Abstract: As an important component of urban green space, the construction process of courtyard presents the climate adaptation methods and techniques with regional characteristics. Its spatial form layout directly reduces the entry of solar radiation and the exchange with external gas from the aspects of orientation, boundary demarcation and spatial scale, which embodies the basic construction rules of courtyards adapting to the regional climate. Against the background of an increasingly severe energy situation, the study of climate wisdom in traditional gardens has become a research hotspot. By collecting the research results related to the thermal environmental effects of courtyard spatial form from 1985 to 2020, this research conducts a literature review and analysis of the research process, methods and spatial form indicators affecting the thermal environment in this field based on the CiteSpace software. It analyzes and concludes the influence of courtyard spatial form on thermal envionment is mainly concentrated on three aspects: spatial overall feature, spatial enclosure feature and spatial sheltering feature, it gives enlightenment from three aspects: the suitability selection of spatial form indicators at different scales, the integration and innovation of research methods, and the improvement of the application value of the research results, which can be used to explore the research ideas and adaptation strategies for the researches on courtyard spatial form design oriented by climate adaptability in China.