Title: Bot feedback and messages
Author: WordPress VIP Documentation
Published: October 7, 2021
Last modified: December 31, 2025

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 1. [VIP Code Analysis Bot](https://docs.wpvip.com/vip-code-analysis-bot/)
 2. Bot feedback and messages

#  Bot feedback and messages

Feedback from the VIP Code Analysis Bot is based on the results of the automated
scans including [Vulnerability and Update Scan](https://docs.wpvip.com/vulnerability-and-update-scan/),
[PHPCS analysis](https://docs.wpvip.com/vip-code-analysis-bot/phpcs-analysis/), 
[PHP linting](https://docs.wpvip.com/vip-code-analysis-bot/php-linting/), and [SVG analysis](https://docs.wpvip.com/vip-code-analysis-bot/svg-analysis/).
The Bot leaves feedback in comments on a reviewed pull request.

Feedback from the [VIP Code Analysis Bot](https://docs.wpvip.com/vip-code-analysis-bot/)
can be handled in several ways:

 * Address the feedback by amending the relevant code according to suggestions from
   the Bot.
 * Ignore the feedback, then [instruct PHPCS to ignore the issue](https://docs.wpvip.com/customize-phpcs/)(
   in case of [PHPCS](https://docs.wpvip.com/vip-code-analysis-bot/phpcs-analysis/)
   feedback).
 * [Dismiss the review](https://help.github.com/articles/dismissing-a-pull-request-review/)
   using the GitHub pull request interface. 

Many issues noted in feedback will be correct and should be addressed, but as with
all automated feedback there can be some incorrectly flagged issues that are safe
to ignore (_false positives_). There may also be some issues that the bot feedback
misses (_false negatives_). All feedback provided by the Bot should be carefully
evaluated.

A more detailed explanation of errors and warnings for each severity level is available
for [interpreting PHPCS feedback](https://docs.wpvip.com/vip-code-analysis-bot/phpcs-report/).

## Maximum number of active comments

The Bot is configured to post a maximum number of 18 comments per pull request review.
If more than 18 comments are needed for the Bot to report the total issues found,
those additional comments will be posted in separate reviews. The Bot is configured
to ensure that there are no more than 100 “active” comments in each pull request.“
Active” comments are comments made by the Bot and are not outdated. 

This comment limitation is in place to [limit the number of calls to the GitHub API](https://docs.github.com/en/rest/overview/resources-in-the-rest-api#rate-limiting).

## GitHub API communication error

If the Bot has a problem communicating with the GitHub API, it will post a message
to pull requests saying that there has been a [GitHub API](https://docs.github.com/en/rest/overview/resources-in-the-rest-api)
communication error and that a human should be contacted.

![](https://docs.wpvip.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/vipgoci-about-feedback-
and-messages.png)

An example of a message from the Bot reporting a GitHub API communication error

In most cases this error occurs due to problems with the GitHub API itself. The 
message usually disappears when a pull request is scanned again, which happens when
new commits are pushed to the pull request. If the problem persists, check the [GitHub status page](https://www.githubstatus.com/)
for reported issues with the GitHub API.

Last updated: December 31, 2025