09-11 Date: 2026-09-10

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Code review and safe recovery

Use this lesson to build a practical, evidence-based Nova workflow for this topic.

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Review is an evidence task

A useful code review identifies defects that can be demonstrated from the code, diff, tests, or runtime behaviour. It should prioritise findings by impact and avoid filling the response with stylistic preferences. Nova can review:
  • Uncommitted working-tree changes.
  • Staged changes.
  • A specific commit or range.
  • A pull-request diff supplied through an available integration.
  • Selected files or a subsystem.
  • Security-sensitive code from a defensive perspective.
There is no need to assume a built-in /review command. Ask Nova directly, invoke a review-oriented skill if installed, or create a project slash command under .compass/commands for a repeatable team workflow.

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A strong review request

Define both scope and review priorities:
For a subsystem:
For an implementation Nova has just completed:

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Review workflow

Nova should normally:
  1. Inspect repository status to understand staged, unstaged, and untracked files.
  2. Read a summary before requesting a large diff.
  3. Examine changed files with enough surrounding context.
  4. Trace affected call sites, contracts, and tests.
  5. Run focused, non-destructive checks where they improve confidence.
  6. Report findings before summaries or compliments.
A material finding should include:
  • Severity or practical impact.
  • The exact path and line.
  • Why the current behaviour is wrong.
  • A realistic trigger or failure scenario.
  • The smallest credible remediation.
If no defect is found, say so and identify any untested risk rather than inventing issues.

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Use the verification agent for independent checks

Nova includes a specialised verification profile for read-only review, security inspection, reproducing failures, and targeted test validation. It is useful when an implementation agent has already changed the code and an isolated second pass would reduce confirmation bias. The verification result should provide a PASS, FAIL, PARTIAL, or BLOCKED verdict with concrete evidence. The parent session must still assess the findings before acting on them.

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Diff discipline

A review should separate:
  • Changes introduced by the current task.
  • Pre-existing user changes.
  • Generated output.
  • Untracked files that may contain secrets or local state.
Never reset, clean, or checkout over a dirty working tree merely to make review easier. Inspect it and preserve user work.

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Conversation rollback

Nova supports:
This removes the most recent user/assistant turn from conversation context. It does not reverse tools already executed. File edits, shell commands, commits, pushes, sent email, calendar events, or remote changes remain in effect. This command is useful for correcting conversational direction, not operational state.

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Checkpoint file restoration

Where workflow checkpoints are enabled, Nova can preview a file-scoped recovery plan:
Restore one backed-up file only after approval:
Checkpoint restoration is deliberately opt-in and scoped. It does not perform a broad automatic rollback of the workspace.

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Git-based recovery

Git provides the strongest audit trail for committed and staged work, but recovery commands vary in destructiveness. Before reverting anything:
  1. Inspect status and the relevant diff.
  2. Identify uncommitted work that must be preserved.
  3. Prefer a new revert commit for shared history.
  4. Avoid force pushes and history rewriting unless explicitly authorised and safe.
  5. Never use a destructive reset as a shortcut around understanding the change.
Nova should request confirmation for operations that discard work or alter published history.

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Review after recovery

Recovery is not complete until the resulting state is verified. Re-run the targeted tests, inspect the diff, and confirm that only the intended files changed. If the original operation affected an external system, verify that system independently; local rollback may not repair remote side effects.

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What you learned

You can now apply the core practices in this lesson during a Nova session.

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Try it yourself

Use this lesson’s guidance in a small, non-destructive task in a local project, then review the result before continuing.

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Continue the course