Get a direct overview of Pull Request complexity.

This extension adds functionality to Microsoft's GitHub Pull Requests plugin for Visual Studio Code. For more details on the original features and plugin, please visit its Marketplace page.

About the Extension

This extension is developed and maintained by the SNAIL Research Laboratory at the University of Namur (Belgium). For more information or to get in touch, visit the SNAIL website.

Purpose

The main goal of the extension is to provide reviewers with a quick overview of Pull Request complexity.

Recent research has shown that cognitive biases can influence how developers review Pull Requests, which may negatively impact review quality. By offering a visual summary of a Pull Request’s complexity, this extension aims to:

• Raise awareness about complexity before review
• Help reviewers make more informed decisions
• Improve the overall quality of code reviews

Key Features

To achieve this goal, the extension introduces two main features:

1. Fit For Me Pull Request Category

   Pull Requests are automatically sorted into a new category called "Fit For Me", based on their total risk score. This score is determined using an aggregate formula based on a set of metrics describing the complexity of the Pull Request.

   

2. Radar Chart Visualization

   Each Pull Request overview includes a radar chart displaying the calculated complexity metrics.

   • The radar chart consists of five rings, ranging from the center (indicating lower risk) to the outermost ring (indicating higher risk).
   • Each axis of the chart represents a different metric.
   • The chart gives reviewers an immediate, visual understanding of the Pull Request’s complexity profile.

   

Getting Started

This extension relies on a backend API that analyzes Pull Requests and computes complexity metrics. To set up the server, please visit the analysis server repository.

Steps to Set Up

1. Install and configure the original GitHub Pull Requests plugin Follow the setup instructions provided by Microsoft on the plugin's Marketplace page.

2. Configure the analysis server URL In the extension settings, locate the field called Improved Pull Requests: Server URL and enter the URL of your analysis server.

You're now ready to go! 🎉

Configuring the Extension

The configuration of complexity metrics is handled by the analysis server. For more details on how to configure the metrics or customize the analysis, please refer to the analysis server repository.

For information on configuring the original GitHub Pull Requests plugin, visit the plugin's main page.

All settings added by this extension are labeled with "Improved Pull Requests" in the Visual Studio Code settings panel.

Architecture of the Extension

The functionality added by this extension is implemented in the src/improvedPullRequest/ folder. This folder contains the following core components:

• improvedPullRequest A proxy of the original Pull Request model. It adds metrics information without modifying the original logic.

• improvedPullRequestClient A client module responsible for communicating with the analysis server and retrieving complexity metrics for Pull Requests.

• improvedPullRequestMetrics An interface defining the structure of the metrics information added to the original Pull Request model.

• sorteablePullRequests A helper object that retrieves metrics for multiple Pull Requests and sorts them based on their worst risk value.

Since the analysis server requires a GitHub access token to retrieve Pull Request data, the improvedPullRequestClient uses the same access token stored by the original GitHub Pull Requests plugin. For security, the client is created and managed using the credentials class, following the same mechanism as the original plugin.

The radar chart visualization is implemented in the webviews/components/radarChart.tsx file. It is integrated into the Pull Request sidebar UI via the webviews/components/sidebar.tsx file.