Checklists

Checklists improve the consistency of code reviews by defining what must be validated before a review can be approved and changes submitted to the P4 Server depot.

Checklists are only applied to the code review process when they are applied to Workflows. To ensure checklists are added to every code review, add a checklist to the Global Workflow.

Checklist definition

A checklist consists of checklist items. Each item represents an aspect of your organization’s business rules or best practices to validate during code review.

For example, a checklist might include items such as Code Style, Performance, Security, and Test Coverage to ensure all required aspects are reviewed.

To learn more about creating a checklist and checklist items, see Create a checklist.

Checklists and workflows

A checklist is applied to code reviews through workflows.

  • A checklist becomes visible in a review only when it is associated with a workflow.

  • A workflow can include multiple checklists.

  • A checklist can be associated with multiple workflows.

When a workflow is associated with a project or branch, checklist items run against the files included in the review.

To learn more, see Add a checklist to a workflow.

A checklist item is AI-driven or human-driven

Checklist items can be evaluated manually or by AI.

  • Human-driven items are reviewed and updated by users.

  • AI-driven items are evaluated by an AI model using the changelist description, file paths, and code diffs.

If an item is AI-driven, it can be configured to run automatically.

AI checks run automatically when:

  • A review is created.

  • Files in the review are changed.

  • A new version of the review is created.

To validate the same aspect manually and with AI, create separate checklist items (for example, Security-human and Security-AI).

Checklist item status

Checklist items have statuses that indicate their result and can control whether a review can be approved.

For example, approval can be allowed when all items are Passed or Warning, and blocked if any item is Failed or Error.

The status of a checklist can prevent a review from being approved. You can choose which statuses prevent a review from being approved in the General settings page of a checklist. To learn more, see General Settings.

The following statuses are available:

Status Description
Pending The item has not yet run or has been reset.
Running The AI model is evaluating the item.
Pass The item passed validation.
Fail The item failed validation.
Warning The item passed with warnings.
Error An error occurred during evaluation.
Not Applicable The item does not apply to the review.

Multi-project reviews and checklists

If a review includes files from multiple branches or projects, checklist items are visible to users who have access to any of those branches or projects.

Users who can view the review can update checklist item status, which may affect review approval, even if they are not part of all associated projects.

Reviewers and moderators are determined by the projects or branches associated with the review and are the same across all checklist items.

Limitations

  • A checklist can be associated with only one AI model.

  • All checklist items in a checklist use the same AI model.

  • You cannot add custom statuses.

  • Binary content (such as .pdf, .xls, .docx, .tiff, .mp3) is not evaluated by the AI model.

  • AI vendors and models behavior depends on the model used and may vary.

  • Checklist results do not guarantee review quality.

API support

To manage checklists using the API, see: