Setting Up Free AI Code Review with GLM and Ollama

Zero-Cost AI Code Review

One of the most common questions: "Do I need to pay for an API key?" No. Open Code Review supports two completely free providers.

Option 1: GLM (Cloud, Free)

GLM (智谱) offers a free tier that's more than enough for code review.

# 1. Get your free API key at https://open.bigmodel.cn
# 2. Run scan
npx @opencodereview/cli@latest scan ./src \
  --level l3 \
  --provider glm \
  --api-key your-free-glm-key
# 3. Auto-heal
npx @opencodereview/cli@latest heal ./src \
  --provider glm \
  --api-key your-free-glm-key

Option 2: Ollama (Local, Free)

Run everything locally — no API key, no internet, no data leaving your machine.

# 1. Install Ollama
curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh
# 2. Pull a model
ollama pull llama3
# 3. Run OCR
npx @opencodereview/cli@latest scan ./src \
  --level l3 \
  --provider ollama

Environment Variables

For CI/CD, use environment variables instead of CLI flags:

export OCR_PROVIDER=glm
export OCR_API_KEY=your-free-glm-key
export OCR_MODEL=glm-4
npx @opencodereview/cli@latest scan ./src --level l3
npx @opencodereview/cli@latest heal ./src

Config File

For project-level configuration:

{
  "level": "l3",
  "provider": "glm",
  "apiKey": "your-free-glm-key",
  "paths": ["src/**/*.ts"],
  "threshold": 70
}

Which Should You Choose?

Next Steps

Pick a provider (GLM for easy start, Ollama for privacy)

Run your first scan

Add to your CI/CD pipeline

Enable auto-heal

Total cost: $0. Total setup time: 5 minutes.