OpenPilot — Free AI Coding Assistant

A fully open-source, Copilot-free AI assistant for VS Code. Reads your entire codebase, edits files, runs commands, and pushes to GitHub — powered by Ollama, Claude, or OpenAI.

Features

🧠 Understands Your Whole Codebase

OpenPilot automatically indexes your workspace file tree and can read any file on demand. Ask it to refactor a module, trace a bug across files, or add a feature — it will read the relevant files first, then make targeted edits.

✏️ Makes Real Code Changes

The AI can create and edit files directly in your workspace. Every write, edit, or destructive action shows an Approve / Reject card before anything is touched — you stay in full control.

🔀 Git Integration

Generate commit messages, push to remote, and check status — all from the chat panel.

⚡ Inline Edit (Cursor-style)

Select any code, press Ctrl+Alt+K, type an instruction, and the selection is rewritten in place.

🆓 Completely Free — No Copilot Required

Works with Ollama (local, totally free), Anthropic Claude (pay-as-you-go, very cheap), or OpenAI. No GitHub Copilot subscription needed.

Getting Started

Option 1 — Ollama (free, runs locally)

Install Ollama
Pull a coding model:
```
ollama pull qwen2.5-coder
```
Open OpenPilot chat (Ctrl+Alt+O) — it works immediately, no API key needed.

Option 2 — Anthropic Claude

Get an API key at console.anthropic.com
Run OpenPilot: Configure AI Backend from the Command Palette
Select Anthropic Claude and paste your API key.

Option 3 — OpenAI

Get an API key at platform.openai.com
Run OpenPilot: Configure AI Backend from the Command Palette
Select OpenAI and paste your API key.

Commands

Command	Shortcut	Description
OpenPilot: Open Chat	`Ctrl+Alt+O`	Open the AI chat panel
OpenPilot: Edit with AI	`Ctrl+Alt+K`	Rewrite selected code with AI
OpenPilot: AI Commit	—	Open chat and generate a commit message
OpenPilot: Configure AI Backend	—	Switch between Ollama / Claude / OpenAI

Chat Slash Commands

Command	Description
`/commit`	Analyze staged/unstaged changes and propose a commit message
`/push`	Push current branch to remote
`/status`	Show git status

What the AI Can Do

When you ask OpenPilot to perform a task, it runs an agent loop — similar to Cursor's Composer or GitHub Copilot Edits:

Reads your workspace file tree automatically
Fetches specific files it needs to understand the code
Searches the codebase for symbols, patterns, or text
Edits files with targeted diffs (shows before/after for approval)
Creates new files (shows preview for approval)
Runs terminal commands (shows command for approval)
Commits and pushes changes (requires approval)

All write operations require your explicit approval — nothing is modified silently.

Settings

Setting	Default	Description
`openpilot.backend`	`ollama`	AI backend: `ollama`, `anthropic`, or `openai`
`openpilot.apiKey`	(empty)	API key for Anthropic or OpenAI
`openpilot.model`	(auto)	Override the default model for the selected backend
`openpilot.ollamaUrl`	`http://localhost:11434`	Ollama server URL

Default models per backend:

Ollama: qwen2.5-coder
Anthropic: claude-haiku-4-5-20251001
OpenAI: gpt-4o-mini

Privacy

Ollama: all processing happens locally on your machine — no data leaves your computer.
Anthropic / OpenAI: your code is sent to their APIs under your account. Review their privacy policies before use.
OpenPilot itself (developed by Ten Labs Pty. Limited) never collects or transmits any data.

Contributing

OpenPilot is open source. Issues and pull requests are welcome at the GitHub repository.

OpenPilot AI

Ten Labs