> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.kodus.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Steer a Review (Focus)

> Direct Kody's attention to a specific area of a pull request with a one-off review directive, via PR comment or CLI

A **review directive** lets you tell Kody where to focus its deepest analysis for a single review. Instead of changing any configuration, you attach a short instruction when you trigger the review — for example, "focus on the auth and session logic" — and Kody spends its hardest analysis on the changed code that matches.

<Note>
  A directive is **ephemeral**: it applies to that one review run only. It is not saved to your settings and does not affect future reviews. To change Kody's behavior permanently, use [Custom Prompts](/how_to_use/en/code_review/configs/custom_prompts) or [Kody Rules](/how_to_use/en/code_review/configs/kody_rules) instead.
</Note>

## When to Use It

* A PR touches many files but you care most about one risky area (auth, payments, a migration).
* You want Kody to trace the callers and callees of a specific change and challenge it harder.
* You're re-running a review and want to steer attention without editing any config.

## Priority, Not a Filter

This is the most important thing to understand:

<Warning>
  A directive sets **priority, not a filter**. Kody prioritizes the focus area, but it still reports any concrete bug, security, or performance issue it notices **elsewhere** in the diff. It never suppresses findings outside the focus, and it never approves the rest of the PR unseen.
</Warning>

Use a directive to say *"look here hardest"* — not *"only look here."*

## How to Trigger It

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="PR / MR Comment">
    Add your focus text right after the review command in a pull request comment:

    ```text theme={null}
    @kody review focus on the auth and session logic
    ```

    You can also use `start-review`, and combine it with `--force`:

    ```text theme={null}
    @kody start-review focus on the new database migration
    @kody review --force focus on error handling in the webhook parser
    ```

    <Note>
      Only the **first line** after the command is used as the directive. Everything on later lines is ignored, so keep your focus to a single line.
    </Note>

    Works on GitHub, GitLab, Azure DevOps, Bitbucket, and Forgejo.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="CLI">
    Pass the `--focus` flag when running a review:

    ```bash theme={null}
    kodus review --focus "the auth and session logic"
    ```

    See the [CLI commands reference](/how_to_use/en/cli/commands) for the full command surface.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Writing a Good Directive

* **Be specific about the area, not the verdict.** "focus on concurrency in the queue consumer" works better than "find bugs".
* **Name the code, not the outcome.** Point at a module, flow, or concern ("the retry logic", "the SQL in the reports service").
* **Keep it short.** Directives are capped at **500 characters**; only the first line of a comment is read.

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Good examples">
    - `@kody review focus on the authentication and token-refresh flow`
    - `@kody review focus on the new Stripe webhook handling`
    - `kodus review --focus "race conditions in the background worker"`
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Weak examples">
    * `@kody review please be thorough` — no area to prioritize.
    * `@kody review only comment on file X` — a directive is not a filter; use [ignore paths](/how_to_use/en/code_review/configs/general) to scope files instead.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Notes & Limits

* **Length:** directives are truncated at 500 characters.
* **First line only:** for PR comments, only the first line after the command becomes the directive.
* **Untrusted by design:** because anyone who can comment on the PR can supply a directive, the text is sanitized before use (control characters and angle brackets are stripped). This does not change your focus — it only prevents the text from tampering with Kody's internal prompt.
* **Not persisted:** nothing is written to your repository or organization settings.