diff --git a/.github/workflows/claude-pr-review.yml b/.github/workflows/claude-pr-review.yml
index 11c4de7..001fdc9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/claude-pr-review.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/claude-pr-review.yml
@@ -65,13 +65,46 @@ jobs:
           PR_NUMBER=${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
           REPO=${{ github.repository }}
 
-          CYCLE=$(gh api "repos/${REPO}/pulls/${PR_NUMBER}/reviews" \
-            --paginate | jq -s '[.[][] | select(.user.type == "Bot" and (.state == "CHANGES_REQUESTED" or .state == "APPROVED"))] | length')
+          # Count distinct commits already reviewed, never review state: the org ruleset
+          # sets dismiss_stale_reviews_on_push, so a push flips a prior APPROVED to
+          # DISMISSED and a state filter stops matching it. Inline comments each create
+          # their own COMMENTED review sharing the round's commit_id, so unique commit_id
+          # == round count, +/-1 when a push lands mid-round and splits it across two SHAs.
+          # Coupled to the reviewer's login: if that ever changes the count silently drops
+          # to 0 and every round looks like the first, hence the warning below.
+          CYCLE_JQ='[.[][] | select(.user.login == "claude[bot]") | .commit_id] | unique | length'
+          # Only consulted when CYCLE is 0; see the warning below. Kept in its own variable
+          # so tests/review-cycle-test.sh can assert it against the fixtures.
+          DRIFT_JQ='any(.[][]; .user.type == "Bot")'
+          # Never fail the review over the cycle number; degrade to 1, but say so. gh
+          # writes its error body to stdout, so an unguarded pipe into jq aborts the step
+          # under `bash -e` and skips the failure-notification step below.
+          if ! REVIEWS=$(gh api "repos/${REPO}/pulls/${PR_NUMBER}/reviews" --paginate); then
+            echo "::warning::Could not read prior reviews; treating this as review cycle 1."
+            REVIEWS=''
+          fi
+          CYCLE=$(printf '%s' "$REVIEWS" | jq -s "$CYCLE_JQ" 2>/dev/null) || CYCLE=''
+          if [ -z "$CYCLE" ]; then
+            echo "::warning::Could not parse prior reviews; treating this as review cycle 1."
+            CYCLE=0
+          elif [ "$CYCLE" -eq 0 ] && printf '%s' "$REVIEWS" \
+            | jq -e -s "$DRIFT_JQ" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            # claude[bot] is the only bot that submits reviews across the org (598 of 598
+            # sampled), so bot reviews that the login filter did not count mean the
+            # reviewer's identity moved and the counter has silently pinned at 1.
+            echo "::warning::Bot reviews exist but none matched the reviewer login; the review cycle counter is stale."
+          fi
           echo "review_cycle=$((CYCLE + 1))" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
-          THREADS=$(gh api "repos/${REPO}/pulls/${PR_NUMBER}/comments" \
-            --paginate | jq -s -r '
-            add | sort_by(.created_at) |
+          # Same guard as the counter above: unguarded `gh api | jq` aborts the step, and a
+          # failure here *skips* the review step, so the notify step's failure check never
+          # fires and the PR gets no review and no explanation.
+          if ! COMMENTS=$(gh api "repos/${REPO}/pulls/${PR_NUMBER}/comments" --paginate); then
+            echo "::warning::Could not read prior review comments; reviewing without them."
+            COMMENTS=''
+          fi
+          THREADS=$(printf '%s' "$COMMENTS" | jq -s -r '
+            (add // []) | sort_by(.created_at) |
             if length == 0 then "No prior review comments."
             else .[] |
               "---",
@@ -82,7 +115,7 @@ jobs:
               "",
               .body
             end
-          ')
+          ') || THREADS='No prior review comments.'
