Smell #10: Missing Self-Review
Severity: Critical
Missing Self-Review: The practice of merging AI-generated code into the main branch without the human author thoroughly reading, understanding, and validating the output.
Symptoms
- You use "Tests Pass, Ship It" as your primary quality metric.
- Your Pull Request descriptions are empty or just say "AI updates."
- You cannot explain the internal logic of a file you just prompted.
- You spend less than 1 minute reviewing a 100-line AI implementation.
Self-Assessment
If you merge AI code you haven't read line-by-line, you are in the Critical Risk Zone.
Why It's Dangerous
Missing self-review is the primary mechanism through which Automation Bias enters the project.
- Security Debt: Vulnerabilities are merged because they "look like" valid code.
- Comprehension Debt: The team accumulates code they cannot maintain.
- IP Vacuum: You lose the ability to prove "substantial human creative contribution" for copyright purposes.
The Clean Vibe Solution: The "Explain" Rule
The only way to kill this smell is the Explain Rule: "I will not merge code that I cannot explain to a junior developer from first principles."
How to Fix
- PR Audit: Re-read the last 10 Pull Requests you merged. Can you still explain them?
- Retrospective Review: If not, dedicate a "Debt Sprint" to reading and documenting those modules.
- Stop the Line: Stop merging any new AI code until you've refactored your review process.
How to Prevent
- The 3x Rule: Spend 3x more time reading the code than you spent prompting it.
- Checklist-First Review: Use an explicit checklist (Appendix D) for every AI PR.
- Mandatory Documentation: Require every PR to include a 3-sentence summary of how the logic works.
Related Smells
- Smell #4: Over-Delegation — Over-delegation makes self-review impossible.
- Smell #13: Circular Testing — Tests pass, but code is still wrong.
Book Reference
- Chapter 1: How this smell creates the first units of debt.
- Chapter 10: The Audit — how auditors exploit missing reviews.
- Chapter 18: The Clean Vibe Manifesto — "We Understand Before We Ship."