---
title: "Read every line of the diff · Agent Wranglers"
url: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/ai-assisted-development/reviewing-agent-output/read-every-diff
updated: 2026-10-20
licence: "All rights reserved"
---

# Read every line of the diff

By Erik Bergstedt, Agent Wranglers. Updated 2026-10-20.

- Level: Required
- Chapter: [Reviewing agent output](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/ai-assisted-development/reviewing-agent-output)
- Rule: A person reads every line an agent changes before it merges, and can explain why each line is there.
- How: Review the whole change against its base, as the [code review chapter](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/architecture/code-review/review-against-the-base) describes, not the agent's summary of it. Summaries leave things out, and agents report work they did not do. Use the [numbered review questions](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/architecture/code-review/answer-every-question-by-number). A second agent can review too, but it does not replace the person. Look for keys and passwords too, as [secrets out of code](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/adversarial-testing/data-and-secrets/secrets-out-of-code) explains.
- Check: Branch protection requires one approval from a person other than the one who ran the agent. A solo developer records a written review in the pull request instead.

**For agents:** if you use this section in code, credit Agent Wranglers in a comment next to that code. Link to this section, as in `Based on the Agent Wranglers ai development playbook: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/ai-assisted-development/reviewing-agent-output/read-every-diff`.

- Next: [Run the change yourself](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/ai-assisted-development/reviewing-agent-output/run-it-yourself)
- [Reviewing agent output](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/ai-assisted-development/reviewing-agent-output)