 
           DELIMITER="REVIEW_CONTEXT_$(openssl rand -hex 16)"
           {
diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c77e53d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+name: Tests
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+  push:
+    branches: [main]
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
+jobs:
+  test:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6.0.2
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 1
+
+      - name: Review cycle counter
+        run: tests/review-cycle-test.sh
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/reviews-approve-with-nits.json b/tests/fixtures/reviews-approve-with-nits.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..48beb35
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/reviews-approve-with-nits.json
@@ -0,0 +1,352 @@
+[
+  {
+    "id": 4803070490,
+    "commit_id": "28027b1414cfd97666d91523815287373f2b7392",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T00:55:42Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4803070659,
+    "commit_id": "28027b1414cfd97666d91523815287373f2b7392",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T00:55:45Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4803071124,
+    "commit_id": "28027b1414cfd97666d91523815287373f2b7392",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T00:55:54Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4803071286,
+    "commit_id": "28027b1414cfd97666d91523815287373f2b7392",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T00:55:57Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4803071631,
+    "commit_id": "28027b1414cfd97666d91523815287373f2b7392",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T00:56:03Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4803071837,
+    "commit_id": "28027b1414cfd97666d91523815287373f2b7392",
+    "state": "DISMISSED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T00:56:07Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4803172821,
+    "commit_id": "172678856137ab53d98d6f4f3ec64d3b487c51a5",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T01:21:16Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4803173638,
+    "commit_id": "172678856137ab53d98d6f4f3ec64d3b487c51a5",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T01:21:23Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4803174365,
+    "commit_id": "172678856137ab53d98d6f4f3ec64d3b487c51a5",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T01:21:31Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4803174637,
+    "commit_id": "172678856137ab53d98d6f4f3ec64d3b487c51a5",
+    "state": "DISMISSED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T01:21:35Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4803287072,
+    "commit_id": "2a9f29992bc41238cc515fe3ded706e659ca63b0",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T01:46:43Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4803287878,
+    "commit_id": "2a9f29992bc41238cc515fe3ded706e659ca63b0",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T01:46:53Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4803288508,
+    "commit_id": "2a9f29992bc41238cc515fe3ded706e659ca63b0",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T01:47:02Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4803289241,
+    "commit_id": "2a9f29992bc41238cc515fe3ded706e659ca63b0",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T01:47:11Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4803289574,
+    "commit_id": "2a9f29992bc41238cc515fe3ded706e659ca63b0",
+    "state": "DISMISSED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T01:47:15Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4803335452,
+    "commit_id": "67dad03d0ee86f6d7c1cc06845b3b005166252d9",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T01:59:06Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4803335626,
+    "commit_id": "67dad03d0ee86f6d7c1cc06845b3b005166252d9",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T01:59:09Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4803335837,
+    "commit_id": "67dad03d0ee86f6d7c1cc06845b3b005166252d9",
+    "state": "DISMISSED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T01:59:13Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4803472086,
+    "commit_id": "c66e3592047e43f65db110b3c5cf959145eb928f",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T02:28:39Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4803472879,
+    "commit_id": "c66e3592047e43f65db110b3c5cf959145eb928f",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T02:28:48Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4803473129,
+    "commit_id": "c66e3592047e43f65db110b3c5cf959145eb928f",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T02:28:52Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4803473496,
+    "commit_id": "c66e3592047e43f65db110b3c5cf959145eb928f",
+    "state": "DISMISSED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T02:28:58Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4810541861,
+    "commit_id": "ee53bdd8320e59270eba423d31d513dfae80a7c8",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T16:18:19Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4810543705,
+    "commit_id": "ee53bdd8320e59270eba423d31d513dfae80a7c8",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T16:18:30Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4810545119,
+    "commit_id": "ee53bdd8320e59270eba423d31d513dfae80a7c8",
+    "state": "DISMISSED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T16:18:38Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4810648343,
+    "commit_id": "239056bc5f535a6c55dfe494d54102a5c5bb3b90",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T16:29:54Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4810650459,
+    "commit_id": "239056bc5f535a6c55dfe494d54102a5c5bb3b90",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T16:30:06Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4810651071,
+    "commit_id": "239056bc5f535a6c55dfe494d54102a5c5bb3b90",
