Surmado Code Review: Configuration

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TLDR

Drop a scout-review.yml file into your repo’s .github/ folder to control when and how Surmado Code Review runs. Five keys cover the common cases: what triggers a review, whether drafts are included, and which language the review is written in. You own the file in your repo, just like STANDARDS.md.

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Where the file lives

Commit the config to .github/scout-review.yml at the root of any repo connected to Surmado Code Review. The file is optional. If it isn’t there, Scout uses the defaults below.

Example

# .github/scout-review.yml
auto_review_on_open: true
auto_review_on_push: false
review_drafts: false
language: en
trigger_mode: all

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Config options

Key	Type	Default	What it does
auto_review_on_open	boolean	true	Run a review when a pull request is opened, reopened, or marked ready for review.
auto_review_on_push	boolean	false	Also run a review on every new push to an open pull request. Turn this on for iterative review as you push fixes.
review_drafts	boolean	false	Include draft pull requests. By default Scout waits until a PR is marked ready for review.
language	string	en	Language of the review output. Supported: en, es, fr, pt, ja, it, de.
trigger_mode	string	all	Which pull requests get reviewed. all reviews every PR the GitHub App can see.

You can also always kick off a review manually by commenting /rerun-review on an open PR, regardless of config.

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Three ways to change it

The config file is just a file in your repo. You can edit it however you usually edit files.

Ask Scout

Open Surmado Code Review in the app and tell Scout what you want to change (“only review when I open a PR, skip drafts”). Scout drafts the change, shows you the diff, and commits it to your repo once you approve.

Edit it yourself

Open .github/scout-review.yml in your editor, change the value, and commit. Scout picks up the new config on the next PR event.

Use an AI coding agent in GitHub

If you use an AI coding agent (Claude Code, Copilot, Cursor, etc.), point it at .github/scout-review.yml and tell it what you want. It can open the PR for you. Your config change goes through the same review flow as any other code change.

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Per-repo, not per-org

The config file is per-repo. Each repo connected to Surmado Code Review can have its own scout-review.yml. If you want the same behavior across every repo, copy the file into each one, or keep them on defaults and don’t commit a config at all.

STANDARDS.md (the rules Scout reviews against) can be shared across repos via your org’s .github repo. scout-review.yml is per-repo only.

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Common recipes

Review on every push, not just on open

auto_review_on_open: true
auto_review_on_push: true

Skip reviews entirely until a PR is ready

auto_review_on_open: true
review_drafts: false

Get reviews in Spanish

language: es

Pause automatic reviews (manual only via /rerun-review)

auto_review_on_open: false
auto_review_on_push: false

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Next Steps

Surmado Code Review FAQ | Get started with Code Review