What HeyDeer reads
A review reads the pull request’s changes in the context of the whole repository, together with the PR discussion and the guidance you give HeyDeer.
Sources at a glance
PR head is the pull request’s latest commit, and base branch is the branch it merges into, both as of when the review was requested.
| Source | Version | How to change it |
|---|---|---|
| Code changes, without generated files | PR head | Push commits to the pull request |
| Repository files and commit history | PR head | Push commits to the pull request |
| PR title, description, and discussion | When the review was requested | Edit or comment on the pull request |
| Linked issues and pull requests in the same repository | Current | Read linked issues setting |
AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md | PR head | Edit them in the pull request |
.agents/checks/*.md | Base branch | Merge changes into the base branch |
.agents/skills/ | PR head | Edit them in the pull request |
.gitattributes | Base branch | Merge changes into the base branch |
| Review instructions | When the review was requested | Organization settings → Review instructions, or a repository’s Review instructions |
| MCP servers | When the review was requested | Organization settings → MCP servers, or a repository’s MCP servers |
Review instructions and repository checks take precedence over AGENTS.md. See Where each rule belongs.
The code and discussion
HeyDeer reviews what the pull request changes, and can read and search any file at the PR head and the commit history. A finding can point to code outside the diff that the change breaks.
Read linked issues
With Read linked issues on (the default), HeyDeer can read issues and pull requests in the same repository that help explain the change, such as an issue the PR fixes.
Change it in Organization settings → Review rules, under How to review, or per repository. See How settings work.
Generated files
HeyDeer skips files marked linguist-generated in .gitattributes: they are not reviewed and do not match repository checks. HeyDeer does not guess, so mark lock files and generated clients yourself.
# .gitattributes
src/generated/** linguist-generated
pnpm-lock.yaml linguist-generatedWhen every changed file is skipped, the HeyDeer Review check shows No reviewable files and no credits are used.