cascade-review

AI-powered code reviewer that catches what others miss.
Build-breaker prevention. SonarQube-grade checks. Blast radius analysis.
Works with 8 LLM providers. Zero cost to start.

pip install cascade-review
git diff | cascade

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What it does

Most AI code reviewers give you comments. Cascade gives you impact — and catches builds that would break in CI before you push.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  cascade-review  github.com/vyshakhgnair/cascade-review

  CHANGE SUMMARY
  Added token refresh logic to authenticate_user(). Extends
  session handling with a new remember_me parameter.
  Type: LOGIC  ⚠ Auth path changed — affects all logged-in users

  ⛔ SECRETS DETECTED
  CRITICAL  [API Key] in config/settings.py
  api_key = "sk-proj-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx..."

  REGRESSION RISK
  8/10  ████████░░  CRITICAL
  › Security-sensitive file: auth/login.py
  › 3 files depend on authenticate_user()

  BLAST RADIUS
  Changed: authenticate_user, refresh_token
  Risk: HIGH
  → routes/dashboard.py   uses authenticate_user
  → middleware/guard.py   uses authenticate_user
  → api/v2/token.py       uses refresh_token

  SONARQUBE SIMULATION
  CRITICAL   S2077  SQL built from user input — use parameterised queries  [30min]
  MAJOR      S3776  Cognitive complexity 18 exceeds threshold of 15        [1h]
  MINOR      S1481  Variable "tmp" assigned but never used                 [2min]

  🚧 BUILD BREAKERS
  HIGH       [MISSING_DEP]      'redis' imported but not in requirements.txt
  CRITICAL   [CASE_SENSITIVITY] Import 'Utils' — actual file is 'utils.py' (breaks on Linux CI)
  WARNING    [LOCKFILE_DRIFT]   package.json changed but lock file not updated
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

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Why Cascade is different

Feature	Cascade	CodeRabbit	PR-Agent	SonarQube
Build-breaker prevention	✅ 8 checks	❌	❌	❌
Code redaction (privacy)	✅	❌	❌	n/a
Blast radius analysis	✅	❌	❌	❌
SonarQube rule simulation	✅	❌	❌	✅ paid
Regression risk score	✅	❌	❌	❌
AI-generated code detection	✅	❌	❌	❌
Architecture drift check	✅	❌	❌	❌
Version conflict detection	✅	❌	❌	❌
Review policy as code	✅	✅	❌	✅
Works fully offline	✅	❌	❌	❌
Pre-commit hook	✅	❌	❌	❌
Audit trail (SOC 2)	✅	❌	❌	✅
Cost	$0	$24/mo	Self-host	Enterprise
Supports 8 LLM providers	✅	❌	Partial	❌

Cascade catches builds that would break in CI — no other code reviewer does this.

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Quick start

pip install cascade-review

# Review current changes (static only, no API key needed)
git diff | cascade --no-llm

# Review staged changes
cascade --staged

# Full review with LLM (free with Groq)
export GROQ_API_KEY=your-key-here
git diff | cascade

# Use a specific provider
cascade --provider anthropic --model claude-sonnet-4-6

# Output as markdown (for PR comments)
git diff | cascade --output markdown

# HTML dashboard report
git diff | cascade --output html > report.html

# Privacy mode — redact code before sending to LLM
git diff | cascade --redact

# CI mode — fail if critical findings exist
git diff | cascade --no-llm --severity-gate high

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Build-breaker prevention

Cascade's unique feature — catches things that pass code review but explode in CI:

Check	What it catches
MISSING_DEP	Imported package not in requirements.txt / package.json
DEV_IN_PROD	devDependency used in production code
CASE_SENSITIVITY	File imports that work on Mac/Windows but break on Linux CI
DELETED_SYMBOL	Function/class removed but still imported elsewhere
PLATFORM_PATH	Hardcoded C:\ or /Users/ paths
LOCKFILE_DRIFT	package.json changed but lock file not updated
LARGE_FILE	Binary or data file accidentally committed
MISSING_ENV_VAR	Env var used in code but not in .env.example

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Code redaction (privacy)

Don't trust your LLM provider with proprietary code? Use --redact:

# Before redaction:
api_key = "sk-prod-abc123"
price = 99.99

# What the LLM sees:
api_key = "STR_1"
price = NUM_2

Structure is preserved for accurate review. Values never leave your machine.

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Supported providers

cascade --list-providers   # See all providers and their status

Provider	Free tier	Privacy	Notes
Ollama	✅ Free (local)	✅ Local	Offline, private, no quota
Groq	✅ 30K TPM	⚠ Check ToS	Fastest cloud inference
OpenRouter	✅ 29 free models	⚠ Check ToS	Frontier models at no cost
DeepSeek	✅ Free tier	⚠ Check ToS	Strong reasoning
Gemini	✅ Free tier	⚠ Check ToS	Gemini Flash / Pro
Mistral	✅ Free tier	✅ No-train	Fast, European
Anthropic	Paid	✅ No-train	Claude Sonnet / Opus
OpenAI	Paid	✅ No-train	GPT-4o, o1

Privacy labels: local = nothing leaves your machine, no-train = provider won't train on your inputs, check ToS = free tier may use inputs for training.

Cascade warns you when using providers with unclear privacy policies.

