Clojure Code Review Skill
@./../_shared/clojure-style-guide.md @./../_shared/clojure-commands.md
Review guidelines
What to flag:
- •Check compliance with the Metabase Clojure style guide (included above)
- •If
CLOJURE_STYLE_GUIDE.adocexists in the working directory, also check compliance with the community Clojure style guide - •Flag all style guide violations
What NOT to post:
- •Do not post comments congratulating someone for trivial changes or for following style guidelines
- •Do not post comments confirming things "look good" or telling them they did something correctly
- •Only post comments about style violations or potential issues
Example bad code review comments to avoid:
This TODO comment is properly formatted with author and date - nice work!
Good addition of limit 1 to the query - this makes the test more efficient without changing its behavior.
The kondo ignore comment is appropriately placed here
Test name properly ends with -test as required by the style guide.
Special cases:
- •Do not post comments about missing parentheses (these will be caught by the linter)
Quick review checklist
Use this to scan through changes efficiently:
Naming
- • Descriptive names (no
tbl,zs') - • Pure functions named as nouns describing their return value
- •
kebab-casefor all variables and functions - • Side-effect functions end with
! - • No namespace-alias repetition in function names
Documentation
- • Public vars in
srcorenterprise/backend/srchave useful docstrings - • Docstrings use Markdown conventions
- • References use
[[other-var]]not backticks - •
TODOcomments include author and date:;; TODO (Name 1/1/25) -- description
Code Organization
- • Everything
^:privateunless used elsewhere - • No
declarewhen avoidable (public functions near end) - • Functions under 20 lines when possible
- • No blank lines within definition forms (except pairwise constructs in
let/cond) - • Lines ≤ 120 characters
Tests
- • Separate
deftestforms for distinct test cases - • Pure tests marked
^:parallel - • Test names end in
-testor-test-<number>
Modules
- • Correct module patterns (OSS:
metabase.<module>.*, EE:metabase-enterprise.<module>.*) - • API endpoints in
<module>.apinamespaces - • Public API in
<module>.corewith Potemkin - • No cheating module linters with
:clj-kondo/ignore [:metabase/modules]
REST API
- • Response schemas present (
:- <schema>) - • Query params use kebab-case, bodies use
snake_case - • Routes use singular nouns (e.g.,
/api/dashboard/:id) - •
GEThas no side effects (except analytics) - • Malli schemas detailed and complete
- • All new endpoints have tests
MBQL
- • No raw MBQL manipulation outside
lib,lib-be, orquery-processormodules - • Uses Lib and MBQL 5, not legacy MBQL
Database
- • Model and table names are singular nouns
- • Uses
t2/select-one-fninstead of selecting full rows for one column - • Logic in Toucan methods, not helper functions
Drivers
- • New multimethods documented in
docs/developers-guide/driver-changelog.md - • Passes
driverargument to other driver methods (no hardcoded driver names) - • Minimal logic in
read-column-thunk
Miscellaneous
- • Example data is bird-themed when possible
- • Kondo linter suppressions use proper format (not
#_:clj-kondo/ignorekeyword form)
Pattern matching table
Quick scan for common issues:
| Pattern | Issue |
|---|---|
calculate-age, get-user | Pure functions should be nouns: age, user |
update-db, save-model | Missing ! for side effects: update-db!, save-model! |
snake_case_var | Should use kebab-case |
| Public var without docstring | Add docstring explaining purpose |
;; TODO fix this | Missing author/date: ;; TODO (Name 1/1/25) -- description |
(defn foo ...) in namespace used elsewhere | Should be (defn ^:private foo ...) |
| Function > 20 lines | Consider breaking up into smaller functions |
/api/dashboards/:id | Use singular: /api/dashboard/:id |
Query params with snake_case | Use kebab-case for query params |
| New API endpoint without tests | Add tests for the endpoint |
Feedback format examples
For style violations:
This pure function should be named as a noun describing its return value. Consider
userinstead ofget-user.
For missing documentation:
This public var needs a docstring explaining its purpose, inputs, and outputs.
For organization issues:
This function is only used in this namespace, so it should be marked
^:private.
For API conventions:
Query parameters should use kebab-case. Change
user_idtouser-id.