editcodewithai

A lightweight, flexible library for AI-powered code editing.

See also vizhub-benchmarks.

Overview

editcodewithai is a JavaScript/TypeScript library that enables AI-powered code editing in your applications. It provides a simple interface to send code files and instructions to an LLM (Large Language Model) and receive edited code in return.

The library is designed to be model-agnostic, allowing you to use any LLM provider while handling the prompt engineering, file parsing, and response processing for you.

Edit formats inspired by Aider. See Aider: Edit Formats for details.

Installation

npm install editcodewithai

Usage

Here's a basic example of how to use performAiEdit to update a file:

import {
  performAiEdit,
  FORMAT_INSTRUCTIONS,
  LlmFunction,
} from "editcodewithai";
import { VizFiles } from "@vizhub/viz-types";

// Your function to call the LLM
const myLlmFunction: LlmFunction = async (prompt: string) => {
  // ... call your LLM API with the prompt
  const llmResponse = "...";
  return {
    content: llmResponse, // The raw string response from the LLM
    generationId: "some-generation-id", // Optional, for cost tracking with OpenRouter
  };
};

const files: VizFiles = {
  file1: {
    name: "index.js",
    text: 'console.log("Hello, World!");',
  },
};

const prompt = 'Change the greeting to "Hello, Universe!"';

async function main() {
  const result = await performAiEdit({
    prompt,
    files,
    llmFunction: myLlmFunction,
    editFormat: "diff", // Specify the desired edit format
  });

  console.log(result.changedFiles["file1"].text);
  // Expected output: console.log("Hello, Universe!");
}

main();

Edit Formats

This library supports several "edit formats" that instruct the LLM on how to specify file changes. Different models may perform better with different formats. You can specify the format using the editFormat parameter in performAiEdit.

whole (default)

The LLM returns the complete, updated content for each file that needs changes. This is simple but can be inefficient for large files with small changes.

Example:

index.js
```js
console.log("Hello, Universe!");
```

diff

The LLM returns a series of search-and-replace blocks. This is efficient as it only includes the changed portions of the files.

Example:

index.js
```
<<<<<<< SEARCH
console.log("Hello, World!");
=======
console.log("Hello, Universe!");
>>>>>>> REPLACE
```

File Operations

The library handles several file operations automatically:

• Updating existing files: When the AI modifies a file's content
• Creating new files: When the AI suggests new files to add
• Deleting files: When the AI returns empty content for a file

Format Instructions

The library exports FORMAT_INSTRUCTIONS which contains the exact prompt instructions used for each edit format. This can be useful if you want to:

• Use the formatting instructions in your own custom prompts
• Understand exactly what instructions are sent to the LLM for each format
• Build your own AI editing tools using the same proven prompt patterns

Usage

import { FORMAT_INSTRUCTIONS } from "editcodewithai";

// Access instructions for a specific format
console.log(FORMAT_INSTRUCTIONS.diff);
console.log(FORMAT_INSTRUCTIONS.whole);
console.log(FORMAT_INSTRUCTIONS["diff-fenced"]);
console.log(FORMAT_INSTRUCTIONS.udiff);

// Use in your own prompts
const customPrompt = `
${FORMAT_INSTRUCTIONS.diff}

Please update the following code to add error handling:
${yourCodeHere}
`;

Available Formats

The FORMAT_INSTRUCTIONS object contains instructions for these edit formats:

• whole: Instructions for returning complete file contents
• diff: Instructions for search-and-replace blocks
• diff-fenced: Instructions for search-and-replace blocks with file paths inside code fences
• udiff: Instructions for unified diff format

Each instruction set is a string containing detailed formatting guidelines that help ensure the LLM produces properly structured output that can be parsed by the library.

Similar Projects

• Aider: An AI pair programming tool that integrates with your terminal to assist in code editing within your local git repository. https://aider.chat/

• Bolt.new / Bolt.diy: A platform that allows users to prompt, run, edit, and deploy full-stack web and mobile applications. https://bolt.new/

• Cline: An AI-powered code assistant designed to help developers write and debug code more efficiently. https://cline.ai/

• Cerebras Coder: A code generation tool developed by Cerebras Systems, leveraging advanced AI models to assist in coding tasks. https://www.cerebras.net/

• Pear AI: An open-source AI code editor that accelerates the development process by integrating features like AI chat, code generation, and debugging assistance. https://trypear.ai/

• Void: An open-source alternative to proprietary AI code editors, offering AI-assisted coding features while prioritizing user privacy and control. https://void.dev/

• Cody: An advanced AI coding assistant developed by Sourcegraph, integrating seamlessly with popular IDEs to provide features like AI-driven chat, code autocompletion, and inline editing. https://github.com/sourcegraph/cody

Contributing

To contribute to this project:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/editcodewithai.git

# Navigate to project directory
cd editcodewithai

# Install dependencies
npm install

Run tests to ensure everything is working correctly:

npm test

Please submit pull requests with clear descriptions of changes and ensure all tests pass. Protocol for wrapping up a PR:

npm test
npm run typecheck
npm run prettier
# Verify the README is up to date

Please create an issue first before creating a PR to discuss the changes you want to make. This helps ensure that your contributions align with the project's goals and vision.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.