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Using AI

KARTOZA · TRANSPARENCY

timvim ships with AI assistance built in, and AI tools were used to help build timvim itself. This page sets out how — plainly — so you always know what is happening and stay in control of it.

AI inside the editor

Two AI integrations are configured out of the box. Both are optional and user-controlled.

  • Claude Code

    A chat interface running in a terminal window inside Neovim. You can toggle it, focus it, choose a model and send a visual selection to it for discussion or editing.

  • GitHub Copilot

    Inline "ghost text" completion suggestions as you type. Accept a word, a line or a full suggestion — or ignore it entirely.

You are in control

  • Nothing runs without you invoking it. Claude Code opens only when you toggle it; Copilot suggestions are proposals you choose to accept or dismiss.
  • The AI status is always visible. A clickable Copilot indicator lives in the statusline, so you can see at a glance whether ghost text is active and turn it on or off with a click.
  • Your keystrokes decide. Accepting a suggestion is always an explicit action (for example the ghost-text accept keys), never automatic.

Sending code to a third party

When you use Claude Code or Copilot, the relevant context (your prompt, the selection you send, or the surrounding code) is transmitted to the respective provider's service for processing. If you work with sensitive code, review each provider's terms and disable the integration when appropriate. Because AI is opt-in per action, you can simply not invoke it.

AI in timvim's development

Parts of timvim's configuration and this handbook were drafted with AI assistance. We treat that as a normal engineering tool, applied transparently:

  • Humans review everything. AI-drafted changes are read, tested and revised by a maintainer before they land. AI accelerates the work; it does not get the final say.
  • The same quality gates apply. All code passes the project's checks — formatting (nixfmt-rfc-style), dead-code (deadnix) and style (statix) — regardless of how it was drafted.
  • Disclosure where it helps. Where AI-drafted content warrants a marker, the handbook uses an inline AI-assisted badge so the provenance is clear.

Principles

  • Optional first. AI never becomes a dependency for using the editor. Turn it off and everything else still works.
  • Transparent. We say where and how AI is used, both in the product and in its development.
  • Under your control. You decide when to invoke AI, what to send and when to disable it.