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Claude Code for Code Review: Best Plugins & Skills (2026)
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Using Claude Code for code review means catching bugs, security holes, and style drift before they reach a pull request — and the best code review Claude Code plugins make that a one-command setup. Anthropic ships first-party plugins that run parallel review agents and scan diffs for vulnerabilities, and you can layer your own review skills on top. This guide covers the plugins and skills worth using and how to wire them into a review workflow.
Last updated: July 2026.
Key Takeaways
If you remember nothing else:
- The official
code-reviewplugin runs parallel agents to catch bugs and edge cases —/plugin install code-review@claude-plugins-officialsecurity-guidancescans diffs for vulnerabilities and ships enabled by defaultpr-review-toolkitadds pull-request review workflows- A custom skill encodes your team's checklist and house style on top of the plugins
- Together they cover correctness, security, and PR review inside the editor
Table of Contents
- Why Code Review in Claude Code
- The code-review Plugin
- security-guidance & pr-review-toolkit
- Skills for Code Review
- Setting Up a Review Workflow
- Conclusion
Why Code Review in Claude Code
Reviewing inside the editor closes the loop between writing code and checking it. Instead of waiting for CI or a human reviewer to flag a problem, Claude reviews the change while the context is fresh — and because it can run several review passes in parallel, it surfaces issues a single read might miss. The result is fewer bugs and security holes reaching your pull request. The building blocks are a few first-party Claude Code plugins, plus optional review skills.
There is a second, subtler benefit: reviewing Claude's own output. AI-generated code is fast but not infallible — it can introduce subtle logic errors, insecure patterns, or inconsistencies with the rest of your codebase. Running a dedicated review pass over what Claude just wrote catches those before they land, turning "the AI wrote it" into "the AI wrote it and a second pass checked it." That self-review loop is where in-editor review earns its keep, and it is exactly what the plugins below automate.
The code-review Plugin
Anthropic's official code-review plugin is the centerpiece. It runs parallel agents over a change set, each looking for a different class of problem — logic bugs, missed edge cases, unclear naming, style inconsistencies — then reports back before you commit. Install it with:
/plugin install code-review@claude-plugins-official
Then ask Claude to review your staged diff or a specific file. It is the fastest way to add a rigorous second read without leaving the editor.
security-guidance & pr-review-toolkit
Two more first-party plugins round out review:
security-guidance— reviews diffs for injection, XSS, SSRF, exposed secrets, IDOR, and auth-bypass patterns. It ships enabled by default, so you may already have it; the right move is to leave it on./plugin install security-guidance@claude-plugins-officialpr-review-toolkit— adds pull-request-oriented review, from change summaries to line-level feedback, for teams that review at the PR level.
Both live in Anthropic's official marketplace, anthropics/claude-plugins-official; see the official Claude Code plugins list for the full first-party set.
Skills for Code Review
Plugins do the heavy lifting; a skill makes review yours. Encode your team's review checklist, naming conventions, or house style in a SKILL.md, and Claude applies it every time it reviews — so the feedback matches how your team reviews, not a generic standard. This is where the skills and plugins hubs meet: the plugins provide the engine, a custom skill provides the standards. Browse the tested best Claude Code skills for review-adjacent options, and see Claude Code skills for how to write your own.
Setting Up a Review Workflow
A sensible default review stack takes two minutes:
- Install
code-review@claude-plugins-official. - Confirm
security-guidanceis enabled (it usually is by default). - Optionally add a review skill with your team's checklist.
- Run
/reload-plugins, then ask Claude to review staged changes before each commit.
For the full install-and-manage walkthrough, see how to install Claude Code plugins, and for the whole shortlist, the tested best Claude Code plugins.
Conclusion
Claude Code makes in-editor code review a one-command setup: the official code-review plugin for correctness, security-guidance for vulnerabilities, pr-review-toolkit for PRs, and a custom skill for your team's standards. Install the two official plugins, add your checklist as a skill, and review every change before it ships.
Related Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
-
Anthropic's official code-review plugin is the best starting point. It runs parallel agents over a change set to catch bugs, missed edge cases, and style issues before you commit, and it installs with /plugin install code-review@claude-plugins-official. Pair it with security-guidance, which reviews diffs for vulnerabilities and ships enabled by default, and pr-review-toolkit for pull-request workflows. Together they cover correctness, security, and PR review inside the editor.
-
Install the official plugins: /plugin install code-review@claude-plugins-official and, if it is not already enabled, /plugin install security-guidance@claude-plugins-official. Then simply ask Claude to review your staged changes or a specific file, or let security-guidance flag issues automatically as code is written. Run /plugin to confirm both are enabled and /reload-plugins to apply changes.
-
Yes. The official security-guidance plugin reviews Claude's code changes for injection, XSS, SSRF, exposed secrets, IDOR, and auth-bypass patterns, and it ships enabled by default in recent Claude Code. It complements the general-purpose code-review plugin, which focuses on correctness and quality. For security-sensitive work, keep both on.
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Yes. code-review is a first-party plugin maintained by Anthropic in the official claude-plugins-official marketplace, alongside security-guidance and pr-review-toolkit. Being official means it is vetted, auto-registered, and installable with a single command.
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They can. A skill can encode your team's review checklist or house style so Claude applies it consistently, and it pairs well with the plugins. The plugins provide the heavy lifting (parallel review agents, security scanning); a custom review skill layers your specific standards on top. Use both for a review workflow tailored to your codebase.
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