In order to synthesize high performance nickel-rich cathode, it is necessary to adopt favorable calcination temperature, calcination time and cooling procedure to lithiate hydroxide precursor, so as to form cathode material with better crystal structure and grain morphology in a controlled way. However, due to the large number of parameters involved in the calcination process, it is still challenging to reasonably design the calcination process which is required for preparing nickel-rich positive electrode with ideal structure and morphology. Therefore, it is necessary to deeply understand the evolution and formation rule of the phase, structure and morphology of intermediate during high temperature calcination, so as to provide reference for the design of nickel-rich cathode calcination process and directional control of structure. In this paper, the phase composition changes of precursor during the lithiation are briefly introduced from the point view of thermodynamic phase equilibrium. Secondly, the reaction mechanism and phase evolution of the intermediate are introduced based on in situ testing and theoretical calculation analysis. Then, the surface reconstruction phenomenon which is occurred in cooling process and significantly affects the properties of nickel-rich cathode materials is introduced, and the reasons for surface reconstruction are summarized. Finally, the morphology evolution and factors that affect the morphology during lithiation are introduced. Finally, the problems in the calcination process of nickel-rich cathode are discussed. The structural evolution and regulation of intermediate during high temperature lithiation process introduced in the paper could provide reference for relevant professionals to develop nickel-rich cathodes.