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This guide covers proven strategies for getting the most value from Greptile based on real-world team experiences. For a quick overview of capabilities, see the developer quick reference.

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Configuration Options You Should Know

Get started with the getting started guide if you havenā€™t set up Greptile yet.

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Dashboard Configuration

Learn more about all available settings in the key features guide.

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Adjust how many comments Greptile makes

The severity threshold is your primary tool for controlling how many comments Greptile makes:

Low Threshold

More comments, more detail
  • Comments on potential issues
  • Includes minor suggestions
  • Good for teams that value detailed feedback

Medium Threshold

Balanced approach (default)
  • Mix of minor and major issues
  • Filters out most nitpicks
  • Recommended starting point

High Threshold

Critical issues only
  • Fewer, high-impact comments
  • Focuses on bugs and security
  • Good for teams that find the agent too noisy
Start with medium threshold and adjust based on your teamā€™s feedback. If youā€™re getting too much noise, increase it. If you want more detail, decrease it.

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Adjust what types of comments Greptile makes

You can control which types of issues Greptile comments on:
  • Syntax: Basic code structure and formatting
  • Logic: Potential bugs and logical issues
  • Style: Coding conventions and best practices
Many teams disable syntax comments if they already use a linter, letting Greptile focus on logic and style issues that automated tools miss.

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Help Greptile Learn About Your Codebase and Patterns

Learn more about how Greptile learns in the memory and learning guide.

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Effective Comment Interaction

1

React to Comments

Use šŸ‘ for helpful comments and šŸ‘Ž for unhelpful ones. This is the primary way Greptile learns your preferences.
2

Explain Your Feedback

When downvoting, reply explaining why: @greptileai Actually, we prefer list comprehensions because they're more readable
3

Ask Questions

Tag @greptileai to ask for clarification: @greptileai Can you explain why this is a security issue?
4

Be Consistent

Regular, consistent feedback across team members helps Greptile learn faster.

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Learning timeline

2-3 weeks of consistent feedback typically shows noticeable improvement in comment relevance and accuracy.
Early weeks may have more noise as Greptile learns your teamā€™s preferences. The system gets better at:
  • Filtering suggestions to what your team values
  • Understanding your codebase context
  • Recognizing your teamā€™s coding patterns

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What does Greptile learn from?

  • Your reactions to its comments
  • Other developersā€™ comments on PRs
  • Which suggestions get implemented vs ignored
  • Team discussions about code patterns

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Managing Custom Context

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Types of Custom Context

See the full custom context guide for detailed instructions.

Rules

Team Preferences
  • Enforce coding standards
  • Specify preferred patterns
  • Set architectural guidelines

Files

Documentation
  • Style guides
  • Architecture docs
  • API standards

Other

Additional Info
  • Project context
  • Domain knowledge
  • Special requirements

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Effective Context Rules

  • Good Examples
  • Scoping Rules
"Use async/await instead of Promise chains for better readability"

"All API endpoints must validate input parameters"

"Prefer functional components over class components in React"

"Database queries should use prepared statements"

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Context File Best Practices

Point Greptile to your existing documentation:
  • Style guides: Language-specific coding standards
  • Architecture docs: System design and patterns
  • Security policies: Compliance and security requirements
  • API standards: Consistent API design patterns
  • Testing strategies: How your team approaches testing
Review learned rules regularly. Greptile automatically creates rules based on team comments, but you should verify they align with your actual preferences.

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Advanced Configuration

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Repository-Level Settings

Use greptile.json in your repository root for per-repo configuration. Learn more in the greptile.json guide: 
{
  "strictness": 2,
  "commentTypes": ["logic", "style"],
  "patternsRepo": ["org/frontend-repo"],
  "customInstructions": "Focus on security and performance",
  "scope": {
    "include": ["src/**"],
    "exclude": ["tests/**", "docs/**"]
  }
}

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Analytics Monitoring

Track these key metrics in your dashboard:
  • Average time to merge: Are reviews helping or slowing down merges?
  • Comment engagement: High upvote rates indicate valuable feedback
  • Addressed comments per MR: Shows team adoption and value

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Integration Optimization

Set up smart triggers based on:
  • Specific authors (new team members)
  • Branch patterns (feature branches)
  • PR labels (needs-review)
  • File types (critical system files)
Link related repositories for better context:
  • Add frontend repo to backend reviews
  • Include shared library repositories
  • Cross-reference microservice dependencies

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Team Adoption Strategies

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For New Teams

1

Start Conservative

Begin with high severity threshold to build confidence with fewer, high-quality comments.
2

Encourage Engagement

Train team members on upvoting/downvoting and asking questions.
3

Iterate Based on Feedback

Adjust settings weekly based on team feedback and analytics.
4

Add Context Gradually

Start with key style guides, then add more context as the team sees value.

