AceCoder (Open-sourced)

Inspired by Interview Coder by @ibttf

An app that does this shouldn't be locked behind a $60/mo paywall.

AceCoder is a desktop AI assistant for Windows and macOS designed to help you with a wide range of questions and tasks presented visually (e.g., in screenshots). It captures screen areas, sends them to an AI model via OpenRouter for analysis, and displays the results in a convenient, minimal overlay window.

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0. See the LICENSE file for details.

Note: This application supports Windows and macOS.

Key Features

• Screenshot Capture: Capture one or more screenshots of coding problems or code snippets using a hotkey.
• AI Analysis: Sends captured images to a powerful AI model (configurable, defaults to a Gemini model via OpenRouter) for explanation and solution generation.
• Overlay Interface: Displays the AI's response in a persistent, always-on-top overlay window.
• Markdown Rendering: Formats the AI's response using Markdown, including syntax highlighting for code blocks.
• Follow-up Questions: Ask follow-up questions about the provided solution directly within the overlay (uses the previous analysis as context).
• Configurable Hotkeys: Control capture, processing, overlay visibility, and movement with global hotkeys.
• Capture Exclusion: The overlay window attempts to exclude itself from screen captures (effectiveness may vary by OS and capture method).

Planned Features

• Click-through Overlay: Allow mouse interactions with windows underneath the overlay.
• Optional Follow-up Suppression: Ability to type in follow-up window without losing focus of current window.

Keybindings

• Ctrl + Shift + H (Configurable: HOTKEY_CAPTURE): Capture a screenshot. Press multiple times to capture multiple images for a single analysis.
• Ctrl + Shift + Enter (Configurable: HOTKEY_PROCESS): Process the captured screenshot(s) and send for AI analysis (standard mode).
• Alt + Shift + Enter (Configurable: HOTKEY_PROCESS_FAST): Process the captured screenshot(s) using the faster model and skipping content detection (fast mode).
• Ctrl + B (Configurable: HOTKEY_TOGGLE_VISIBILITY): Toggle the visibility of the overlay window.
• Ctrl + Alt + Arrow Keys (Left/Right/Up/Down) (Configurable: HOTKEY_MOVE_LEFT, etc.): Move the overlay window around the screen.
• Ctrl + Shift + V (Configurable: HOTKEY_TOGGLE_CAPTURE_VISIBILITY): Toggle whether the overlay window itself appears in screen captures.
• Ctrl + Shift + R (Configurable: HOTKEY_RESET_SCREENSHOTS): Reset (clear) the currently captured screenshots.
• Ctrl + L (Configurable: HOTKEY_FOLLOW_UP): Open the follow-up input area at the bottom of the overlay (only works after an initial analysis).
• Ctrl + Shift + F (Configurable: HOTKEY_FOCUS_OVERLAY): Attempt to bring the overlay window to the front.

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/safzanpirani/acecoder-open.git
   cd acecoder-open

2. Create and activate a virtual environment:

   • Windows (Command Prompt):

     python -m venv venv
     .\venv\Scripts\activate

   • Windows (PowerShell):

     python -m venv venv
     .\venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

   • macOS / Linux (Bash/Zsh):

     python3 -m venv venv
     source venv/bin/activate

3. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

   (This will automatically install the correct dependencies for your operating system)

4. (Optional) Install Recommended Font: For the best visual experience, it is recommended to install the JetBrains Mono font, which is used by default in the overlay.

Configuration

AceCoder uses a config.py file to manage settings and requires an API key from OpenRouter.ai to function. OpenRouter provides access to various AI models, including free ones (rate limits apply).

1. Get an OpenRouter API Key: Sign up at https://openrouter.ai/ and generate an API key.

2. Set the Environment Variable: You must set the OPENROUTER_API_KEY environment variable before running the application. Alternatively, you can hardcode the key directly in config.py, but this is not recommended for security reasons.

   • Windows (Command Prompt - Temporary):

     set OPENROUTER_API_KEY=your_actual_api_key_here
     python main.py

   • Windows (PowerShell - Temporary):

     $env:OPENROUTER_API_KEY="your_actual_api_key_here"
     python main.py

   • macOS / Linux (Bash/Zsh - Temporary):

     export OPENROUTER_API_KEY='your_actual_api_key_here'
     python3 main.py 

   • Permanent (Windows): Search for "Edit the system environment variables" in the Start menu, click "Environment Variables...", and add OPENROUTER_API_KEY with your key as the value under "User variables". You may need to restart your terminal or PC for the change to take effect.
   • Permanent (macOS / Linux): Add export OPENROUTER_API_KEY='your_actual_api_key_here' to your shell profile file (e.g., ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, ~/.profile) and restart your shell or source the file (source ~/.bashrc).

   Important: Keep your API key secure and do not commit it directly into the code or share it publicly.

3. (Optional) Configure OpenRouter Referrer/Title: You can optionally set OPENROUTER_REFERRER_URL and OPENROUTER_SITE_TITLE environment variables if you want to identify traffic from your app in OpenRouter analytics (use the same methods as above to set them, or modify config.py).

4. Review config.py: Open the config.py file in the project root. Here you can adjust:

   • AI Models: Change DEFAULT_MODEL_NAME, DETECTION_MODEL_NAME, and FAST_MODEL_NAME to use different models available on OpenRouter.
   • Fast Mode Content Type: Set FAST_MODE_DEFAULT_CONTENT_TYPE to the expected content type when skipping detection.
   • API Parameters: Modify DEFAULT_TEMPERATURE, DEFAULT_MAX_TOKENS, DEFAULT_RETRY_COUNT, DEFAULT_TIMEOUT.
   • Application Settings: Adjust MAX_LOG_SIZE_MB, SCREENSHOT_DELAY_MS, OVERLAY_MOVEMENT_STEP.
   • Hotkeys: Change the key combinations for various actions (HOTKEY_CAPTURE, HOTKEY_PROCESS_FAST, etc.). Note: Be mindful of potential key conflicts and platform differences (e.g., 'enter' vs '').
   • Mock Mode: Set MOCK_MODE = True for UI testing without API calls.

Changing the AI Model

AceCoder uses OpenRouter, giving you access to a variety of AI models. To change the model used for analysis:

1. Open the config.py file.
2. Locate the model settings (DEFAULT_MODEL_NAME, DETECTION_MODEL_NAME, FAST_MODEL_NAME).
3. Replace the model string (e.g., "google/gemini-flash-1.5") with the desired model identifier from OpenRouter Models. Ensure you choose a model compatible with multimodal inputs (image and text).
4. You might also want to adjust DEFAULT_MAX_TOKENS depending on the chosen model's limits.

Usage

1. Ensure the OPENROUTER_API_KEY environment variable is set or configured in config.py (see Configuration).
2. Activate your virtual environment (see Installation).
3. Review and adjust settings in config.py if desired.

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0. A copy of the license should be included in the file LICENSE.

Under the GPLv3, you are free to use, modify, and distribute this software, provided that you also distribute the source code of any derivative works under the same GPLv3 license.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to open issues for bugs or feature requests, or submit pull requests.