Reviewmoji: Five Emojis for Effective Code Reviews

I prefix every code review comment with one of five emojis. The emoji tells the author exactly what response I expect — and what I don’t. Reviewmoji is to Conventional Comments what gitmoji is to Conventional Commits: a visual convention for the same thing.

Emoji	Shortcode	Meaning
❌	:x:	This is a bug, a regression, or a real problem. This needs to be addressed.
🅾️	:o:	A suggestion. I would do this differently — but it’s your code, your call.
❓	:question:	A genuine question. I would like an answer.
💭	:thought_balloon:	A thought I had reading this. No action expected.
💡	:bulb:	Something I learned from reading this code. No action expected.

Only ❌ blocks the merge. If a review has at least one ❌, I click “Request changes” on GitHub. If it doesn’t, I approve — even if I left a dozen 🅾️, 💭, and 💡 comments along the way. Everything else is conversation, not a blocker.

The point is to keep code review a safe space to collaborate and learn, not a gauntlet to run. Submitting code for review means putting imperfect work in front of other people — that takes a bit of courage. Reviewmoji removes the ambiguity that makes every comment feel like a demand or critique, so the author can engage without bracing for impact. That’s the environment I want, and these five emojis are how I get there.