How to Automate Code Review with Ellipsis

Ellipsis is an AI code review tool that runs on your pull requests. It comments on diffs, flags likely bugs, and answers natural-language questions about the repo. You connect GitHub, install the app, and it starts reviewing. This guide covers setup and how to keep its comments useful instead of noisy.

What does Ellipsis review?

It reads the pull-request diff plus surrounding code and posts review comments: style issues, potential bugs, missing tests, and logic that contradicts earlier patterns in the repo. It also acts as a chat agent you can ask “where is auth handled?” and get an answer grounded in your code.

It fits small teams without a dedicated reviewer on every PR. It does not replace human review on security-sensitive paths.

How do you install it on a repo?

1. Sign in with GitHub and authorise the Ellipsis app.
2. Choose which repositories to enable. Start with one active repo, not all of them.
3. Open a test pull request and watch the first review comment appear.
4. Reply to a comment to check the conversational loop works.

Enabling every repo at once floods you with comments before you have tuned the rules. One repo first.

How do you tune the noise level?

• Add repo rules describing your conventions, so it stops flagging things your team does on purpose.
• Tell it to ignore generated files and lockfiles.
• Mark comments as unhelpful; feedback shapes later reviews.

Expect a week of tuning. Out of the box it errs toward commenting; after tuning, a good review should have a handful of substantive notes, not thirty nitpicks.

Is Ellipsis free?

Ellipsis has a free tier for small teams or limited usage, with paid plans for higher review volume, private repos at scale and team features. Check current limits, since review-based pricing changes as models improve. Budget by pull-request volume, which is what actually drives cost.

Where should you not trust it?

Anything security-critical, licensing-sensitive, or architecture-level. AI review is good at local bugs and missed cases; it is weak at judging whether a design decision is right for your product. Treat its comments as a first pass, and keep a human as the approver.

Quick Summary

• Ellipsis reviews PRs and answers questions about your codebase.
• Install on one repo first, then expand after tuning rules.
• Reduce noise with repo conventions and by ignoring generated files.
• Free tier covers small usage; paid scales with review volume.
• Do not rely on it for security, licensing or architecture calls — keep a human approver.