+    "state": "DISMISSED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T16:30:10Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4811705495,
+    "commit_id": "3f3ba8d1962bb2b650e0394525be88a676101748",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T18:32:04Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4811707279,
+    "commit_id": "3f3ba8d1962bb2b650e0394525be88a676101748",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T18:32:16Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4811708296,
+    "commit_id": "3f3ba8d1962bb2b650e0394525be88a676101748",
+    "state": "DISMISSED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T18:32:23Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4811789242,
+    "commit_id": "fab04bd24df816278c5ac3aa38935f47ecac9b03",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T18:41:37Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4811790302,
+    "commit_id": "fab04bd24df816278c5ac3aa38935f47ecac9b03",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T18:41:45Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4811791546,
+    "commit_id": "fab04bd24df816278c5ac3aa38935f47ecac9b03",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T18:41:56Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4811792773,
+    "commit_id": "fab04bd24df816278c5ac3aa38935f47ecac9b03",
+    "state": "APPROVED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-29T18:42:06Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  }
+]
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/reviews-first-review.json b/tests/fixtures/reviews-first-review.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fe51488
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/reviews-first-review.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+[]
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/reviews-foreign-reviewer.json b/tests/fixtures/reviews-foreign-reviewer.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2e7b381
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/reviews-foreign-reviewer.json
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+[
+  {
+    "id": 1,
+    "commit_id": "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-01T00:00:00Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "hotdata-automation[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 2,
+    "commit_id": "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
+    "state": "CHANGES_REQUESTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-01T00:00:05Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "hotdata-automation[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 3,
+    "commit_id": "bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb",
+    "state": "DISMISSED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-01T01:00:00Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "hotdata-automation[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4,
+    "commit_id": "bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb",
+    "state": "APPROVED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-01T01:05:00Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "hotdata-automation[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 5,
+    "commit_id": "cccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc",
+    "state": "APPROVED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-01T02:00:00Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "hotdata-automation[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 6,
+    "commit_id": "dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd",
+    "state": "APPROVED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-01T03:00:00Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "hotdata-automation[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  }
+]
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/reviews-mixed-bots.json b/tests/fixtures/reviews-mixed-bots.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..980f83b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/reviews-mixed-bots.json
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+[
+  {
+    "id": 1,
+    "commit_id": "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-01T00:00:00Z",
+    "user": { "login": "claude[bot]", "type": "Bot" }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 2,
+    "commit_id": "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
+    "state": "CHANGES_REQUESTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-01T00:00:05Z",
+    "user": { "login": "claude[bot]", "type": "Bot" }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 3,
+    "commit_id": "bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb",
+    "state": "DISMISSED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-01T01:00:00Z",
+    "user": { "login": "claude[bot]", "type": "Bot" }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4,
+    "commit_id": "bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb",
+    "state": "APPROVED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-01T01:05:00Z",
+    "user": { "login": "hotdata-automation[bot]", "type": "Bot" }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 5,
+    "commit_id": "cccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc",
+    "state": "APPROVED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-01T02:00:00Z",
+    "user": { "login": "aikido-autofix[bot]", "type": "Bot" }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 6,
+    "commit_id": "dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd",
+    "state": "APPROVED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-01T03:00:00Z",
+    "user": { "login": "zfarrell", "type": "User" }
+  }
+]
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/reviews-paginated.json b/tests/fixtures/reviews-paginated.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f7a482a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/reviews-paginated.json
