# MergeJudge

> MergeJudge (mergejudge.si) is an AI pull request reviewer with an open-source engine for GitHub. It reviews every pull request and sorts it into an auto, review or block lane: deterministic rules decide first, and the AI step can only make a lane stricter. Auto means low risk, not a guarantee; branch protection and required checks still apply.

MergeJudge posts a sticky summary comment, a `mergejudge/lane` check (success = auto, neutral = review, failure = block) and at most 20 line comments on each pull request. GitHub counts a neutral conclusion as a successful required status check, so a review lane does not stop a merge on its own; keep a required human review for those pull requests. MergeJudge doesn't merge pull requests itself. Auto means low risk, not a guarantee; branch protection and required checks still apply.

The engine, the CLI runner and the GitHub Action are open source (MIT) at https://github.com/gauravsharmaGG/mergejudge-runner. The hosted GitHub App and its backend are not open source.

Full text of every guide: https://mergejudge.si/llms-full.txt

## Start here

- [Documentation](https://mergejudge.si/guide/): MergeJudge documentation: set up the GitHub App or GitHub Action, configure lanes, providers and rubrics, and learn how the AI pull request reviewer works.
- [What is MergeJudge?](https://mergejudge.si/guide/what-is-mergejudge): MergeJudge (mergejudge.si) is an AI pull request reviewer with an open-source engine for GitHub. It sorts every pull request into auto, review or block. Rules decide first. Auto is low risk, not a guarantee.
- [Getting started](https://mergejudge.si/guide/getting-started): Install the MergeJudge GitHub App and get your first AI pull request review with lanes, line comments and rubric scores. Public repos get free AI reviews to start, with no key.
- [How it works](https://mergejudge.si/guide/how-it-works): How MergeJudge reviews a pull request: rules pick a lane, the AI reads the diff and surrounding code, and the verdict lands as a check and line comments.
- [Sort pull requests by risk and block risky ones](https://mergejudge.si/guide/lanes): MergeJudge sorts every GitHub pull request into auto, review or block. Rules set the lane first; the AI can only raise it. Auto is low risk, not a guarantee.
- [Review modes](https://mergejudge.si/guide/review-modes): Compare MergeJudge review modes, diff, context and deep, and choose how much of your repository the AI reads before judging a pull request.

## Answers

- [How to stop AI coding agents from merging their own pull requests](https://mergejudge.si/guide/gate-ai-agent-prs): Stop an AI coding agent from merging its own GitHub pull requests: a ruleset, Require a pull request before merging, Require approval of the most recent reviewable push, an empty bypass list, CODEOWNERS, and a required check.
- [How to evaluate an AI code review tool for GitHub pull requests](https://mergejudge.si/guide/evaluate-ai-code-review-tool): A practical checklist for choosing an AI pull request reviewer: where its rules come from, whether it can stop a merge, what the AI may change, where your code goes, and ten small test PRs to run on your own repo.
- [How to run AI security code review on GitHub pull requests without alert fatigue](https://mergejudge.si/guide/ai-security-code-review-github): Check GitHub pull requests for secrets, removed CI safety guards, injection, missing auth, SSRF and unsafe AI tool access with MergeJudge's deterministic rules and optional review.security mode.
- [Open-source AI pull request reviewer](https://mergejudge.si/guide/open-source-ai-pull-request-reviewer): The MergeJudge GitHub Action and runner are an open-source (MIT) AI pull request reviewer. One workflow file, your own API key or rules-only, and a lane on every pull request.
- [AGENTS.md and policy files for AI code review](https://mergejudge.si/guide/policy-files-for-ai-review): Steer AI pull request review with AGENTS.md, REVIEW_POLICY.md and .mergejudge.yml, and see how MergeJudge learns your repo's rules through human-reviewed PRs.
- [Self-hosted AI code review GitHub Action (bring your own key)](https://mergejudge.si/guide/self-host-github-action): Self-hosted AI code review in your own GitHub Actions runner, with your own OpenAI, Anthropic, z.ai or OpenAI-compatible key, including a local endpoint. The Action does not call MergeJudge's servers.
- [Run AI code review locally, on your own machine](https://mergejudge.si/guide/local-review-before-push): Run the AI step of MergeJudge pull request reviews on your own machine with npx mergejudge-runner and your own Claude Code, Codex or GLM login.

## Ways to run

- [Hosted service](https://mergejudge.si/guide/cloud): Use the hosted MergeJudge GitHub App: free AI reviews on public repos to start, or your own model key. There's no workflow file and no server to run; reviews post straight to your PRs.
- [GitHub App for AI pull request review: install, permissions and what it posts](https://mergejudge.si/guide/github-app-ai-pull-request-review): Install the MergeJudge GitHub App to get AI pull request review on every PR: the permissions it asks for, what it posts, how to make its lane a required check, and when to use the GitHub Action instead.
- [AI code review GitHub Action](https://mergejudge.si/guide/github-action): Add AI pull request review to any repo with the gauravsharmaGG/mergejudge-runner GitHub Action: lanes, line comments and rubrics in one workflow file.
- [Run reviews on your own machine](https://mergejudge.si/guide/run-on-your-machine): Run the AI step of MergeJudge reviews on your own computer with the open-source mergejudge-runner (npx mergejudge-runner setup).

## Reference

- [`.mergejudge.yml` reference](https://mergejudge.si/guide/config): Full .mergejudge.yml reference: provider, lanes, protected paths, review modes, policy files, rubrics and runner settings with their defaults.
- [LLM providers](https://mergejudge.si/guide/providers): Bring your own API key for AI code review: Anthropic, OpenAI, z.ai GLM or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, including a local one, in the GitHub Action or the hosted App.
- [Rubric packs](https://mergejudge.si/guide/rubrics): Score pull requests against rubric packs for security, correctness and tests, and turn each criterion into a clear pass or fail on the PR.
- [Policy files](https://mergejudge.si/guide/policy-files): Teach the reviewer your repo's rules with REVIEW_POLICY.md, APPROVAL_POLICY.md, AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md, read from the base branch only.
- [Approvals](https://mergejudge.si/guide/approvals): Control when MergeJudge approves a pull request or turns on GitHub auto-merge, and how it works with branch protection.
- [Methodology: our small offline test](https://mergejudge.si/guide/methodology): How we ran our small offline test of diff, context and deep review modes: the cases, the scoring rules and the limits of the results.
- [Learning loop](https://mergejudge.si/guide/learning): The MergeJudge learning loop: reviewers mark findings right or wrong, and the bot proposes lessons as a PR you approve, so it learns your repo's rules.
- [Security model](https://mergejudge.si/guide/security): MergeJudge security model: least-privilege GitHub permissions, key allowlists, base-branch-only config, and why it doesn't merge pull requests on its own.

## Links

- [GitHub App](https://github.com/apps/mergejudge)
- [GitHub Action on the Marketplace](https://github.com/marketplace/actions/mergejudge-ai-code-review)
- [Runner, engine and Action source](https://github.com/gauravsharmaGG/mergejudge-runner)
- npm package: `https://www.npmjs.com/package/mergejudge-runner`
- [Privacy](https://mergejudge.si/privacy)