Check File Reference - Continue

A check is a markdown file with YAML frontmatter and a markdown body. The frontmatter configures metadata and tooling. The body is the prompt the agent follows when reviewing a pull request.

File format

markdown

---
name: Migration Safety
description: Flag destructive database migrations
---

Your prompt here. This is the system prompt the agent uses
when evaluating the pull request.

Check files live in .continue/checks/ or .agents/checks/ at the repository root.

Frontmatter fields

Field	Required	Type	Description
`name`	Yes	string	Display name shown in GitHub status checks and on continue.dev
`description`	Yes	string	Short description of what the check verifies
`model`	No	string	Model to use. Defaults to Claude Sonnet. Example: `anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5-20250514`

Body

The markdown body after the frontmatter is the agent's system prompt. It runs in the context of the PR being reviewed. The agent reads the prompt, examines the pull request diff, and produces a pass or fail verdict with reasoning.

Write concrete pass/fail criteria. See Best Practices for guidance on prompt structure.

Complete example

A fully-specced check file using all available fields:

markdown

---
name: Migration Safety
description: Flag destructive database migrations
model: anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5-20250514
---

Review database migration files in this pull request.

Flag as failing if any migration contains:
- DROP TABLE or DROP COLUMN without a corresponding backfill migration
- Data type changes that narrow the column (e.g., VARCHAR(255) → VARCHAR(100))
- Removing NOT NULL constraints without a default value

Pass if the migration is additive only (new tables, new columns, new indexes).

File discovery

Continue locates checks by scanning specific directories at the repository root:

Reads all .md files in .continue/checks/
Reads all .md files in .agents/checks/
Subdirectories are not scanned
Files without valid name and description frontmatter are skipped

Checks always run when a PR is opened. For event-triggered automation, use agents.

Supported directory paths

.continue/checks/ and .agents/checks/ are equivalent. Both are scanned and merged into a single list of checks.

.agents/ is an emerging cross-tool standard for AI agent configuration. .continue/ is Continue-specific. Use whichever fits your project. If both directories contain a check with the same name, the .continue/checks/ version takes precedence.