Review Criticality Index - mehen

RCI answers “Should I review this document carefully?”. A small document can be review-critical if it is dense with technical anchors. RCI combines a per-word DensityScore with a delta term and a changed-links/artifacts term.

Formula

DensityScore = mehen-internal blend of:
    MCC per word
  + MDH volume per word
  + RepositoryGroundingScore
  + EvidenceCoverageScore
  + LinkReviewBurden per word
  + embedded code complexity per word

RCI = clamp01(
    0.65 · DensityScore
  + 0.20 · sat(abs(metric_delta_percent); 10, 60)
  + 0.15 · sat(changed_links_or_artifacts; 2, 20)
) · 100

Bands

RCI	Meaning
0–25	Low — skim is fine.
26–50	Normal review.
51–75	Careful review recommended.
76–100	High-risk change.

DMI × RCI × Filler matrix

DMI	RCI	Filler Risk	Meaning
High	Low	Low	Long but easy and probably healthy.
High	Low	High	Easy to maintain but likely low-value filler.
Low	High	Low	Dense valuable doc; review carefully.
Low	High	High	Dangerous: hard to maintain and weakly grounded.

This matrix is the canonical way to summarize a Markdown file in CI.

References

Bacchelli, A. & Bird, C. (2013). Expectations, outcomes, and challenges of modern code review. ICSE 2013 — empirical basis for prioritizing review attention by per-change density. DOI · Author copy.
Rigby, P. C. & Bird, C. (2013). Convergent contemporary software peer review practices. ESEC/FSE 2013 — supports the “review what changed” prioritization that RCI encodes. DOI.

See also

DMI — orthogonal “is it maintainable?” axis.
Filler / Lazy Risk — orthogonal “is it filler?” axis.
PR comment design — RCI in the drill-down section.