comb

comb-the-desert

A Claude Code plugin for code review: a /comb:review → /comb:plan → /comb:fix pipeline with /comb:the-desert for the full sweep.

The plugin ships configurable reviewer agents, eight domain-neutral directives, and a layered config system that lets your project policy take precedence.

What it does

• /comb:review — dispatches 1–5 reviewer agents over a PR / branch / file list / spec doc; right-sizes the apparatus based on what the diff is (code-shaped → full severity-ranked report with verdict and verification; non-code → condensed report with flat labelled findings)
• /comb:plan — turns each finding into a self-contained fix instruction
• /comb:fix — executes the instructions, with implementer + reviewer per item, parallel batching where safe; commits each item on reviewer PASS with <code>: <title> (opt out via fix.commit_per_item: false)
• /comb:the-desert — runs all three steps as one continuous sweep, opus everywhere, no pauses; short-circuits to review-only on non-code artifacts (findings go back to your design conversation, not an autonomous rewrite)
• /comb:patterns — scans the codebase and writes a PATTERNS manifest of concrete conventions (structure, naming, closed token sets, abstraction level, reuse points) with real file:line references; /comb:review, /comb:plan, and /comb:fix consume it as an observed baseline (a prior, not law)
• /comb:configure — edit comb.config.json conversationally: change paths, swap models, enable/disable agents, point at your directives
• /comb:help — overview and per-command details. /comb:help <command> for a deep dive

Each command accepts a free-form focus brief that biases agent picking and finding priorities:

/comb:review look for spec/plan misalignment
/comb:the-desert ensure simplicity, scope discipline, and TDD coverage

Install

The plugin is distributed via olioskar/claude-plugins, a marketplace of Claude Code plugins I've authored.

1. Add the marketplace:

/plugin marketplace add olioskar/claude-plugins

2. Install the plugin:

/plugin install comb@olioskar-marketplace

To pull a new release later:

/plugin marketplace update olioskar-marketplace
/plugin uninstall comb@olioskar-marketplace
/plugin install comb@olioskar-marketplace

For local development:

claude --plugin-dir /path/to/comb-the-desert-claude-plugin

Quick start

After install, in a git repo with some changes:

/comb:review

The plugin picks an agent palette based on what's in the diff, runs the reviewers in parallel, and writes a report to docs/combs/reviews/<derived-name>.md. From there you can /comb:plan to generate fix instructions, then /comb:fix to execute them — or /comb:the-desert to do all three at once.

Configuration

The plugin reads three layers of config, deep-merged in this order (later wins):

1. ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/config/defaults.json — shipped defaults
2. ~/.claude/comb.config.json — global override
3. <project-root>/.claude/comb.config.json — project override

If you'd rather not hand-edit JSON, run /comb:configure and describe the change ("disable test-auditor", "use sonnet for plan", "look for my directives in docs/our-rules"). The skill picks the right scope file, shows a diff, and writes the merged result.

Common overrides

Use a project-specific writer for /comb:fix and /comb:plan:

{
  "agents": {
    "implementer": {
      "subagent_type": "your-org:implementer"
    }
  }
}

The default is general-purpose (Claude's built-in writer-capable subagent), which is suitable for most projects. Override only if you have a specialist implementer for your stack.

Disable per-item commits (back to v0.4.x behavior):

{
  "fix": {
    "commit_per_item": false
  }
}

Add your team's specialist agents (e.g., a project-local react-expert defined in .claude/agents/react-expert.md):

{
  "agents": {
    "react-expert": {
      "subagent_type": "react-expert",
      "when_to_use": "Diff includes React components, hooks, or JSX."
    }
  }
}

Substitute a shipped role with a specialist plugin's agent:

{
  "agents": {
    "simplifier": {
      "subagent_type": "pr-review-toolkit:code-simplifier"
    }
  }
}

Point at your team's directives:

{
  "directives": {
    "user_path": "docs/our-rules"
  }
}

Removing a shipped role

Set the role's key to null in an override layer:

{
  "agents": {
    "simplifier": null
  }
}

Full schema

See config/defaults.json for every supported field. The skill bodies in skills/*/SKILL.md are the runtime contract; CHANGELOG.md documents behavior changes per release.

Directives

The plugin ships eight domain-neutral directives at directives/: