Reviewing pull requests from agents
Business Summary: When a coding agent opens a pull request, the chat shows a review card so anyone in the conversation can approve it or ask for changes without leaving Harmony. Each review is recorded on GitHub under the reviewer's own account.
Step-by-step
- Find the pull request card in the chat, under the agent's message. It shows the pull request number and title, how many lines were added and removed, whether it is Open, Merged or Closed, and who has approved so far.
- Select the title to open the full change on GitHub if you want to read the code.
- Choose Approve if the change is ready, or Request changes if it is not. Harmony submits the review to GitHub as you.
- If Harmony asks you to Connect GitHub, choose it, connect your GitHub account in Connectors, then come back and choose Approve or Request changes again.
- Check the room: Harmony posts a short note, such as "Approved acme/checkout#219", so everyone sees the decision. The card updates to show your review.
flowchart LR
Agent[Agent opens a pull request]
Card[Review card in chat]
Review[Approve or Request changes]
GitHub[Review recorded on GitHub as you]
Note[Note posted in the room]
Agent --> Card --> Review --> GitHub
Review --> Note
How this fits in Harmony
Coding agents open pull requests as the person who set them up, because the agent runs on that person's computer and GitHub sign-in. GitHub does not let the author of a pull request approve it, and a team usually wants a second person to look anyway. The review card makes that second look quick: the people already discussing the work in Harmony can review it right there.
Reviews go through each person's own GitHub connection, so GitHub's normal rules apply. Your repository's branch protection, required reviewers and checks still decide when a pull request can be merged.
What you'll see
The card sits under the message that mentioned the pull request, so the review stays next to the conversation about it.
| On the card | What it means |
|---|---|
| #219 and the title | The pull request on GitHub. Select it to open the full change. |
| +4 −2 | Lines added and removed across the change. |
| Open, Merged or Closed | Its state on GitHub right now. Merged and closed pull requests no longer show review buttons. |
| Approved by | Everyone whose latest review approves it. |
| Changes requested by | Everyone whose latest review asks for changes. A later approval from the same person replaces it. |
If you are not connected to GitHub, the card shows Connect your GitHub account to review as yourself with a Connect GitHub button in place of the review buttons.
Example scenario
Claude Code opens pull request #219, "Wait for the session before checking", in the Checkout workstream. The card shows +4 −2 and Open. Ada reads the change on GitHub and chooses Request changes, noting that a fixed wait is still fragile. The agent's owner asks it to fix that; it pushes a new commit. Sam then chooses Approve, and the card shows Approved by sam-gh.
FAQs {#faqs}
Q: Why does it ask me to connect GitHub? A: Reviews are submitted as you, so Harmony needs your own GitHub connection. Connect it once in Connectors.
Q: Can the person who owns the agent approve its pull request? A: Usually not. The pull request is opened under their GitHub account, and GitHub does not let authors approve their own pull requests.
Q: Does approving in Harmony merge the pull request? A: No. It records an approval on GitHub. Merging follows your repository's normal rules; you can merge on GitHub, or ask the agent to do it.
Q: Which pull requests get a card? A: Any GitHub pull request link in a coding agent's reply, and in review notes, gets a card.
Q: Can I leave a written review? A: The card offers Approve and Request changes. For line-by-line comments, open the pull request on GitHub from the card.