AI Code Review for GitHub: Complete Setup Guide (2026)

AI Code Review for GitHub: Complete Setup Guide

Your GitHub pull request has been open for two days. Two hundred lines of code, sitting there, waiting for someone on your team to find 30 minutes between standups and sprint work. By the time they get to it, you've already moved on to something else and lost context.

This is the reality for most GitHub teams. According to LinearB's 2026 benchmarks (analyzing 8.1 million PRs across 4,800 teams), teams of 15-25 developers lose 87 hours per week on PR review bottlenecks alone. That's more than two full-time engineers worth of time, just waiting.

AI code review fixes that. You get feedback in seconds instead of days — security issues, bugs, style violations, logic errors. This guide walks you through setting up Git AutoReview for your GitHub repositories. Takes about two minutes.

TL;DR: Git AutoReview is a VS Code extension that reviews your GitHub PRs using Claude, Gemini, or GPT. You approve every AI comment before it goes live. Free tier includes 10 reviews/day. No GitHub App install required — your code stays on your machine.

Why AI Code Review for GitHub?

GitHub is where most of the world's code lives. But GitHub's native review tools haven't changed much — you still assign reviewers, wait, get comments, push fixes, wait again. The cycle is slow.

GitHub Copilot now has a Code Review feature that can scan PRs and post inline suggestions. It's a step forward. But it's tied to Copilot's subscription, works only within GitHub's ecosystem, and auto-publishes comments without giving you a chance to review what the AI said first.

That last part matters more than you'd think. SonarSource's 2026 developer survey found that 66% of developers won't merge code without manual review, and only 3% highly trust AI-generated output. If AI is posting comments on your PRs without your approval, your team might start ignoring them — which defeats the purpose.

Git AutoReview takes a different approach: the AI drafts comments, you decide what gets published. Nothing appears on your GitHub PR until you've reviewed it yourself.

How Git AutoReview Works with GitHub

Git AutoReview is a VS Code extension — not a GitHub App. That distinction matters for a few reasons:

• Your code stays local. The extension reads your Git diff locally and sends only the relevant code to your chosen AI provider (Anthropic, Google, or OpenAI). We never see your code.
• No repo permissions needed. You don't need to grant a third-party app access to your GitHub organization. IT and security teams tend to appreciate this.
• Works with any GitHub repo — public, private, personal, or enterprise. If you can open it in VS Code, Git AutoReview can review it.
• Pick your AI model. Claude, Gemini, or GPT — or run all three in parallel and compare what each one catches.

The human-in-the-loop workflow means every AI suggestion is a draft. You review each one and decide: approve, reject, or edit. Only approved comments get published to your GitHub pull request.

Setup Guide: 3 Steps

Step 1: Install the Extension

Open VS Code, go to Extensions, and search for "Git AutoReview." Or grab it directly from the VS Code Marketplace.

VS Code → Extensions → Search "Git AutoReview" → Install

That's the only install step. No GitHub App, no OAuth flow, no admin approval needed.

Step 2: Connect Your GitHub Repo

Open any GitHub repository in VS Code. The extension auto-detects your Git configuration — there's nothing extra to configure for GitHub specifically.

If you want to use your own AI API keys (BYOK):

1. Open Git AutoReview settings
2. Add your API key for Claude (Anthropic), Gemini (Google), or GPT (OpenAI)
3. Pick your preferred model

On paid plans, you can skip this step and use the included AI credits.

Step 3: Run Your First AI Review

1. Open a pull request in the Git AutoReview panel
2. Click "Review with AI"
3. Wait a few seconds while the AI analyzes your changes
4. Review the AI's suggestions — approve, reject, or edit each one
5. Click "Publish" to post approved comments to your GitHub PR

The whole process takes about 30 seconds. The AI reads related files too (imports, type definitions, function signatures), so its comments have actual context instead of diff-only guesswork.

What AI Code Review Catches

AI catches the stuff humans skip when they're tired, rushed, or on their 15th PR of the day:

Hardcoded secrets, SQL injection, XSS vectors, N+1 queries, off-by-one mistakes, unhandled promise rejections, empty catch blocks — the list goes on.

For context on what AI can find: Anthropic reported in February 2026 that Claude Opus identified over 500 previously unknown high-severity flaws in open-source libraries, including buffer overflows and memory corruption bugs. That's the kind of thing a human reviewer skips over on a Friday afternoon.

Example AI feedback on a GitHub PR:

[SECURITY] API key is hardcoded on line 42.
  Move to environment variable: process.env.STRIPE_SECRET_KEY

[BUG] getUserById() can return null, but line 58
  calls user.email without a null check. This will
  throw in production when the user doesn't exist.

