code review meme

We've all been there. Staring at a GitHub pull request comment like:

"Maybe change this?"

Or:

"This looks wrong, fix it."

What does that actually mean? Is it a minor suggestion or a requirement? Is it critical blocker, or just something the reviewer found confusing?
Written feedback often loses crucial context, leading to:

  • ⏳ Wasted Time, slower reviews: Back-and-forth clarification cycles.
  • 😠 Frustration: For both the reviewer and the author.

This ambiguity isn't just annoying; it actively harms the code review process.

Bringing Clarity with Conventional Comments

There's a better way! The Conventional Comments specification provides a simple structure to add explicit context to your review comments. It suggests prefixing comments with labels like:

  • praise: For highlighting good work.
  • suggestion: For optional improvements.
  • issue: For problems that likely need addressing.
  • question: When seeking clarification.
  • thought: For reflections or ideas not requiring action.
  • chore: For minor non-code tasks (like updating docs).

You can even add decorators for more nuance, like issue(blocking): to signal something must be fixed before merging.

Suddenly, the guesswork disappears!

issue(blocking): Add null check for 'user' before this line.

suggestion: Consider renaming 'x' to 'userCount' for clarity.

Now that's actionable feedback! Everyone understands the intent and severity instantly. It also opens the door for better tooling and tracking around code reviews.

Making Conventional Comments Effortless on GitHub ✨

Okay, using Conventional Comments clearly leads to better reviews. But how do you easily integrate this standard into your daily GitHub workflow without adding friction or needing to memorize all the labels?

That's exactly why we at Pullpo built the Conventional Comments Extension - a free, open-source Chrome extension designed to make adopting this standard effortless right within the GitHub UI.

We wanted a tool that felt native, didn't get in the way, and made applying these helpful prefixes as simple as clicking a button.

toolbar in github comment box

What it does:

  • ✅ Adds an intuitive toolbar right above GitHub comment boxes (PRs, issues, commits).
  • ✅ Provides clickable buttons for all standard labels (issue, suggestion, praise, etc.) and decorators (blocking, non-blocking, if-minor).
  • ✅ Automatically formats the comment prefix for you – just click and type!
  • ✅ Includes an optional "Prettify" mode that displays prefixes as neat visual badges using Shields.io (linked to a simple explainer). Looks great in PR descriptions too!
  • ✅ Adapts seamlessly to GitHub's light and dark themes.

No more typing suggestion(non-blocking): – just click, click, type.

badge formatting example

Give it a Try!

We built this initially for our own team, but we think it can help anyone spending time reviewing code on GitHub. It's completely free and MIT licensed.

Ready to ditch confusing comments and make your code reviews faster and clearer?

🚀 Install from the Chrome Web Store:
https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/gelgbjildgbbfgfgpibgcnolcipinmlp
⭐ Check out the code (and star us!) on GitHub:
https://github.com/pullpo-io/conventional-comments

👀 Watch a quick demo video:
https://youtu.be/jLzXlZ78rNE?si=KMzIH9Vb43glekEW

We'd love to hear what you think! Does this solve a pain point for you? Any features you'd like to see? Let us know in the comments below!

Happy coding, and happier reviewing!