Fresh-Eyes Review

Core Principle

The central mandate is uncompromising: "NO COMMIT WITHOUT FRESH-EYES REVIEW FIRST"

This represents a final quality gate executed after implementation completion, passing tests, and peer review. The discipline applies universally, even without explicit skill activation.

Key Distinctions

Fresh-eyes review differs fundamentally from testing and code review:

• Testing validates expected behavior under controlled conditions
• Code review examines patterns and quality during implementation
• Fresh-eyes catches unexpected issues through deliberate re-reading with psychological distance

The skill emphasizes that "100% test coverage and passing scenarios" can coexist with "critical bugs" waiting discovery.

Required Process

Step 1 - Announce Commitment Explicitly declare: "Starting fresh-eyes review of [N] files. This will take 2-5 minutes." This announcement creates accountability and reframes your mindset.

Step 2 - Systematic Checklist Review all touched files for:

• Security vulnerabilities (SQL injection, XSS, path traversal, command injection)
• Logic errors (off-by-one boundaries, race conditions, null handling)
• Business rule implementation (calculations match requirements?)
• Input validation (type, range, format checks complete?)
• Performance issues (N+1 queries, unbounded loops)

Step 3 - Fix Immediately Address findings before declaring completion. Re-run tests after corrections.

Step 4 - Declare Results Mandatory announcement: "Fresh-eyes complete. [N] issues found and fixed." Include this even for zero findings—it proves execution.

Time Commitment

Expected duration: 2-5 minutes depending on file count. Faster completion suggests insufficient depth; excessive time indicates scope creep.

Resistance Patterns to Reject

The document explicitly lists rationalizations to ignore:

• "Tests are comprehensive"
• "I'm confident it's correct"
• "Partner is waiting"
• "Production is blocked"
• "Senior dev already approved"

These circumstances represent precisely when critical bugs escape into production.