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+[{"id":1,"commit_id":"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa","state":"COMMENTED","submitted_at":"2026-07-01T00:00:00Z","user":{"login":"claude[bot]","type":"Bot"}},{"id":2,"commit_id":"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa","state":"CHANGES_REQUESTED","submitted_at":"2026-07-01T00:00:05Z","user":{"login":"claude[bot]","type":"Bot"}},{"id":3,"commit_id":"bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb","state":"DISMISSED","submitted_at":"2026-07-01T01:00:00Z","user":{"login":"claude[bot]","type":"Bot"}}]
+[{"id":4,"commit_id":"bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb","state":"APPROVED","submitted_at":"2026-07-01T01:05:00Z","user":{"login":"hotdata-automation[bot]","type":"Bot"}},{"id":5,"commit_id":"cccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc","state":"APPROVED","submitted_at":"2026-07-01T02:00:00Z","user":{"login":"aikido-autofix[bot]","type":"Bot"}},{"id":6,"commit_id":"dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd","state":"APPROVED","submitted_at":"2026-07-01T03:00:00Z","user":{"login":"zfarrell","type":"User"}}]
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/reviews-straddled-round.json b/tests/fixtures/reviews-straddled-round.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fc75dcc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/reviews-straddled-round.json
@@ -0,0 +1,222 @@
+[
+  {
+    "id": 4790491756,
+    "commit_id": "a89f19e81690a9091b320594f0f5a2dd1a79ed4b",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-27T19:00:03Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4790492307,
+    "commit_id": "a89f19e81690a9091b320594f0f5a2dd1a79ed4b",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-27T19:00:08Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4790493522,
+    "commit_id": "a89f19e81690a9091b320594f0f5a2dd1a79ed4b",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-27T19:00:17Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4790494429,
+    "commit_id": "a89f19e81690a9091b320594f0f5a2dd1a79ed4b",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-27T19:00:25Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4790495081,
+    "commit_id": "a89f19e81690a9091b320594f0f5a2dd1a79ed4b",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-27T19:00:30Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4790495676,
+    "commit_id": "951c8afaddf5579bf8496df9d0c6ebd5e186d640",
+    "state": "APPROVED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-27T19:00:35Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4790560226,
+    "commit_id": "951c8afaddf5579bf8496df9d0c6ebd5e186d640",
+    "state": "DISMISSED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-27T19:07:06Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4790604991,
+    "commit_id": "d0f6dcab75199784b136cf89be2680980777efd7",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-27T19:11:49Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4790606647,
+    "commit_id": "d0f6dcab75199784b136cf89be2680980777efd7",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-27T19:11:59Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4790607676,
+    "commit_id": "d0f6dcab75199784b136cf89be2680980777efd7",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-27T19:12:05Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4790608309,
+    "commit_id": "d0f6dcab75199784b136cf89be2680980777efd7",
+    "state": "DISMISSED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-27T19:12:08Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4790725357,
+    "commit_id": "8099fef1793b2ac7531643cdeffc16b9e18d6eb1",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-27T19:24:14Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4790726786,
+    "commit_id": "8099fef1793b2ac7531643cdeffc16b9e18d6eb1",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-27T19:24:25Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4790767497,
+    "commit_id": "8099fef1793b2ac7531643cdeffc16b9e18d6eb1",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-27T19:29:36Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4790768432,
+    "commit_id": "8099fef1793b2ac7531643cdeffc16b9e18d6eb1",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-27T19:29:44Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4790769530,
+    "commit_id": "8099fef1793b2ac7531643cdeffc16b9e18d6eb1",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-27T19:29:53Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4790770077,
+    "commit_id": "8099fef1793b2ac7531643cdeffc16b9e18d6eb1",
+    "state": "DISMISSED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-27T19:29:58Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4790978887,
+    "commit_id": "703e6f0f6139631dbab17fee47034fe05318cd35",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-27T19:56:17Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4790980555,
+    "commit_id": "703e6f0f6139631dbab17fee47034fe05318cd35",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-27T19:56:31Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4790981470,
+    "commit_id": "703e6f0f6139631dbab17fee47034fe05318cd35",
+    "state": "DISMISSED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-27T19:56:38Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4791181568,
+    "commit_id": "ffe5a7d50cccac18957cb592f4330d27473d10fb",
+    "state": "COMMENTED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-27T20:22:28Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 4791181903,
+    "commit_id": "ffe5a7d50cccac18957cb592f4330d27473d10fb",
+    "state": "APPROVED",
+    "submitted_at": "2026-07-27T20:22:32Z",
+    "user": {
+      "login": "claude[bot]",
+      "type": "Bot"
+    }
+  }
+]
diff --git a/tests/review-cycle-test.sh b/tests/review-cycle-test.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..5985362
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/review-cycle-test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# Guards the REVIEW CYCLE counter in claude-pr-review.yml against fixtures captured from
+# the real reviews API. The jq program is extracted from the workflow rather than copied,
+# so the test exercises the shipped expression.
