Local Code Assistant

A privacy-focused CLI tool for local AI code assistance using Ollama. Generate code, explain functionality, refactor for better structure, and write tests - all without sending your code to external APIs.

Features

• Code Generation: Generate clean, well-documented code from natural language prompts
• Code Explanation: Get clear explanations of what code does and how it works
• Code Refactoring: Improve code structure with safe or aggressive refactoring options
• Performance Optimization: Optimize code for better performance and efficiency
• Test Generation: Automatically generate comprehensive unit tests
• Interactive REPL: Enter an interactive session for continuous code assistance
• Multi-Language Support: Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Go, and Rust
• Context-Aware: Include project files for better suggestions
• Secure Offline Operation: All processing stays local - your code never leaves your machine

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.9 or higher
• Ollama installed and running
• A local LLM model (codellama, deepseek-coder, etc.)

Install via pip

pip install local-code-assistant

Install from Source

git clone https://github.com/local-code-assistant/local-code-assistant.git
cd local-code-assistant
pip install -e .

Install Ollama Models

# Install a code-focused model
ollama pull codellama
ollama pull deepseek-coder
ollama pull starcoder2

# List available models
ollama list

Quick Start

Check Connection

local-code-assistant status

Generate Code

local-code-assistant generate "a function to calculate fibonacci numbers" --language python

Explain Code

local-code-assistant explain script.py
local-code-assistant explain app.ts --markdown

Refactor Code

local-code-assistant refactor my_module.py --safe
local-code-assistant refactor app.py -f readability -f naming -o refactored.py

Optimize Code

local-code-assistant optimize slow.py -o fast.py

Generate Tests

local-code-assistant test my_module.py
local-code-assistant test app.py -o test_app.py

Interactive REPL

local-code-assistant repl

Configuration

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
OLLAMA_BASE_URL	http://localhost:11434	Ollama API endpoint URL
OLLAMA_MODEL	codellama	Default model to use
OLLAMA_TIMEOUT	8000	Request timeout in seconds
CONFIG_PATH	~/.config/local-code-assistant/config.yaml	Path to config file

Configuration File

Create ~/.config/local-code-assistant/config.yaml:

ollama:
  base_url: http://localhost:11434
  model: codellama
  timeout: 8000
  streaming: true

defaults:
  language: python
  temperature: 0.2
  max_tokens: 4000

context:
  max_files: 10
  max_file_size: 100000

output:
  syntax_highlighting: true
  clipboard: true

Commands

generate

Generate code from natural language prompts.

local-code-assistant generate "a REST API endpoint for user authentication" \
    --language python \
    --output auth.py \
    --temperature 0.3

Options:

• --language, -l: Programming language (default: python)
• --output, -o: Write generated code to file
• --clipboard/--no-clipboard: Copy to clipboard
• --model, -m: Model to use
• --temperature, -t: Temperature (0.0-1.0)

explain

Explain code from a file.

local-code-assistant explain complex_module.py --markdown

Options:

• --language, -l: Programming language (auto-detected)
• --markdown/--no-markdown: Format output as markdown

refactor

Refactor code for better structure.

local-code-assistant refactor legacy_code.py \
    --safe \
    --focus readability \
    --focus naming

Options:

• --focus, -f: Focus areas (readability, structure, naming, documentation)
• --safe/--unsafe: Safe refactoring maintains behavior
• --output, -o: Write to file
• --clipboard/--no-clipboard: Copy to clipboard

optimize

Optimize code for performance.

local-code-assistant optimize slow_algorithm.py -o optimized.py

test

Generate unit tests for code.

local-code-assistant test my_module.py -o test_my_module.py

repl

Enter interactive REPL mode.

local-code-assistant repl --model codellama --language python

REPL Commands:

• :generate <prompt> - Generate code
• :explain - Explain last generated code
• :lang <language> - Set programming language
• :model <name> - Set model
• :status - Show current settings
• :clear - Clear conversation
• :quit or Ctrl+D - Exit

status

Check connection and model status.

local-code-assistant status

models

List available Ollama models.

local-code-assistant models

version

Show version information.

local-code-assistant version

Supported Languages

Language	Extensions	Testing Framework
Python	.py, .pyw, .pyi	pytest
JavaScript	.js, .mjs, .cjs	jest
TypeScript	.ts, .tsx	jest
Go	.go	testing
Rust	.rs	test

Recommended Models

• codellama: General purpose code generation
• deepseek-coder: High-quality code completion
• starcoder2: Multi-language support
• qwen2.5-coder: Balanced performance
• phi4: Efficient code understanding

Project Context

When generating or refactoring code, you can include project files for better context:

local-code-assistant generate "add error handling" --context --max-files 5

Development

Setup Development Environment

git clone https://github.com/local-code-assistant/local-code-assistant.git
cd local-code-assistant
pip install -e ".[dev]"

Running Tests

# Run all tests
pytest tests/ -v

# Run with coverage
pytest tests/ --cov=local_code_assistant --cov-report=term-missing

# Run specific test file
pytest tests/test_cli.py -v

Code Quality

# Format code
black local_code_assistant/

# Lint code
ruff check local_code_assistant/

# Type checking
mypy local_code_assistant/

Architecture

local_code_assistant/
├── cli.py                  # Main CLI entry point
├── commands/
│   ├── base.py            # Base command class
│   ├── generate.py        # Code generation command
│   ├── explain.py         # Code explanation command
│   ├── refactor.py        # Code refactoring command
│   ├── test.py            # Test generation command
│   └── repl.py            # Interactive REPL
├── services/
│   ├── ollama.py          # Ollama API client
│   └── config.py          # Configuration management
├── prompts/
│   └── templates.py       # Prompt templates and language config
├── utils/
│   ├── context.py         # Project context building
│   └── language.py        # Language detection utilities
└── tests/                 # Test suite

Troubleshooting

Cannot connect to Ollama

# Make sure Ollama is running
ollama serve

# Check if Ollama is accessible
curl http://localhost:11434/api/tags

Model not found

# Pull the model
ollama pull codellama

# List installed models
ollama list

Slow responses

• Reduce max_tokens in configuration
• Use a smaller model
• Increase OLLAMA_TIMEOUT

Clipboard not working

• Install pyperclip dependencies:
  • Linux: sudo apt-get install xclip or xsel
  • macOS: Already supported
  • Windows: Already supported

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read our contributing guidelines before submitting PRs.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Security

This tool is designed with privacy in mind:

• All processing happens locally
• No external API calls (except to your local Ollama instance)
• No telemetry or data collection
• Your code never leaves your machine