Review changes in a JetBrains IDE

A review sends your changed files to CodeRabbit and streams the findings back while it runs. To run your first review:

1. Open the CodeRabbit tool window: select it in the tool window bar, or choose Tools → Review changes with CodeRabbit.
2. Check the branch row, which shows your current branch and the base branch, such as feature/login → origin/main. If the base branch is wrong, change it.
3. Select Review all changes. To review only some changes, pick another scope from the arrow next to the button first.

Findings appear in the tool window and in the editor; see Work with findings.

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Before you start

• You’re signed in.
• The project’s root folder is a Git repository. Otherwise, the tool window shows Git’s own error, such as “fatal: not a git repository”.
• The base branch is right. The plugin picks the first of origin/main, origin/master, main, and master that exists, even when your team merges into another branch, such as develop. In that case, set the base branch before you review, even for uncommitted changes.
• Your files are saved. The plugin reviews files as they are on disk, so unsaved changes in the editor aren’t part of the review.

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The New review section

Before a review, the tool window shows, from top to bottom:

• Account: your name, plan, organization menu, and Sign out. See Switch organizations.
• The branch row: your current branch, an arrow, and the base branch, with a gear button that opens Review options.
• Files to review: the changed files in the current scope, each with its added and removed line counts and a New, Modified, Deleted, or Renamed label. Use the refresh button in its header to reload the list, and Filter changed files to search it.
• The review button, labeled for the scope, such as Review all changes, with an arrow that opens the scope menu.

On the Free, Lite, and Essentials plans, an Upgrade to Team banner can appear at the bottom; dismiss it to hide it. The file list reloads by itself when files change or you switch branches, except while a review runs or Power Save Mode is on. Switching branches also clears the review the tool window shows.

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Choose what to review

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Pick a scope

Pick the scope from the arrow next to the review button: New files that Git ignores through .gitignore aren’t part of any scope.

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Pick the base branch

The base branch is the branch your work merges into. The plugin compares your branch with the commit where it split from the base branch. If you don’t pick one, it uses the first of origin/main, origin/master, main, and master that exists, whichever branch your team actually merges into. To change it, select the gear button on the branch row to open Review options, then type or pick a branch in Base branch. The list shows local and remote branches: pick a remote branch, such as origin/develop, to compare with the remote’s state as of your last fetch, or a local branch, such as develop, to compare with your local copy. The plugin doesn’t save your choice, so check the branch row again after you reopen the project. Review options also has:

• Scope directory: a folder inside the project. Only changed files under that folder are reviewed.
• Base commit: a commit SHA or other Git revision to compare with, instead of the point where your branch split from the base branch.

After you change any of these options, select the refresh button in Files to review. Until you do, the review button stays disabled and says “Refresh changes to review the current scope.” The plugin never runs git fetch. A remote branch such as origin/main is only as current as your last fetch, so fetch first if the base branch has moved on the remote. A review always covers the branch you have checked out.

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Select files

In the Review all uncommitted files scope, each file has a checkbox, and the button changes to, for example, Review 3 uncommitted files:

• Use Select all and Clear selection to change every checkbox, and Filter changed files to find a file.
• New files are selected when they appear. Files you cleared stay cleared.

The other scopes always review every file in the list. To narrow them, set a Scope directory.

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Start, follow, or cancel a review

While a review runs, the tool window shows its stage, such as “Understanding the code” or “Reviewing changes”, and findings appear as CodeRabbit finds them. Each project runs one review at a time. To stop a review, select Cancel review. A cancelled review isn’t saved. When the review finishes, the tool window shows Review complete and how many findings are resolved. From there:

• Review again runs the same review on the current state of your files.
• New review goes back to the New review section.

The plugin doesn’t notify you when a review finishes, so keep the tool window in view. If a review ends as Review skipped or Review failed, the tool window shows the reason; see Troubleshooting.

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Review after each commit

The Review after commit setting in Settings → Tools → CodeRabbit reviews each commit you make with the IDE’s commit tool: With Start automatically, another commit within 5 seconds restarts the countdown, and while Power Save Mode is on, the review waits until you turn it off. A review after a commit covers only that commit, compared with its parent, in the repository at the project’s root. It ignores Scope directory, but it still needs a base branch the plugin can find. Commits made outside the IDE, such as in a terminal or by a coding agent, don’t start a review. Its findings appear in the tool window as the current review. Each of these reviews counts toward your hourly limit. If you use the VS Code extension: Ask after commit and Start automatically work like its prompt and auto modes, but the plugin is off by default and reacts only to commits made with the IDE’s commit tool.

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What gets reviewed

For each file in the scope, a review sends the path, the diff, the file’s current content, and whether the file is new, renamed, or deleted. It also sends the repository’s .coderabbit.yaml or .coderabbit.yml configuration file from the root of the Git repository, if there is one. You don’t need one to run a review. For the full list, see What a review sends. Some files are sent without their content:

• Files larger than 2 MB, binary files, and symbolic links. For a file Git already tracks, the diff is still sent; a new untracked file of this kind isn’t reviewable.
• Deleted files, which are sent as a diff only.

The whole review must stay under 20 MB. The review carries both the content and the diff of each file, so the code you can review at once is well under 20 MB. A larger review stops with “The selected changes exceed the 20 MB IDE review limit. Select fewer files.” CodeRabbit also limits the number of files in a review; a review with too many files ends as Review skipped with “Too many files!”. The plugin has no built-in list of files to skip, such as keys or certificates. See Keep secrets out of reviews.

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Which review configuration applies

The plugin sends reviews to the same IDE review service as the VS Code extension, so the same review configuration applies: your organization’s settings, with the .coderabbit.yaml or .coderabbit.yml file from the repository root on top. See Which review configuration applies for the settings an IDE review uses. Where that page mentions the workspace folder, the plugin uses the root of the Git repository instead. The plugin reads the configuration file from disk, so edits to it apply to your next review even before you commit them. Path filters apply on CodeRabbit’s side, after the files are sent.

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Limits and seats

• Hourly limit: reviews from the plugin, including reviews after a commit, count toward your plan’s hourly IDE review limit, which the plugin shares with the VS Code extension. It’s separate from your pull request and CLI review limits. See Rate limits for each plan’s numbers, including the Free plan. When you reach the limit, the review fails with “The CodeRabbit review ended without a completion event.” Wait, then run the review again. The plugin doesn’t show the wait time or offer Review with credits during the beta, and the same message can have other causes; see Troubleshooting.
• Seats: on a paid plan, a review without a seat ends as Review skipped, with a message that asks you to get a seat from an organization administrator. See Seat assignment.

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What’s next