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Getting Support

Documentation

Use the docs assistant for specific questions about configuration and usage.

Community Support

Join team-specific Slack channels for real-time help and best practice sharing.

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Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Donā€™t ignore the learning period. Greptile needs 2-3 weeks of consistent feedback to understand your teamā€™s preferences.
Donā€™t set severity too low initially. Start conservative and lower the threshold once the team is comfortable with the feedback quality.
Donā€™t forget to scope custom rules. Broad rules applied everywhere can create noise in inappropriate contexts.
Remember: Greptile learns continuously. Regular engagement and feedback make it more valuable over time.

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Troubleshooting & FAQ

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Common Issues

Possible causes:
  • Your PR doesnā€™t match configured trigger rules (labels, authors, branches)
  • Changes are in excluded files or directories
  • Repository indexing is still in progress (check for ā€œupdatingā€ tag in dashboard)
Solutions:
  • Try manual trigger: comment @greptileai on the PR (see manual triggers)
  • Check your teamā€™s trigger configuration in dashboard settings
  • Verify the repository is properly connected and indexed
Solutions:
  • Increase severity threshold in dashboard settings (move from Low ā†’ Medium ā†’ High)
  • Disable comment types you donā€™t need (syntax if you use a linter)
  • Downvote irrelevant comments consistently to help Greptile learn
  • Add custom rules to clarify your teamā€™s preferences (see custom context)
This is normal in the first 2-3 weeks. Greptile needs feedback to learn your preferences.Solutions:
  • Consistently upvote helpful comments, downvote unhelpful ones
  • Reply to explain why comments are wrong: @greptileai Actually, this pattern is preferred in our codebase because...
  • Add custom context about your teamā€™s standards and architectural decisions (see custom context)
  • Be patient - learning takes time but improves significantly
This is normal for large codebases. Initial indexing is compute-intensive and can take several hours.What to expect:
  • Large repositories (100k+ lines): Several hours for initial index
  • Subsequent updates: Much faster, only processes new changes
  • Youā€™ll see ā€œupdatingā€ tag in dashboard while indexing is in progress
If itā€™s stuck: Contact support with your repository details
Check these common causes:
  • Repository permissions or access tokens may have expired
  • Trigger rules may have been updated to exclude your PRs
  • Repository may have been disconnected accidentally
Solutions:
  • Check repository connection status in dashboard
  • Verify trigger rules still match your workflow
  • Try manual trigger to test if Greptile responds (see manual triggers)

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Frequently Asked Questions

2-3 weeks with consistent feedback from multiple team members. Youā€™ll notice:
  • Week 1: High noise as Greptile learns basic patterns
  • Week 2-3: Significant improvement in comment relevance
  • Month 2+: Highly tuned to your teamā€™s specific preferences
Yes! You can manually trigger reviews on any PR by commenting @greptileai (see manual triggers). This works on:
  • Old PRs from before Greptile was enabled
  • Closed or merged PRs (for learning purposes)
  • Draft PRs that donā€™t normally trigger automatic reviews
Greptile analyzes the entire changeset and provides:
  • Summary of overall changes in natural language
  • Sequence diagrams for complex changes
  • Lower confidence scores for large, risky changes
  • Context-aware comments that understand cross-file dependencies
You should engage with it:
  • Downvote the comment so Greptile learns
  • Reply explaining why: @greptileai This pattern is actually preferred because...
  • Ask for alternatives: @greptileai What's another way to handle this?
  • Greptile will learn from your feedback and adjust future comments
Yes! You have multiple options:
  • Dashboard settings apply to all repositories in your team
  • greptile.json files in repository roots can override dashboard settings (see greptile.json guide)
  • Custom context can be scoped to specific repositories or file types (see custom context)
  • Different teams in your organization can have completely different configurations
Check the custom context dashboard (learn more about custom context):
  • ā€œLast Appliedā€ column shows when each context item was used
  • Click on any context item to see usage statistics
  • ā€œRecent Usageā€ section shows specific comments where the context was applied
Take it seriously:
  • Even if you disagree, consider the suggestion carefully
  • Ask for clarification: @greptileai Can you explain the security risk here?
  • Research the potential vulnerability independently
  • If itā€™s a false positive, downvote and explain why to help Greptile learn

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Getting Help

Team Slack Channel

Join your organizationā€™s dedicated Greptile Slack channel for real-time support and team discussions.

Documentation Assistant

Use the docs assistant (star icon) for specific configuration questions and setup guidance.
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