CodingBuddy

An AI-powered interactive coding assistant for Geany IDE

CodingBuddy transforms Geany into an intelligent development environment with AI-powered code analysis, interactive chat interface, and multi-provider AI support. Think of it as having Cline/Augment directly integrated into your favorite lightweight IDE.

✨ Features

🤖 Interactive AI Chat Interface

• Persistent conversations with full history tracking
• Context-aware interactions that remember your coding session
• Command-based interface (/new, /history, /quit)
• Multi-turn conversations for complex problem solving
• Cost and token tracking for usage monitoring

🔧 Code Analysis & Generation

• Real-time code analysis with AI-powered suggestions
• Multi-language support for error detection and improvements
• Code generation with context awareness
• Documentation generation for functions and classes
• Refactoring suggestions with AI recommendations

🌐 Multi-Provider AI Support

• Primary: OpenRouter.ai (400+ models, single API key)
• Secondary: Anthropic Claude, OpenAI GPT, DeepSeek
• Local: Ollama integration for offline AI models
• Automatic fallback when providers are unavailable
• Cost optimization through intelligent model selection
• Privacy-first with local model options

💾 Smart Persistence

• Conversation history automatically saved and restored
• Cross-session continuity - conversations survive Geany restarts
• JSON-based storage for human-readable conversation files
• Caching system for improved performance and reduced API costs

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Geany IDE with GeanyLua plugin
• Lua 5.1+ with lua-socket library
• API key for at least one AI provider

Installation

Automated Installation (Recommended)

git clone https://github.com/skizap/CodingBuddy.git
cd CodingBuddy
./install.sh

The automated installer will:

• Detect your Linux distribution
• Install all dependencies automatically
• Set up the plugin and configuration
• Run tests to verify installation

Manual Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/skizap/CodingBuddy.git
   cd CodingBuddy

2. Install to Geany:

   cp -r codingbuddy ~/.config/geany/plugins/geanylua/

3. Configure API keys:

   cp codingbuddy/config.sample.json ~/.config/geany/plugins/geanylua/codingbuddy/config.json
   # Edit config.json with your API keys

4. Restart Geany and look for CodingBuddy in the Tools menu

For detailed installation instructions, see INSTALL.md

First Steps

1. Open the chat interface: Tools → CodingBuddy: Open Chat
2. Start chatting: Type your coding questions or requests
3. Analyze code: Tools → CodingBuddy: Analyze with Chat
4. Explore commands: Type /help in the chat interface

🔒 Security Features

• Task Mode with Approvals - Review AI file operations before execution
• Conversation Encryption - Optional AES-256 encryption for chat history
• Sandbox Environment - All AI file operations restricted to working directory

⚡ Task Mode and Approvals

Enable task mode for enhanced safety when AI performs file operations:

User: /task start
System: Task mode enabled. AI requests for file operations will require approval.

User: Create a hello world script in Python
AI: I'll create a Python hello world script for you.

Operation 1 (write_file) has been queued for approval. Use /approve 1 to execute or /reject 1 to cancel.

User: /ops
Operations Queue:
[10:30] ID:1 write_file - Write to: hello.py (PENDING)

User: /approve 1
System: Approved operation 1

User: Thanks!
System: Executed approved operations:
- Operation 1 (write_file): Success

💬 Usage Examples

Interactive Chat Session

=== New Conversation ===
Messages: 0 | Tokens: 0 | Cost: $0.0000

Your message: Can you help me optimize this Python function?

[12:34] You: Can you help me optimize this Python function?
[12:34] Assistant: I'd be happy to help! Please share the function code.

Your message: def find_max(numbers):
    max_val = numbers[0]
    for num in numbers:
        if num > max_val:
            max_val = num
    return max_val

[12:35] Assistant: Here are several optimizations:

1. **Use built-in max()** (most Pythonic):
   ```python
   def find_max(numbers):
       return max(numbers)

2. Handle edge cases:

   def find_max(numbers):
       if not numbers:
           raise ValueError("Cannot find max of empty list")
       return max(numbers)

### Code Analysis
- Open any code file in Geany
- Select Tools → CodingBuddy: Analyze with Chat
- Get AI-powered analysis with suggestions for improvements

### Chat Commands
- `/new` - Start a new conversation
- `/history` - Browse previous conversations
- `/quit` - Close chat interface
- `/help` - Show available commands

## 📁 Project Structure

CodingBuddy/ ├── README.md # This file ├── INSTALL.md # Detailed installation guide ├── USER_GUIDE.md # Comprehensive user manual ├── DEVELOPER.md # API reference and development guide ├── codingbuddy/ # Main plugin directory │ ├── main.lua # Plugin entry point │ ├── ai_connector.lua # Multi-provider AI interface │ ├── analyzer.lua # Code analysis engine │ ├── chat_interface.lua # Interactive chat system │ ├── conversation_manager.lua # Conversation state management │ ├── config.lua # Configuration management │ ├── config.sample.json # Sample configuration │ ├── dialogs.lua # UI components │ ├── json.lua # JSON utilities │ ├── utils.lua # Utility functions │ └── prompts/ # AI prompt templates ├── docs/ # Additional documentation ├── examples/ # Usage examples └── tests/ # Test suite

## 🔧 Configuration

CodingBuddy supports multiple AI providers with automatic fallback:

```json
{
  "providers": {
    "openrouter": {
      "api_key": "your-openrouter-key",
      "base_url": "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1",
      "models": ["anthropic/claude-3.5-sonnet", "openai/gpt-4"]
    },
    "anthropic": {
      "api_key": "your-anthropic-key",
      "base_url": "https://api.anthropic.com/v1"
    }
  },
  "default_provider": "openrouter",
  "cache_enabled": true,
  "max_conversation_length": 50
}

🔒 Encryption Setup (Optional)

Protect your conversation history with AES-256 encryption:

1. Install OpenSSL (required for encryption):

   sudo apt install openssl  # Ubuntu/Debian
   brew install openssl      # macOS

2. Set encryption passphrase:

   export CODINGBUDDY_PASSPHRASE="your-very-secure-passphrase-here"
   # Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc to persist across sessions

3. Enable encryption in config:

   {
     "conversation_encryption": true,
     // ... other settings
   }

Security Notes:

• Use a strong 20+ character passphrase with mixed case, numbers, and symbols
• Never store the passphrase in config files or version control
• If you lose your passphrase, encrypted conversations cannot be recovered
• See ENCRYPTION.md for detailed security information

📚 Documentation

• Installation Guide - Detailed setup instructions
• User Guide - Complete usage manual with examples
• Ollama Setup Guide - Local AI models setup and configuration
• Troubleshooting Guide - Fix common issues
• Developer Guide - API reference and development info
• Chat Interface - Interactive chat system details
• AI Enhancements - Advanced AI features

🧪 Testing

Run the test suite to verify installation:

cd tests
lua test_ai_connector.lua
lua test_chat_interface.lua

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see DEVELOPER.md for:

• Development setup
• API documentation
• Coding standards
• Contribution guidelines

📄 License

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

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Geany IDE - Lightweight and powerful text editor
• GeanyLua - Lua scripting support for Geany
• OpenRouter.ai - Multi-provider AI access platform
• Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepSeek - AI model providers

🔗 Links

• Geany IDE
• GeanyLua Plugin
• OpenRouter.ai
• Project Issues

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Transform your coding experience with AI-powered assistance directly in Geany!