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Configuration

cascade --init   # Creates .cascade.yml in your repo

.cascade.yml:

models:
  local:
    provider: ollama
    model: qwen2.5-coder:3b

  mid:
    provider: groq
    model: llama-3.3-70b-versatile
    api_key_env: GROQ_API_KEY

  frontier:
    provider: anthropic
    model: claude-sonnet-4-6
    api_key_env: ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

routing:
  local_max_lines: 50    # < 50 lines → local model
  mid_max_lines: 200     # 50-200 lines → mid tier
  force_tier: auto       # or: local / mid / frontier

review:
  severity_threshold: warning
  exclude: [migrations/, vendor/, node_modules/]

Team config inheritance (monorepos)

Place a root .cascade.yml at the repo root, then override per-package:

my-monorepo/
  .cascade.yml           ← root config (shared settings)
  packages/
    api/
      .cascade.yml       ← overrides for API package
    frontend/
      .cascade.yml       ← overrides for frontend

Package configs deep-merge with root — you only override what's different.

---

Review policy as code

Create .cascade-rules.yml to enforce team standards:

rules:
  - name: no-console-log
    message: "Remove console.log before merging"
    files: "\\.(js|ts|tsx)$"
    pattern: "console\\.log\\("
    severity: WARNING

  - name: no-debugger
    message: "Debugger statement left in code"
    pattern: "\\bdebugger\\b"
    severity: HIGH

  - name: no-axios-in-services
    message: "Use the shared HTTP client, not raw axios"
    files: "services/"
    forbidden_imports: ["axios"]
    severity: WARNING

  - name: max-file-size
    message: "File too large — consider splitting"
    max_lines: 500
    severity: WARNING

  - name: tests-required
    message: "Test file should include at least one assertion"
    files: "(test_|spec\\.|__test)"
    require: "(assert|expect|should)"
    severity: HIGH

See examples/cascade-rules.yml for more.

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Pre-commit hook

cascade --hook install     # Install pre-commit hook
cascade --hook uninstall   # Remove it

Runs static analysis on staged changes before every commit. Blocks commits with high-severity findings.

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Audit trail (SOC 2)

git diff | cascade --audit                          # Log to .cascade/audit.jsonl
git diff | cascade --audit --audit-path logs/reviews.jsonl  # Custom path

Every review is logged as a JSON line:

{
  "timestamp": "2026-06-25T18:19:08Z",
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "provider": "groq",
  "model": "llama-3.3-70b-versatile",
  "redacted": false,
  "files_reviewed": ["auth/login.py"],
  "findings": {"secrets": 0, "sonar": 3, "build_breakers": 1, "bugs": 0},
  "severities": {"CRITICAL": 1, "MAJOR": 2},
  "regression_risk": {"score": 6, "level": "HIGH"}
}

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CI / GitHub Action

# .github/workflows/cascade.yml
name: Cascade Review
on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize]

jobs:
  review:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      pull-requests: write
      contents: read
      security-events: write

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0

      - uses: vyshakhgnair/cascade-review@v1
        with:
          groq_api_key: ${{ secrets.GROQ_API_KEY }}
          output_format: markdown
          severity_gate: high
          fail_on_secrets: true

Add GROQ_API_KEY to repo secrets (free at console.groq.com).

Other CI platforms

• GitLab CI
• Bitbucket Pipelines
• Azure DevOps

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Output formats

Format	Flag	Use case
Terminal	--output terminal	Local development (default)
Markdown	--output markdown	PR comments
HTML	--output html	Shareable dashboard report
SARIF	--output sarif	GitHub Security tab
JSON	--output json	Programmatic consumption

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Smart routing

< 50 lines   → local Ollama 3B    (instant, private, zero quota)
50–200 lines → Groq 70B           (fast, free tier)
200+ lines   → OpenRouter/Claude  (full context, deepest reasoning)

Auto-fallback when quotas run out. Override anytime: cascade --tier frontier

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What Cascade checks

Static analysis — instant, works offline, no API key:

• SonarQube rule simulation (Python + JS/TS — S1192, S2077, S3776, S1481, S106 and more)
• Secret / credential detection (15+ patterns — API keys, AWS, Stripe, GitHub, SSH keys)
• Blast radius — which files break if this change fails
• Regression risk score (1–10)
• Architecture drift (naming, layer violations, broad exceptions, god classes, circular imports)
• Build-breaker prevention (8 checks)
• Version conflict detection (cross-workspace / monorepo)
• Review policy enforcement (.cascade-rules.yml)

LLM analysis — requires a model:

• Plain English change summary (LOGIC / REFACTOR / FEATURE / BUGFIX / CONFIG / TEST / DOCS)
• Bug and logic error detection
• AI-generated code detection
• Fix suggestions with effort estimates

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Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	Clean — no blocking findings
1	Error — could not parse diff
2	Secrets detected
3	Severity gate failed

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All CLI flags

cascade --version                    # Show version
cascade --staged                     # Review staged changes only
cascade --no-llm                     # Static analysis only
cascade --redact                     # Strip literals before sending to LLM
cascade --provider groq              # Override LLM provider
cascade --model llama-3.3-70b        # Override model
cascade --tier frontier              # Force model tier
cascade --output html                # terminal / markdown / sarif / json / html
cascade --severity-gate high         # Fail if findings >= severity
cascade --audit                      # Write audit trail
cascade --audit-path path/log.jsonl  # Custom audit log path
cascade --hook install               # Install pre-commit hook
cascade --hook uninstall             # Remove pre-commit hook
cascade --list-providers             # Show providers and key status
cascade --init                       # Create .cascade.yml

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Contributing

git clone https://github.com/vyshakhgnair/cascade-review
cd cascade-review
pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest

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License

MIT — use it, fork it, build on it.

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Built by Vyshakh G Nair — cascade-review