# Reviews

Reviews let you get formal sign-off from teammates before committing a new version. This is how Rockhopper replaces informal review processes — email chains, Slack messages, or verbal approvals — with a structured, auditable workflow.

## When to use reviews

Any team member can request a review on a file that has uncommitted changes. Common scenarios:

* A contributor finishes updating a model and wants a manager to verify the changes before the version is committed
* A team lead wants sign-off from two reviewers before locking in a quarterly close spreadsheet
* Someone spots an issue and wants to flag it for review before discarding changes

## Requesting a review

1. Open the **Reviews** panel (from the File Versions page or the Difference Analysis page)

![Reviews panel icon in the navigation bar](/files/XXBnueXnY8RkIY9njcqr)

You can also access the reviews panel from the Difference Analysis page.

![Reviews tab in the Difference Analysis right panel](/files/HpGppOgIxbFRzMGBc5q7)

2. Click **Request review**
3. Enter a subject line describing what needs review
4. Select one or more reviewers from the dropdown
5. Add a brief description with context or instructions
6. Submit

![Review request form with subject, reviewers, and description](/files/vAjPDGRiHv8Drv5Zozj5)

Reviewers receive an email notification. The review appears in the Reviews panel with a **Pending** status.

![Review showing as Pending in the Reviews panel](/files/tyjxVJJUL6TXt2NPFEgi)

## Reviewing and approving

When you're assigned a review:

1. Open the review from the Reviews panel or from the email notification
2. Look at the file diff to understand what changed

![Review details panel showing reviewer statuses](/files/KXSLoLIj93sqlmJq2TLt)

![Expanded review details with activity history](/files/lJZYcfNP7co2U2fAxFNS)

3. Use the **Comments** tab within the review to leave feedback or ask questions (these comments also appear in the main comment thread)

![Comments tab within a review](/files/r5cBPYm1hJS6oT1vwZAu) 4. When you're satisfied, click **Approve** and add an optional note

![Approve review dialog](/files/quHHYMPoROHmpVRTKNwq)

![Review marked as Approved](/files/kXCVPyQ1gUgTkZZgAbDN)

The review is marked **Approved** once every assigned reviewer has approved.

## Review statuses

| Status        | Meaning                                              |
| ------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| **Pending**   | Waiting for one or more reviewers to respond         |
| **Approved**  | All reviewers have approved                          |
| **Cancelled** | The review was dismissed by the creator or a manager |

## Creating versions with pending reviews

What happens if you try to create a new version while reviews are still pending?

| Your role       | What you can do                                             |
| --------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Manager**     | Can dismiss any pending review and proceed with the version |
| **Contributor** | Can only dismiss reviews you originally requested           |

![Manager dismissing pending reviews when creating a version](/files/CzsPz5tA8L6d5NtAccpG)

![Contributor cannot dismiss reviews they didn't request](/files/0EVKClWpp2A9PmGyD7Uw)

## Editing a review

The person who created a review can edit it at any time — click the options menu (**...**) on the review and select **Edit**.

![Edit review option in the menu](/files/GWb6YpbsRAGpzBU2kcEL)


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