ai-code-assistant

🤖 AI Coding Assistant

Never hit API rate limits again

Seamless AI coding with automatic failover across 15+ free AI providers.

A terminal-based AI coding assistant that automatically switches between multiple AI providers whenever one becomes unavailable or rate-limited.

Zero cost. Zero interruptions. Maximum productivity.

✨ Features

Feature	Description
🔄 Auto Failover	Automatically switches providers when rate limits are hit
🧠 Persistent Context	Remembers conversations across sessions
📦 Large Prompt Support	Handles prompts with thousands of lines
🆓 Free to Use	Leverages free tiers from multiple providers
🚀 Unlimited Workflow	Continue working even when providers throttle requests
💬 Dual Mode	General Chat + Coding Assistant modes
🔧 Project Operations	Read files, analyze code, execute commands
📊 Smart Routing	Tracks provider health and prioritizes working services
🔒 Privacy First	Context stored locally in Markdown files

🎯 Why This Exists

Most AI coding tools depend on a single provider.

When that provider:

• Hits rate limits
• Goes down
• Becomes slow
• Exceeds free quotas

your workflow stops.

AI Coding Assistant solves this problem by automatically rotating between multiple providers behind the scenes.

Example

User Request
      │
      ▼
Groq ❌ Rate Limited
      │
      ▼
Gemini ❌ Temporary Error
      │
      ▼
Cohere ✅ Success
      │
      ▼
Response Returned

You never see the failover process—it just works.

📦 Installation

Global Installation

npm install -g ai-code-assistant

Run Without Installing

npx ai-code-assistant

Install From Source

git clone https://github.com/PraveenMistry/ai-code-assistant.git

cd ai-code-assistant

npm install

npm link

🚀 Quick Start

1. Run Setup Wizard

ai-code --setup

2. Select Providers

Choose providers such as:

• Groq
• Gemini
• Cohere
• Hugging Face
• OpenRouter

3. Enter API Keys

The wizard will guide you through configuration.

4. Start Coding

ai-code

💻 Usage

General Chat Mode (Default)

💻 > What is the capital of France?

💻 > Explain quantum computing in simple terms

💻 > Tell me a joke

💻 > How do I learn Python?

Coding Mode

Switch modes anytime:

💻 > mode

🎭 Mode switched to: CODING MODE

Examples:

💻 > create a React Button component

💻 > fix the bug in server.js

💻 > add error handling to the API

💻 > write unit tests for auth module

Working With Your Project

💻 > analyze

Analyze project structure and requirements.

💻 > list

List all project files.

💻 > read package.json

Read a specific file.

💻 > context

Show conversation history.

🧩 Commands

General Commands

Command	Description
help	Show help and examples
mode	Switch between Chat and Coding mode
context	View conversation history
clear	Clear current session
stats	Show provider performance
exit	Save session and quit

Coding Commands

Command	Description
analyze	Analyze project structure
list	List project files
read	Read file contents

🔑 Supported Providers

#	Provider	Free Tier	Status
1	Groq	10K tokens/min	✅ Fastest
2	Gemini	60 requests/min	✅ Recommended
3	Cohere	100K tokens/month	✅ Stable
4	Hugging Face	30K tokens/day	✅ Good
5	OpenRouter	20 req/min + credits	⚠️ Limited
6	Cerebras	Unlimited	⚠️ API Issues
7	Together AI	Free credits	⚠️ Limited
8	DeepInfra	10K tokens/day	⚠️ Limited
9	Lepton AI	100 req/day	⚠️ Limited

Recommended Setup

For best reliability:

1. Groq
2. Gemini
3. Cohere

⚙️ Configuration

Environment Variables (.env)

# Groq
GROQ_API_KEY=gsk_xxxxxxxxx
GROQ_MODEL=mixtral-8x7b-32768
GROQ_PRIORITY=1
GROQ_ENABLED=true

# Gemini
GEMINI_API_KEY=xxxxxxxxx
GEMINI_MODEL=gemini-1.5-flash
GEMINI_PRIORITY=2
GEMINI_ENABLED=true

# Cohere
COHERE_API_KEY=xxxxxxxxx
COHERE_MODEL=command
COHERE_PRIORITY=3
COHERE_ENABLED=true

# Project
PROJECT_PATH=/path/to/project
TRD_PATH=/path/to/requirements.md

# Context
MAX_RESPONSE_TOKENS=2048
MAX_CONTEXT_CHARS=6000
MAX_HISTORY_MESSAGES=10

Setup Wizard

Run:

ai-code --setup

The wizard will:

• Detect existing configuration
• Allow reset or reuse
• Configure providers
• Add API keys
• Set project paths
• Save preferences

📁 Project Structure

your-project/
│
├── .ai-context/
│   ├── session.md
│   ├── history/
│   └── prompts/
│
├── .env
│
└── source files...

💡 Tips

Get Free API Keys

Provider	URL	Setup Time
Groq	https://console.groq.com/keys	~1 min
Gemini	https://aistudio.google.com/apikey	~1 min
Cohere	https://dashboard.cohere.com/api-keys	~2 min

Check Provider Health

💻 > stats

Clear Context

💻 > clear

🧹 Session cleared!

Useful when switching projects or topics.

🔧 Troubleshooting

No Valid Providers Configured

ai-code --setup

or

npm run setup

Provider Failed

Enable multiple providers:

GROQ_ENABLED=true
GEMINI_ENABLED=true

Keyboard Stops Responding

If a provider hangs:

Ctrl + C

Restart the application.

Disable Failing Provider

OPENROUTER_ENABLED=false

📊 Performance

Provider	Avg Response Time	Success Rate
Groq	~500ms	99%
Gemini	~1200ms	98%
Cohere	~2000ms	95%

🛣️ Roadmap

Completed

• ✅ Auto failover
• ✅ Multi-provider support
• ✅ Interactive CLI
• ✅ Persistent context
• ✅ Dual mode support

Coming Soon

• 🔄 Ollama / Local Models
• 🔌 VS Code Extension
• 🌐 Web Dashboard
• 🎙 Voice Commands
• 📈 Advanced Analytics

🤝 Contributing

git clone https://github.com/PraveenMistry/ai-code-assistant.git

cd ai-code-assistant

npm install

npm run setup

npm start

Pull requests are welcome.

📄 License

MIT License

Feel free to use, modify, distribute, and contribute.

Built with ❤️ for developers who hate rate limits

⚡ Type mode to switch between Chat and Coding Mode ⚡