gptel-aibo

Breaking Changes

gptel-aibo is an AI writing assistant system built on top of gptel . It helps you create and manage content in Emacs, including code, documentation, and even novels. As you talk to the LLM, it automatically sends the content (or a portion of it) that you're currently working on, allowing you to refer to elements like "this function," "this class," "this file," etc. It also defines an action set and its format with the LLM, so once a response is received, you can easily apply the suggestions with a single command ( gptel-aibo-apply-last-suggestions, bound to C-c !).

The term aibo, meaning partner, is currently ambiguous—it could refer to gptel’s partner, or the user’s.

Installation

This package requires gptel and access to any LLM through it. See its README for details on setting up your LLM environment.

Since this package is developed based on the Doom Emacs gptel package, it uses a very recent version of gptel. If you're not using Doom Emacs, it's recommended to install gptel using straight.el or the built-in package-vc-install.

Doom Emacs

In your packages.el, add this line:

(package! gptel-aibo :recipe (:host github :repo "dolmens/gptel-aibo"))

Note: In the gptel-aibo interface, it overrides the flycheck keybinding C-c ! (you generally won't need to use flycheck in the gptel-aibo interface, especially with the shortcut key). Therefore, if you want to configure further using use-package!, make sure gptel-aibo is loaded after flycheck.

(use-package! gptel-aibo
  :after (gptel flycheck))

Alternatively, define a different keybinding:

(use-package! gptel-aibo
  :after (gptel)
  :config
  (define-key gptel-aibo-mode-map
              (kbd "C-c /") #'gptel-aibo-apply-last-suggestions))

Usage

With the gptel-aibo interactive command, you can open or switch to an existing gptel-aibo console, which is a markdown page with the gptel-aibo minor mode enabled, an extension of gptel-mode.

To get started, open your file, move the cursor to the section you're working on, and then switch to the gptel-aibo console. There, you can talk to the LLM and receive suggestions. Use gptel-aibo-send to send your request, which is bound to C-c RET, just like the send command in gptel-mode.

Once a response is received, you can apply it using the command gptel-aibo-apply-last-suggestions (bound to C-c !), or continue the conversation with more detailed instructions.

Completion at point

gptel-aibo also provides a minor mode gptel-aibo-complete-mode and an interactive command gptel-aibo-complete-at-point, which can insert relevant content at the current position based on the context. For example, after writing a function comment, you can use this single command to generate the corresponding code. Use TAB or Enter to accept, and other keys to discard.

You can globally enable gptel-aibo-complete-mode, which has no side effects and only works when you invoke it. You can also add it to specific mode hooks if that suits your workflow. In the minor mode, gptel-aibo-complete-at-point is bound to C-c C-c i. It’s a bit long, but less likely to upset someone by taking away their favorite key. You can also bind your own key, for example:

• Doom Emacs

(use-package! gptel-aibo
  :after (gptel)
  :config
  (define-key gptel-aibo-complete-mode-map
              (kbd "C-c i") #'gptel-aibo-complete-at-point)
  (add-hook 'prog-mode-hook #'gptel-aibo-complete-mode))

Samples

Query the logic, request additional cases

Refactor a sample project

Other common tasks & ideas

• generate a docstring for this function
• make the comment conform to Doxygen style
• generate the code for this function based on the comments (better done with gptel-aibo-complete-at-point)
• refactor this function and reorganize its logic
• reformat this function, as some lines are too long
• extract the common parts of functions A and B into a new function
• change the coding style from snake_case to camelCase (or vice versa)

Customization

• gptel-aibo-max-buffer-size

  The size limit for the buffers that is automatically sent to the LLM.

  If the working buffer (the buffer you are currently working on) exceeds this size, only a fragment of content around the cursor (typically a function or class) will be sent.

  For other buffers in the same project: if their size exceeds this limit and they have an outline available, only the outline will be sent. Otherwise, their content will not be sent.

  The default value is 16000.

• gptel-aibo-max-buffer-count

  The maximum number of buffers within the same project as your working buffer that are automatically sent to the LLM.

  The default value is 2.

Miscellaneous

To make the gptel-aibo console look a bit fancier, I copied the following markdown configuration from this Reddit post beautify_markdown_on_emacs. Thanks to the original author!

If you like it, you can add it to your configuration file.

(after! markdown-mode
  (custom-set-faces!
    '(markdown-header-delimiter-face :foreground "#616161" :height 0.9)
    '(markdown-header-face-1 :height 1.8 :foreground "#A3BE8C" :weight extra-bold :inherit markdown-header-face)
    '(markdown-header-face-2 :height 1.4 :foreground "#EBCB8B" :weight extra-bold :inherit markdown-header-face)
    '(markdown-header-face-3 :height 1.2 :foreground "#D08770" :weight extra-bold :inherit markdown-header-face)
    '(markdown-header-face-4 :height 1.15 :foreground "#BF616A" :weight bold :inherit markdown-header-face)
    '(markdown-header-face-5 :height 1.1 :foreground "#b48ead" :weight bold :inherit markdown-header-face)
    '(markdown-header-face-6 :height 1.05 :foreground "#5e81ac" :weight semi-bold :inherit markdown-header-face)))

Security issues

1. The file path and content of the current working buffer, as well as buffers from the same project, may be sent to the LLM.
2. There are three actions defined in gptel-aibo: modification, creation, and deletion. These actions are only allowed if the target is under the project root of the current working buffer. If a buffer is not part of a project, only modifications to itself can be executed.
3. Modifications and creations are saved immediately after they are applied, with an additional confirmation required for deletion. While some changes can be reverted using Emacs’ undo system, it’s best to place your project under version control to enhance safety and recoverability.

Breaking Changes

1. To align with MELPA naming conventions, the initial draft prefix gptai has been changed to the official gptel-aibo.

• interactive command gptai → gptel-aibo
• gptai-apply-last-suggestions → gptel-aibo-apply-last-suggestions
• gptai-mode-map → gptel-aibo-mode-map
• gptai-complete-at-point → gptel-aibo-complete-at-point
• gptai-complete-mode-map → gptel-aibo-complete-mode-map

2. The variable gptai--max-buffer-size has been renamed to gptel-aibo-max-buffer-size.
3. The variable gptai--max-project-buffer-size has been removed. Both the working buffer and the project buffers are now controlled by gptel-aibo-max-buffer-size.
4. The variable gptai--max-project-buffer-count has been renamed to gptel-aibo-max-buffer-count.