Linter Pre-Pass

Atlas Review can run a deterministic linter pre-pass before the main review. This helps Atlas catch tool-detectable issues early and use them as grounded review context instead of asking the model to rediscover obvious lint or static-analysis failures.

Where To Configure It

Open:

Atlas Settings
Review
Policy File

The linter controls live inside the same project policy editor as review defaults and path rules.

What The Linter Pre-Pass Does

When enabled, Atlas checks the review scope with supported analyzers before the main review continues.

That gives Atlas three advantages:

deterministic findings for issues the tool can already prove
stronger grounding for the review prompt
less wasted review effort on obvious lint or static-analysis problems

Atlas still runs the main review after the linter pre-pass. The linter pass improves the review; it does not replace it.

Supported Tools

Atlas currently supports these linter and static-analysis adapters:

ESLint
TypeScript
.NET
.NET conventions
Semgrep

Which tools actually run depends on the current project and machine.

How Atlas Decides What Can Run

Inside the policy editor, Atlas shows status for each tool.

Found in project: the project has the config and runtime needed for Atlas to run that tool here
Not found in project, use Atlas fallback: the project tool is missing, but Atlas can use a managed fallback when allowed
Found in project, but Atlas cannot run it on this machine: the project is configured, but the local binary or runtime is missing
Not found in project and no Atlas fallback available yet: Atlas cannot use that tool for this project right now

Two details matter here:

starter defaults stay repo-stable, so the starter policy depends on repo signals rather than one specific machine
runtime readiness is machine-local, so Atlas also shows whether this machine can execute the tool now

Global And Per-Tool Controls

Atlas gives you:

one global toggle for the entire linter pre-pass
one toggle per tool

Use the global toggle when you want to disable linter pre-pass entirely for a project.

Use the per-tool toggles when you want Atlas to keep some tools on and others off, for example:

keep ESLint and TypeScript on
turn off Semgrep for a lower-noise repo
turn off .NET conventions while keeping .NET enabled

Policy Fields

The linter settings live under linters in .atlas/review-policy.json.

{
  "linters": {
    "enabled": true,
    "mode": "fallback_if_missing",
    "eslint": { "enabled": true },
    "tsc": { "enabled": true },
    "dotnet": { "enabled": true },
    "dotnetFormat": { "enabled": true },
    "semgrep": {
      "enabled": true,
      "allowAtlasManagedFallback": true
    }
  }
}

`linters.enabled`

Turns the project linter pre-pass on or off.

`linters.mode`

Supported values:

project_only
fallback_if_missing

Use project_only when you want Atlas to run only the tools that are configured inside the repo.

Use fallback_if_missing when you want Atlas to use a managed fallback where that is supported and the project tool is missing.

Today, this is most relevant for Semgrep.

Per-tool entries

Each tool can have its own entry, such as:

eslint
tsc
dotnet
dotnetFormat
semgrep

Each entry can set:

enabled
allowAtlasManagedFallback

allowAtlasManagedFallback only matters for tools where Atlas can provide a managed fallback.

Recommended Defaults

For most teams:

leave the global linter pre-pass enabled
keep repo-local tools like ESLint or TypeScript enabled when the project already uses them
use fallback_if_missing only where a managed fallback is actually useful
disable a tool only when it is consistently noisy or not relevant to the repo

What Happens During Review

The linter pre-pass is designed to improve review quality without making review brittle.

Atlas runs supported tools against the current review scope
deterministic findings are merged into review context
linter failures do not block the review from continuing

That means the main review can still finish even if a tool is unavailable, misconfigured, or times out.

What This Is Not

The linter pre-pass is not a full replacement for CI or your own local verification workflow.

It is best used as:

a grounding layer for Atlas Review
a way to reduce obvious tool-detectable misses
a project-level review enhancement that travels with the repo policy