PR Review Reminder Workflow (pr-review-reminder.yaml)

The PR Review Reminder Workflow automatically sends notifications to the team when pull requests are opened, reopened, or marked ready for review. It helps maintain development velocity by ensuring PRs don't go unnoticed and facilitates timely code reviews.

🔔 Overview

• File: .github/workflows/pr-review-reminder.yaml
• Purpose: Team notification for PR reviews
• Trigger: PR state changes (opened, reopened, ready_for_review)
• Features: Smart filtering, rich notifications, webhook integration
• Platform: Ubuntu with Node.js runtime

🔄 Trigger Events

on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, reopened, ready_for_review]

Trigger Scenarios

Event Type	Description	Notification Sent
opened	New PR created	✅ Yes
reopened	Closed PR reopened	✅ Yes
ready_for_review	Draft PR marked ready	✅ Yes
synchronize	New commits pushed	❌ No (prevents spam)
closed	PR closed/merged	❌ No

📊 PR Information Extraction

Data Collection

# Extract PR metadata
PR_TITLE="${{ github.event.pull_request.title }}"
PR_LINK="https://github.com/${{ github.repository }}/pull/${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}"
PR_CREATOR="${{ github.event.pull_request.user.login }}"

# Process labels with proper JSON handling
cat > /tmp/pr_labels.json << 'ENDOFJSON'
${{ toJSON(github.event.pull_request.labels) }}
ENDOFJSON

Label Processing

# Format labels for display
if [ "$(jq 'length' /tmp/pr_labels.json)" -eq 0 ]; then
  labels="No labels"
else
  labels=$(jq -r 'map("• " + .name) | join("\n")' /tmp/pr_labels.json)
fi

🚫 Smart Filtering

Skip Conditions

The workflow intelligently skips notifications for:

# Skip draft PRs
if [ "${{ github.event.pull_request.draft }}" = "true" ]; then
  echo "Skipping notification - PR is in draft state"
  exit 0
fi

# Skip closed/merged PRs
if [ "${{ github.event.pull_request.merged }}" = "true" ] ||
   [ "${{ github.event.pull_request.state }}" = "closed" ]; then
  echo "Skipping notification - PR is already merged or closed"
  exit 0
fi

Filtering Benefits

• Reduced noise: No notifications for draft PRs
• Relevant timing: Only notify when review is actually needed
• Status awareness: Skip already processed PRs
• Team efficiency: Focus attention on actionable items

📨 Notification System

Webhook Configuration

env:
  WEBHOOK_URL: ${{ vars.PR_REMINDER_WEBHOOK_URL }}

Message Formatting

// JSON-escaped message creation
message=$(cat << EOF | jq -Rs .
🔔 **Pull Request #${{ github.event.pull_request.number }} Review Required**

**Repository:** ${{ github.repository }}
**Title:** ${{ steps.pr_info.outputs.title }}
**Creator:** _${{ steps.pr_info.outputs.creator }}_
**Labels:**
${{ steps.pr_info.outputs.labels }}

🔗 **Link:** ${{ steps.pr_info.outputs.link }}
EOF
)

Webhook Delivery

// Node.js fetch implementation
async function sendWebhook() {
  try {
    const res = await fetch('$WEBHOOK_URL', {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
      body: JSON.stringify({ body: ${message} })
    });
    const text = await res.text();
    console.log(text);
    return text;
  } catch (err) {
    console.error(err);
    process.exit(1);
  }
}

💬 Notification Content

Message Structure

🔔 **Pull Request #123 Review Required**

**Repository:** DashClicks-LLC/Back-End
**Title:** Add new authentication middleware
**Creator:** _john-doe_
**Labels:**
• enhancement
• backend
• security

🔗 **Link:** https://github.com/DashClicks-LLC/Back-End/pull/123

Rich Information

Each notification includes:

• PR Number: Direct reference for team communication
• Repository: Clear context for multi-repo organizations
• Title: PR purpose and scope
• Creator: Who created the PR for context
• Labels: Categories and priority indicators
• Direct Link: One-click access to the PR

🔧 Configuration

Required Variables

# Repository variable (not secret)
PR_REMINDER_WEBHOOK_URL: https://hooks.slack.com/services/...

Webhook Destinations

Common integration targets:

• Slack: Team channels with rich formatting
• Microsoft Teams: Collaborative workspace notifications
• Discord: Development community servers
• Custom webhooks: Internal notification systems

Variable Security

Why use Variables vs Secrets?

• Variables: For non-sensitive configuration (webhook URLs)
• Public repositories: Variables are visible to contributors
• Secrets: For sensitive data (authentication tokens)
• Flexibility: Easy to update without code changes

🔐 Security Considerations

Webhook Security

# Webhook URL validation
if [ -z "$WEBHOOK_URL" ]; then
  echo "Error: WEBHOOK_URL is not set"
  exit 1
fi

Error Handling

# Comprehensive error handling
status_code=${PIPESTATUS[0]}

if [ "$status_code" -ne 0 ]; then
  echo "Error: Webhook request failed"
  echo "Response: $response"
  exit 1
fi

Best Practices

• URL Validation: Always check webhook URL exists
• Error Logging: Capture and log webhook failures
• Rate Limiting: Respect destination service limits
• Retry Logic: Implement retry for transient failures

🎯 Integration Examples

Slack Integration

{
  "body": "🔔 **Pull Request #123 Review Required**\n\n**Repository:** DashClicks-LLC/Back-End\n**Title:** Add authentication middleware\n**Creator:** _john-doe_\n**Labels:**\n• enhancement\n• security\n\n🔗 **Link:** https://github.com/DashClicks-LLC/Back-End/pull/123"
}

Microsoft Teams

{
  "body": "🔔 **Pull Request Review Required**\n\nA new pull request needs your attention:\n\n**PR #123**: Add authentication middleware\n**Repository**: DashClicks-LLC/Back-End\n**Author**: john-doe\n\n[View Pull Request](https://github.com/DashClicks-LLC/Back-End/pull/123)"
}

Discord

{
  "body": "🔔 **New PR Review Request**\n\n**#123**: Add authentication middleware\n**Repo**: DashClicks-LLC/Back-End\n**By**: @john-doe\n**Labels**: enhancement, security\n\n[Review Here](https://github.com/DashClicks-LLC/Back-End/pull/123)"
}

📊 Workflow Analytics

Notification Metrics

Track notification effectiveness:

• Delivery rate: Successful webhook deliveries
• Response time: Time from PR creation to first review
• Review completion: PRs reviewed within SLA
• Team engagement: Active reviewers and response patterns

Performance Monitoring

# Execution time tracking
start_time=$(date +%s)
# ... workflow execution ...
end_time=$(date +%s)
echo "Notification sent in $((end_time - start_time)) seconds"

📋 Notification Configuration

Webhook Requirements

The workflow requires:

• PR_REMINDER_WEBHOOK_URL: Repository variable containing webhook endpoint
• Webhook format: JSON payload with body field
• Supported destinations: Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, custom webhooks

Message Content

Each notification includes:

• PR number and title: Basic identification
• Repository name: Context for multi-repo setups
• Creator username: PR author information
• Labels: Formatted label list or "No labels"
• Direct link: GitHub PR URL for quick access

---

🔗 Related Workflows

• lint-check.yaml - Quality checks before review requests
• unit-tests.yml - Automated testing for PR validation