Frequently asked questions

Is it safe by default?

Yes. The default provider is mock, which performs deterministic local responses and triggers no network calls.

How do coding guidelines work?

Set guidelines_file in .aicodereview.yml. The file is read, base64-embedded in prompts, and the model is instructed to decode and follow it. This works consistently across all providers without separate uploads.

What diffs are supported?

Unified diffs (the standard output of git diff) either from a file (--diff-file) or computed from a PR/MR ID when using the VCS adapters.

Will it post comments automatically?

No. It prints to stdout by default. It will only post a summary back to PR/MR when you pass --comment.

Common errors

• 401/403: missing token or wrong scopes. Check your environment variables.
• Project/repo not found: ensure vcs.repo/vcs.project_id match your target and the ID is correct.
• Self-hosted GitLab: set vcs.api_base to the full API base URL (e.g., ending with /api/v4).