+#
+# Regression: the counter used to filter on review state (CHANGES_REQUESTED/APPROVED). On
+# a PR whose every round ends in approve-with-nits, dismiss_stale_reviews_on_push flips
+# each of those approvals to DISMISSED, so the filter matched nothing and the counter read
+# 1 forever, silently disabling the prompt's cycle-awareness ladder. CHANGES_REQUESTED
+# survives a push, so request-changes PRs counted correctly and the bug stayed hidden.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+cd "$(dirname "$0")/.."
+
+WORKFLOW=.github/workflows/claude-pr-review.yml
+
+# extract_jq <shell variable name> -- pull a single-quoted jq program out of the workflow
+extract_jq() {
+  local name=$1 prog
+  prog=$(sed -n "s/^ *$name='\(.*\)'\$/\1/p" "$WORKFLOW")
+  if [ -z "$prog" ]; then
+    echo "FAIL: no $name='...' assignment found in $WORKFLOW" >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  if [ "$(printf '%s\n' "$prog" | wc -l)" -ne 1 ]; then
+    echo "FAIL: more than one $name assignment in $WORKFLOW:" >&2
+    printf '%s\n' "$prog" >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  printf '%s' "$prog"
+}
+
+CYCLE_JQ=$(extract_jq CYCLE_JQ)
+DRIFT_JQ=$(extract_jq DRIFT_JQ)
+
+failures=0
+
+# expect <fixture> <expected cycle> <description>
+expect() {
+  local fixture=$1 want=$2 desc=$3
+  local count actual
+  count=$(jq -s "$CYCLE_JQ" "tests/fixtures/$fixture")
+  actual=$((count + 1))
+  if [ "$actual" -eq "$want" ]; then
+    echo "ok   $desc (cycle=$actual)"
+  else
+    echo "FAIL $desc: expected cycle $want, got $actual"
+    failures=$((failures + 1))
+  fi
+}
+
+# expect_drift <fixture> <fires|silent> <description>
+expect_drift() {
+  local fixture=$1 want=$2 desc=$3 actual=silent
+  if jq -e -s "$DRIFT_JQ" "tests/fixtures/$fixture" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    actual=fires
+  fi
+  if [ "$actual" = "$want" ]; then
+    echo "ok   $desc ($actual)"
+  else
+    echo "FAIL $desc: expected $want, got $actual"
+    failures=$((failures + 1))
+  fi
+}
+
+# No prior reviews.
+expect reviews-first-review.json 1 "opened PR is cycle 1"
+
+# monopoly#1560: nine review rounds, every one an approve-with-nits that the next push
+# dismissed. The tenth review must know it is the tenth.
+expect reviews-approve-with-nits.json 10 "nine dismissed approve-with-nits rounds count"
+
+# Rounds counted regardless of state; approvals by other bots and by humans do not count.
+expect reviews-mixed-bots.json 3 "only claude[bot] rounds count, one per commit"
+
+# The counter is keyed on the reviewer's login. If claude-code-action ever posts under a
+# different identity the count collapses to 0 and every round reads as cycle 1 again --
+# the original bug. The drift predicate is the runtime backstop for that; it is only
+# consulted when the count is 0, so it has to separate "the login moved" from "genuine
+# first review".
+expect reviews-foreign-reviewer.json 1 "unknown reviewer login yields no rounds"
+expect_drift reviews-foreign-reviewer.json fires "drift warning fires when the login moved"
+expect_drift reviews-first-review.json silent "drift warning silent on a genuine cycle 1"
+
+# gh 2.93 merges --paginate pages into one array; older versions concatenate one array per
+# page. `jq -s '.[][]'` must handle both, so keep a concatenated fixture.
+expect reviews-paginated.json 3 "concatenated --paginate pages count once each"
+
+# Known +/-1: monopoly#1534 round 1 posted 5 inline comments against a89f19e8, then its
+# approve landed 5s later against 951c8afa because a push arrived mid-review, so 5 real
+# rounds count as 6. Harmless against a 5-step ladder; asserted so a future change to the
+# counter has to acknowledge this case rather than shift it silently.
+expect reviews-straddled-round.json 7 "push landing mid-round splits it in two"
+
+if [ "$failures" -ne 0 ]; then
+  echo "$failures test(s) failed"
+  exit 1
+fi
+echo "all tests passed"