Reviewer Agreement

1. Independent Contractor Relationship

You ("Reviewer") engage with PulsePR as an independent contractor, not as an employee, agent, or partner of PulsePR. Nothing in this Agreement creates a joint venture, partnership, employment, or franchise relationship.

As an independent contractor, you are responsible for all applicable taxes on your earnings, including self-employment taxes. PulsePR will issue appropriate tax documentation (e.g., Form 1099-NEC for US-based reviewers) when required by law.

You are free to perform services for other companies and clients, provided those engagements do not create a conflict of interest with an active PulsePR review assignment.

2. Vetting and Onboarding

Acceptance into the reviewer network is conditional on successfully completing PulsePR's assessment process, which includes:

• A blind code review of one or more complex pull requests containing known architectural issues
• A systems design or architecture discussion session
• Professional reference verification

PulsePR reserves the right to decline any applicant at its sole discretion. Passing the assessment does not guarantee a minimum number of review assignments.

3. Review Assignments

3.1 Matching

PulsePR assigns reviews based on your stated areas of expertise, current availability, and the Customer's stack and domain. You may decline individual assignments if you lack the relevant expertise or have a conflict of interest; however, persistent unavailability may affect your standing in the network.

3.2 Turnaround times

Standard reviews must be completed and posted within 24 hours of assignment acceptance. Priority reviews (marked "urgent") must be completed within 4 hours. If you cannot meet a committed SLA, you must notify PulsePR immediately so the assignment can be re-routed.

3.3 Review quality standards

Every review must:

• Focus on architectural soundness, production risk, correctness, and security — not style or preference
• Include specific, actionable feedback with line-level citations where applicable
• Distinguish clearly between blocking concerns and non-blocking observations
• Be written in a professional, constructive tone
• Avoid referencing your employer, other clients, or any information you obtained outside of the provided PR diff

PulsePR may request revisions or decline to deliver a review that does not meet these standards. Repeated quality failures will result in removal from the network.

4. Confidentiality

This is the most important section of this Agreement. You will have access to Customer code and architecture details through PR diffs. Your confidentiality obligations are strict and survive termination of this Agreement.

4.1 What you must keep confidential

• All PR diff content, code, and technical details you receive from any Customer
• The identity of any Customer (unless publicly disclosed by that Customer)
• Any architectural insights, vulnerabilities, or proprietary algorithms you observe in the course of a review
• Internal PulsePR tooling, reviewer compensation rates, and platform operations

4.2 What you must not do

• Discuss, share, or reproduce any Customer code or architectural details outside of your written review
• Use any information you observe in a review for personal gain, including informing investment decisions
• Retain copies of PR diffs after submitting your review
• Contact Customers directly outside of the PulsePR platform without explicit written authorization from PulsePR

4.3 NDA pass-through

Each Customer subscription includes a bilateral NDA. Your confidentiality obligations under this Agreement are designed to fulfill and extend those Customer NDAs. You acknowledge that Customers are third-party beneficiaries of your confidentiality obligations.

5. Intellectual Property

You retain ownership of your general knowledge, skills, and methodologies. However, each written review you produce for a Customer is a work product delivered under this Agreement. PulsePR and the applicable Customer each receive a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use, store, and display the written review content.

You may not publish, blog about, or otherwise publicly reproduce any specific review content or the code it references without written consent from both PulsePR and the Customer.

6. Conflict of Interest

You must disclose to PulsePR any potential conflict of interest before accepting an assignment, including:

• Current or recent employment at the Customer's company
• Significant financial interest in the Customer
• Personal or professional relationships with the PR author that could compromise objectivity
• Active competitive relationship (e.g., you are building a directly competing product)

Failure to disclose a known conflict may result in immediate removal from the network.

7. Compensation

Reviewer compensation rates are set individually at onboarding based on seniority, domain expertise, and availability. Rates are documented in your separate Compensation Addendum. PulsePR processes payments within 15 days of the end of each calendar month for all reviews completed and accepted that month.

Priority reviews carry a compensation premium as detailed in your Compensation Addendum. PulsePR may adjust base rates with 30 days' written notice.

8. Representation and Warranties

You represent and warrant that:

• You have the legal right to enter into this Agreement and it does not conflict with any other agreement, including any employment agreement or non-compete
• Your participation in the PulsePR network is not in violation of your current or former employer's policies
• The pedigree information you provided during the application process is accurate
• You will not use any proprietary information from a former employer in the course of your reviews

9. Code of Conduct

The PulsePR reviewer network depends on trust. In addition to the quality and confidentiality standards above, all reviewers are expected to:

• Treat all Customer engineering teams with respect, regardless of code quality
• Disclose uncertainty clearly: if you are not confident in a finding, say so
• Never use review access to gather competitive intelligence for any third party
• Report suspected security vulnerabilities in Customer code through PulsePR, not directly

10. Termination

Either party may terminate this Agreement with 14 days' written notice. PulsePR may terminate immediately for breach of the confidentiality obligations, conflict of interest violations, or code of conduct failures.

Upon termination, you must: cease accepting new assignments, complete any in-progress reviews you have accepted (unless PulsePR waives this requirement), and destroy any Customer data in your possession.

Sections 4 (Confidentiality), 5 (Intellectual Property), and 6 (Conflict of Interest) survive termination indefinitely.

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless PulsePR from any claims arising out of your breach of this Agreement, your breach of any applicable law, or your gross negligence or willful misconduct in the performance of reviews.

12. Governing Law

This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, United States. Disputes shall be resolved by binding arbitration under the JAMS Streamlined Arbitration Rules in San Francisco, California.

13. Contact

Reviewer relations and questions: [email protected].

To apply to join the reviewer network: [email protected]