The AI Code Review Protocol

How to review AI-generated code in 4 rounds without missing the bugs that look like they're not there.

A 4-round protocol with copy-paste prompts for catching the specific failure patterns AI code hides — logic bugs, security holes, architectural rot, and scope drift. Works with Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini. Includes printable checklist.

Instant delivery · PDF + EPUB · 33 pages

⚡ Launch price — first 50 buyers. $7 discount applied at checkout.

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Have you ever approved a PR that looked perfect?

Clean code. Good comments. Tests all green. You approve it. Two weeks later, it has a bug that costs your team days.

You're not alone. Every team using AI coding assistants is discovering the same uncomfortable truth: AI-generated code looks correct. But it fails in ways human code doesn't.

After reviewing hundreds of AI-generated PRs, I found a pattern. The bugs aren't in formatting. They're not in style. They're in the places a quick glance won't reach — the off-by-one in a loop you skimmed, the missing auth check on a new endpoint, the elegant abstraction that creates a maintenance nightmare six months from now.

I built this protocol because I was tired of that sinking feeling after shipping AI code (and I'm not even going to talk about those 40 file PRs I needed to review). It's four rounds. Each one takes 5-10 minutes. And it catches what generic "review this code" prompts miss.

What's Inside

1

The Surface Scan

Catch logic errors, off-by-one bugs, wrong assumptions, and missing edge cases before anything else.

3 prompts · 10 min

2

The Security Deep-Dive

Injection vulnerabilities, insecure deserialization, missing authorization, exposed secrets. Includes an "Evil User" prompt.

2 prompts · 10 min

3

The Architecture Smell Check

Over-engineering, wrong-layer logic, code that doesn't fit your codebase, and AI-invented APIs that don't exist.

2 prompts · 10 min

4

The Comparison Pass

Does this code actually solve the problem we asked for? Catches the last 20% of requirements AI quietly drops.

2 prompts · 5 min

Bonus: The Quick-Reference Checklist

A single printable page covering all rounds. Print it. Tape it to your monitor. Use it on every PR.

What You Get

33-page PDF guide

Full protocol with detailed explanations and examples

10 copy-paste AI prompts

2 per round + API verification + PII audit — works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot

4 "traps to watch for" sections

AI failure patterns specific to each round, so you know exactly what to look for

Quick-Reference Checklist

Single printable page — put it on your monitor, use it on every PR

Decision framework

When to run all 4 rounds and when to shortcut — save time without cutting corners

Review loop guide

Run all reviews first, fix once, re-run — a workflow that scales

7-day adoption plan

Start small, build the habit, have the protocol baked into your team's workflow in a week

Stretch goals: PII audit + automation

PII audit prompt for catching leaked personal data, plus three approaches for end-to-end automation

The 4-Round Protocol at a Glance

The 4-Round Protocol overview page showing the round table, PR size data, and performance note

Total: ~15 minutes for a typical PR, up to 35 minutes for a large one. Designed for the PRs where a single pass won't catch everything.

Who This Is For

Senior devs reviewing AI-generated PRs

Cut review time without lowering standards

Team leads managing AI-using juniors

Give your team a repeatable process

Solo developers using AI tools

Catch bugs before they hit production

Engineering managers

Standardize code review quality across your team

About the Author

Stephen Metcalfe is a Principal Software Engineer at a multinational fintech with 30+ years of professional development experience.

He started working with AI coding tools when Codium was still in beta — around September 2024, before it became Windsurf, before the hype. He built this protocol after one too many "clean" PRs shipped bugs he should have caught.

Side projects? A few. Don't we all? But his main priority is the craft he's been sharpening since 1996 — the craft that actually pays the bills.

Reading sci-fi, watching action movies, and occasionally remembering he has hobbies. Oh, and now author.

Why $19?

Because $19 means you take it seriously. You're not buying a PDF. You're buying a process that will save you from shipping AI bugs — and from the uncomfortable conversation when one of those bugs hits production.

If this protocol saves you from one shipping bug, it paid for itself 100x over.