attention

Analyze which PRs demand your immediate attention based on multiple urgency factors.

When you’re overwhelmed by pending reviews, attention cuts through the noise by calculating a multi-factor attention score for each PR. Unlike the simple priority score, it combines age, size, staleness, and draft status into a comprehensive urgency metric (1-10 scale).

When to Use

Morning triage: “Which PRs should I prioritize today?”
End-of-day review: “What did I miss that needs urgent attention?”
Sprint planning: “Which PRs are becoming critical?”
When focus is too narrow and you need a broader view of urgency

Synopsis

prctrl attention [OPTIONS]

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`-t, --threshold <NUM>`	Minimum attention score to show (1-10)	`5`
`-d, --detailed`	Show detailed score breakdown	`false`
`-n, --limit <NUM>`	Limit the number of results shown	`10`
`-P, --priority`	Show priority score (1-5 stars based on age and size)	`false`
`--repo <PATTERN>`	Filter by repository name (partial match, case-insensitive)
`--author <PATTERN>`	Filter by author username (partial match, case-insensitive)
`-s, --since-days <NUM>`	Only show PRs created since this many days ago
`--json`	Output as JSON for scripting	`false`

Attention Score Calculation

The attention score (1-10) combines four factors:

Factor	Range	Description
Age	1-5	How long the PR has been waiting (newer=lower, older=higher)
Size	1-3	Total lines changed (+additions -deletions)
Draft status	1-2	Draft PRs score lower (less urgent)
Staleness bonus	0-2	Extra urgency for PRs waiting >7 days

Score Thresholds

Score Range	Urgency	Interpretation
8-10	🔥 Critical	Needs immediate attention
6-7	⚡ High	Should review soon
4-5	📅 Medium	Normal priority
1-3	💤 Low	Can wait

Examples

# See your most attention-demanding PRs
prctrl attention

# Show only critical PRs (score >= 8)
prctrl attention --threshold 8

# Show detailed breakdown of why each PR scored high
prctrl attention --detailed

# Show top 5 most urgent
prctrl attention --limit 5

# Show with priority scores (1-5 stars)
prctrl attention --priority

# Filter by repository
prctrl attention --repo myorg/frontend

# Filter by author
prctrl attention --author alice

# Only show PRs from the last 7 days
prctrl attention --since-days 7

# Combine filters
prctrl attention --repo myorg --author alice --priority

# Get JSON for scripting or dashboards
prctrl attention --json

Output

🎯 3 PR(s) demand your attention (score >= 5)

  🔥🔥🔥  Fix authentication bug  #4821  (myorg/frontend)
      👤 alice  •  340 lines  •  opened 5d
      🔗 https://github.com/myorg/frontend/pull/4821

  🔥🔥  Refactor API gateway  #4815  (myorg/backend)
      👤 bob  •  890 lines  •  opened 3d
      🔗 https://github.com/myorg/backend/pull/4815

  🔥🔥  Update dependencies  #4809  (myorg/shared)
      👤 carol  •  120 lines  •  opened 2d
      🔗 https://github.com/myorg/shared/pull/4809

With `--detailed` flag

  🔥🔥🔥  Fix authentication bug  #4821  (myorg/frontend)
      👤 alice  •  340 lines  •  opened 5d
      📊 breakdown: age=3 size=2 draft=2 stale_bonus=1
      🔗 https://github.com/myorg/frontend/pull/4821

Tips

Use --threshold 8 to see only truly critical PRs
Combine with --detailed when explaining to others why a PR is urgent
Use --json for integration with external tools or Slack notifications
Pair with focus --open to immediately start reviewing the most urgent PR
Snoozed PRs are automatically excluded from results (consistent with list, delegate, etc.)
Use prctrl snooze add to temporarily hide PRs from results

focus — Show the single most urgent PR
summary — Quick one-line overview
top — Highest priority PRs by score
snooze — Temporarily hide PRs from results

Keyboard shortcuts

PRCtrl