What is PatchPatrol

PatchPatrol helps teams use AI as a bounded review companion for GitLab merge requests.

In this project, PatchPatrol is positioned for teams who want:

• Fast, repeatable review runs in CI.
• Deterministic output as ai-review.md and ai-review.json.
• Bounded review scope that stays tied to the merge-request context.
• A privacy-first path with customer-controlled model endpoints.

Quick answer

If you are wondering whether PatchPatrol is for your team, the short answer is:

• you run GitLab merge requests,
• you need review signals sooner and more consistently,
• and you want AI review without replacing existing human judgement.

The page you are reading exists to explain how that works before you move into setup.

Why this exists

Code review is most useful when teams can trust what they read. PatchPatrol is built around a small, explicit contract:

1. Prepare a supported PatchPatrol review path in GitLab.
2. Run the review job in artifact-first mode.
3. Inspect ai-review.md first, then use ai-review.json when needed.

The public documentation focuses on this supported path first, then lets teams expand toward optional feedback modes.

Who this is for

PatchPatrol is for teams that:

• Want review automation without giving up human judgement.
• Already run GitLab merge-request pipelines and want an additional signal.
• Prefer explicit model choices and clear review boundaries.

If you are evaluating a merge-request review workflow, this docs path is for you.

• Start with Admin Quickstart
• Then continue with Developer Quickstart

What happens during the first review

For the supported public path, you get a clear sequence:

• PatchPatrol runs in artifact-only mode first.
• The job uploads outputs for review.
• You inspect findings in Markdown, then use JSON when deeper automation or machine reading is needed.

This keeps the first rollout focused: get signal quickly, then move into follow-on modes with confidence.

When to use PatchPatrol

Use PatchPatrol when your team wants a bounded AI review companion in CI, especially where:

• Manual review bandwidth is tight.
• The same review sequence should be repeatable for many merge requests.
• You want to keep model choice and context boundaries explicit.

If you are not yet in a GitLab artifact-first review path, use this section as the first alignment point and follow the setup guides once in place.

Where to go next

Once you understand this, move into the operational docs:

• Admin Quickstart
• Developer Quickstart
• Troubleshooting