# Customize reviews

> Tell devlo what to focus on with review instructions, let it approve pull requests, and teach it with votes and comments.

Tell devlo what to focus on with instructions, and choose whether it may approve pull requests. All instructions apply together. Owners and admins can change these settings.

## Where each setting lives

| Setting                            | Where                              | What it does                                             |
| ---------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Additional Review Instructions** | **Automations > Code Reviewer**    | Applies to every repository                              |
| **Custom review instructions**     | **Repositories >** your repository | Adds rules for one repository, up to 1,000 words         |
| **Approve pull requests**          | **Repositories >** your repository | Off by default. When on, devlo can approve pull requests |
| `review.md` or `AGENTS.md`         | Your repository                    | Read on every review                                     |

Code review ignores changes a pull request makes to `review.md` or `AGENTS.md`. Merge them first.

![The Code Reviewer configuration with Enable agent checked and organization-wide Additional Review Instructions filled in.](/_astro/code-reviewer-instructions.Dajdwul-_RAl5h.webp)

Automations > Code Reviewer: organization-wide instructions.

![Repository settings for acme/web with the Approve pull requests toggle and Custom review instructions.](/_astro/repository-settings.C0xqDqPK_Z2tUfNA.webp)

Repository settings: per-repository instructions and approvals.

## Write effective instructions

Be specific, because devlo flags changes that break your instructions. To skip paths, list them in your instructions.

Additional Review Instructions

```text
Focus on security and error handling.
Ignore files under /generated and /migrations.
Don't comment on formatting. Prettier handles it.
```

## Teach devlo

* **Vote** with a thumbs up or thumbs down on inline comments.
* **Tell it** in a pull request comment, for example `@devloai remember that we use snake_case for database columns`.
* **Add instructions** for rules that must always apply.

After a pull request merges, devlo learns from the votes and from what you changed. This uses a few [credits](/account/plans/). What devlo learns applies to later reviews on that repository. To correct it, tell `@devloai` what to change, or add an instruction.

## Related

* [Repository instructions](/coding/writing-tasks/#repository-instructions)
* [Run, re-run, or turn off reviews](/code-review/running-reviews/)