> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.charlielabs.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Migrate to daemon-powered reviews
> Move from Charlie’s agent-powered PR reviews to our new daemon-powered PR reviews.
Charlie's existing PR reviews use policy managed by us. [Daemon](/daemons)-powered reviews move that policy into your repository, where your team can inspect and change it through normal pull requests.
You decide when Charlie reviews, which perspectives apply, what evidence feedback requires, and what Charlie may publish. Charlie handles running that policy against the current pull request and delivering the review on GitHub.
## What changes
The GitHub experience remains familiar. Charlie still reviews pull requests, and your team can still request a review by adding [`CharlieHelps`](/integrations/github-identities) as a reviewer or mentioning him in a pull request comment.
The main change is who controls the review policy:
| Agent-powered reviews | Daemon-powered reviews |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Review policy is managed by us. | Review policy lives in your repository. |
| Your team cannot directly inspect or edit when and how reviews run. | Your team changes cadence and review guidance through normal pull requests. |
| Automatic and explicit reviews are handled by the Charlie agent. | Automatic and explicit reviews follow the same repository-owned daemon policy. |
| Review perspectives and output are controlled outside your repository. | `DAEMON.md` and focused lane files define what Charlie reviews and what he may publish. |
Policy changes take effect after they reach the repository's default branch. Charlie loads the updated policy within a few minutes.
## Start with the reference policy
We recommend starting with the reference `pr-review` daemon so you have a known baseline for migration. It is based on Charlie's existing review behavior, with focused correctness and repository guidance perspectives, an evidence bar for findings, and rules that avoid low-value feedback such as personal style preferences or problems the pull request did not introduce.
The reference daemon does not review every new commit by default. This is the
main cadence change from agent-powered reviews.
It reviews when:
* A non-draft pull request is opened.
* A draft pull request is marked ready for review.
* `CharlieHelps` is requested as a reviewer.
* A pull request comment requests a review from `CharlieHelps`.
You can request another review explicitly or change the cadence later. The reference policy publishes findings with a `COMMENT` review. When a completed review is clean, Charlie adds one `+1` reaction to the pull request body instead of posting an empty review or summary.
## How reviews are routed during the transition
You do not lose review coverage while the new experience rolls out.
| Repository state | During the transition | After the transition |
| ---------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `pr-review` is installed | Automatic and explicit reviews use the repository-owned daemon policy. | Automatic and explicit reviews use the repository-owned daemon policy. |
| `pr-review` is not installed | Automatic and explicit reviews fall back to the Charlie agent. | Automatic reviews do not run. Explicit requests continue to use the Charlie agent. |
Agent-powered automatic reviews are a temporary fallback. Install the
`pr-review` daemon to keep automatic reviews enabled after the transition.
## Migrate your repository to daemon-powered reviews
1. Follow [Set up PR reviews](/pr-reviews/setup) to install the reference daemon. Installing from the Charlie dashboard or asking Charlie creates a pull request for your team to review.
2. Review the starting policy. Before merging the installation pull request, you can optionally:
* Add `A new commit is pushed to an open non-draft pull request.` to `watch` in `DAEMON.md` if you want Charlie to review every new commit pushed to the pull request.
* Update **Review outcomes** in `DAEMON.md` to allow Charlie to submit `APPROVE` or `REQUEST_CHANGES` reviews in addition to `COMMENT`. Define when each outcome should be used.
3. Merge the installation pull request into the repository's default branch.
4. Allow a few minutes for Charlie to load the policy. Observe a few representative reviews in GitHub and [Dashboard Activity](https://dash.charlielabs.ai/).
5. Keep the reference policy if it works for your team. When you find a specific behavior to change, use [Configure PR reviews](/pr-reviews/configure) and adjust one decision at a time.
Reviewing every push increases usage. [Cost controls](/pr-reviews/cost-control#review-only-substantial-updates) describes a middle ground that reviews only substantial updates.
If you are not ready to migrate, agent-powered reviews will continue during the transition. Install `pr-review` before the transition ends to keep automatic reviews running.
## Next steps
Install the reference daemon and merge its policy into your default branch.
Change cadence, review perspectives, evidence rules, and review output.
Tune review frequency and scope after observing representative reviews.