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Getting started

Connect GitHub, get a first review on a real pull request, and learn what Forseti posts on every PR after that.

Forseti needs no config file to start. Install the GitHub App, and the default branch of every repo you pick is reviewed at Standard depth. Everything else is optional and can wait until you want more control.

Connect GitHub in four clicks

  1. Choose Connect GitHub on this site.
  2. On GitHub, choose Authorize to sign in to Forseti (skipped if you have authorized it before).
  3. GitHub asks which account or organisation to install on (skipped when there is only one).
  4. Choose all repositories or a selection, then Install.

If Forseti is already installed on your account or organisation, steps 3 and 4 are skipped and you go straight to your workspace.

When GitHub sends you back, Forseti:

  • checks the installation against your own GitHub token (an installation id in a link is never trusted on its own);
  • creates your workspace;
  • enables the default branch of every installed repo at Standard;
  • picks the latest small, open, non-draft pull request and holds its review until you add credit, then starts it, so you can watch it live.

Signed in with an email link or Google instead? You land on a Connect GitHub screen first, then the same install runs. See Install the GitHub App for the permissions it asks for and why.

Add credit

Reviews are paid for with prepaid credit, and a new workspace starts with none. Your first review waits on the Add credit screen: choose a pack of £20, £100 or £500 (2,000, 10,000 or 50,000 credits). VAT is added at checkout, and pack credit never expires.

When the payment lands, Forseti starts that same review. You only pay for the reviews you run, and every one is priced before it starts. You can add more credit any time under Spend.

Your first review

The first review streams on screen stage by stage: queued, context, triage, find, verify, rank, posted. Each stage shows the model it used, its tokens and its cost.

If you wrote the pull request, the review posts to GitHub on its own. If a colleague wrote it, you get a Post to GitHub button, so nothing appears on someone else's PR without your say.

What Forseti posts on every pull request

SurfaceWhat it holds
Check runStarts within seconds with the depth and the estimate. Finishes with the verdict and the commit, for example Forseti: clear @ a1b2c3d or Forseti: 2 blocking @ a1b2c3d. It passes (success) only when the PR is clear, and is neutral otherwise; it never fails, so it informs your merge rules rather than replacing them. A push Forseti skips on purpose (a draft, a paused PR, a skip label) gets a neutral check that says why.
Inline commentsOne review per push. Each comment is anchored to the changed line, cites evidence, and carries a suggestion block when there is a concrete fix you can commit in one click.
Re-review receiptAfter the first review, each push gets one short comment saying what changed, for example Re-reviewed a1b2c3d (changes since 9f8e7d6): 2 fixed · 1 still open · 0 new. The previous receipt is hidden, so the conversation keeps only the latest, and the author is notified.
Sticky summaryOne comment, edited in place on every push and whenever a finding changes state: a walkthrough, which files were reviewed and which are not yet, and the findings table, with notes folded below it.

Findings have three severities: Blocking, Should fix and Nit. How many are posted inline depends on the strictness profile; the rest are listed in the summary with the reason. See Policies & depth.

New pushes and fixed findings

A push to an open pull request triggers a review of what changed since the last reviewed commit, plus any files of the PR an earlier review did not reach (within your caps). Only the pull request's own changes count: code that arrives by merging the base branch is not reviewed or charged here. A push with nothing new still gets a result, at no charge: the summary moves to the new commit. Forseti keeps one record of findings per PR, the Review Ledger:

  • a finding is never raised twice, even when nearby lines move;
  • on each push Forseti looks again at the open findings the push could affect, against the code at the new commit, and replies in the thread: “Fixed in” with the commit (and resolves the thread), “Still open” with the reason, or “Withdrawn” when it was not a fault;
  • a reply in the thread, in your own words, or resolving it, makes Forseti look again without a push. A reply alone never closes a finding; see Replying to a finding;
  • @forseti reopen in the thread, or Reopen on the PR page, reopens a finding Forseti closed;
  • if the same problem comes back later, the finding reopens instead of appearing as new.

Rapid pushes are debounced, so a burst of commits produces one review of the latest head.

Bring your team in

Teammates sign in with GitHub. If they belong to the GitHub organisation that installed Forseti, they see a Join button for your workspace (owners can switch this off and require an invite instead). Invite links from Team are single-use and expire after 7 days.

Members who joined through GitHub see only the repositories GitHub lets them see. Owners and admins manage repos, policies, settings and the team; the billing role manages caps and top-ups.

Where to go next