# Agent CODEOWNERS and Review Rules
Status: public
Confidence: medium (0.725) (verified)
Last verified: 2026-06-02
Generation: ai_structured


## TL;DR

CODEOWNERS and review rules help agents route risky edits to the people or teams responsible for the affected paths.

## Core Explanation

Code agents should inspect ownership metadata before touching high-impact files. CODEOWNERS entries, branch protections, required reviewers, and team ownership rules can explain why a pull request is blocked or why an edit needs a specific reviewer.

This is also safety evidence. An agent that changes security, billing, migration, or generated-code paths should identify the owning team and review rule rather than treating all repository files as equally editable.

## Source-Mapped Facts

- GitHub documentation says a CODEOWNERS file can define individuals or teams responsible for code in a repository. ([source](https://docs.github.com/en/repositories/managing-your-repositorys-settings-and-features/customizing-your-repository/about-code-owners))
- GitLab documentation says a CODEOWNERS file defines who is responsible for code in a GitLab project. ([source](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/project/codeowners/))
- Atlassian documentation says Bitbucket Cloud code owners map repository paths to individuals and teams using a CODEOWNERS file. ([source](https://support.atlassian.com/bitbucket-cloud/docs/set-up-and-use-code-owners/))

## Further Reading

- [GitHub About Code Owners](https://docs.github.com/en/repositories/managing-your-repositorys-settings-and-features/customizing-your-repository/about-code-owners)
- [GitLab Code Owners](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/project/codeowners/)
- [Bitbucket Cloud Code Owners](https://support.atlassian.com/bitbucket-cloud/docs/set-up-and-use-code-owners/)