[SUGGESTION] This database query runs inside a loop
  (lines 23-31). Consider batching with WHERE id IN (...)
  to avoid N+1 queries.

Git AutoReview vs GitHub Copilot Code Review

GitHub Copilot added a dedicated Code Review feature in late 2025. It can scan PRs, post inline comments, and even suggest fixes. So why use Git AutoReview instead?

Short answer: they do different things.

Feature	Git AutoReview	GitHub Copilot Code Review
Human approval	Yes — you review first	No — auto-publishes
AI models	Claude, Gemini, GPT	GitHub's model only
Works with	GitHub, Bitbucket, GitLab	GitHub only
Code privacy	Stays local (BYOK)	Sent to GitHub
Free tier	10 reviews/day	Requires Copilot sub
Custom rules	Team rules	instructions.md

Copilot is great for code generation and inline suggestions while you type. Git AutoReview is built specifically for PR review with a human approval step. Many teams use both — Copilot for writing code, Git AutoReview for reviewing it.

For a deeper comparison: Git AutoReview vs GitHub Copilot

Git AutoReview vs CodeRabbit

CodeRabbit is the other big name in AI code review for GitHub. Here's how they compare:

Feature	Git AutoReview	CodeRabbit
Human approval	Yes — you review first	No — auto-publishes
GitHub install	VS Code (no repo access)	GitHub App (repo access)
Team pricing	$14.99/mo flat	$24/user/mo
Bitbucket	Full support	Enterprise only
BYOK	Yes	No
AI models	3 models (pick or compare)	CodeRabbit only

The pricing difference adds up fast. A team of 5 developers pays $14.99/month total with Git AutoReview vs $120/month with CodeRabbit Pro. That's an 87% cost difference.

CodeRabbit does have some features Git AutoReview doesn't — like built-in linter integration and agentic chat on PRs. But if human approval and privacy matter to your team, Git AutoReview is the better fit.

For the full breakdown: Git AutoReview vs CodeRabbit

Pricing

Git AutoReview has a free tier with no time limit — you don't need a credit card to start.

Plan	Price	Reviews/Day	Repos	Team Size
Free	$0	10	1	1
Starter	$4.99/mo	30	3	1
Developer	$9.99/mo	100	10	1
Team	$14.99/mo	Unlimited	10	10
Business	$24.99/mo	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited

Team and Business plans are flat-rate, not per-seat. A team of 10 pays the same $14.99/month. Compare that to CodeRabbit at $24/user/month ($240/month for 10 people) or Qodo at $30/user/month.

Full pricing details: Git AutoReview Pricing

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Git AutoReview access my GitHub repository?

No. Git AutoReview runs locally in VS Code. It reads your Git diff from your local machine and sends code only to your chosen AI provider (Anthropic, Google, or OpenAI). We never access your GitHub repo directly, and we don't store your code.

Which AI model works best for GitHub code review?

Claude Sonnet 4 is the default recommendation — it's fast, accurate, and handles most languages well. OpenAI models are a good alternative if you prefer OpenAI. You can also run multiple models in parallel and compare their findings, which catches more issues than any single model alone.

Does it work with GitHub Enterprise?

Yes. Any GitHub repository you can open in VS Code works with Git AutoReview — GitHub.com, GitHub Enterprise Cloud, or GitHub Enterprise Server. There's no dependency on GitHub's API for the review itself.

Can I use my own API keys?

Yes. BYOK (Bring Your Own Key) is supported on all plans, including the free tier. This means your code goes directly to your AI provider — Anthropic, Google, or OpenAI. You pay them directly, and we never see your code.

Conclusion

GitHub has more AI code review options than any other platform. Copilot has built-in review, CodeRabbit offers automated PR comments, and there are dozens of GitHub Actions for quick checks.

What most of them skip is the approval step. AI is good at finding bugs, but it also hallucinates, misunderstands context, and generates noise. Having a human in the loop — someone who reviews what the AI suggests before it hits your PR — is the difference between a useful tool and an annoying one.

Git AutoReview gives you that. Multi-model AI, full project context, human approval, and pricing that doesn't scale per-seat. Try it free — 10 reviews per day, no credit card, two minutes to set up.

Related Resources

Guides & Blog:

• Best AI Code Review Tools 2026 — Compare 10 tools with pricing
• AI Code Review for Bitbucket — Complete Bitbucket guide (Cloud, Server, DC)
• Claude vs Gemini vs GPT for Code Review — Which AI model catches more bugs?
• How to Reduce Code Review Time — From 13 hours to 2 hours
• AI Code Review Guide 2026 — Complete guide to AI code review

Landing Pages:

• GitHub AI Code Review — Dedicated GitHub landing page
• Bitbucket AI Code Review — Bitbucket landing page
• Human-in-the-Loop Code Review — Why approval matters

Tool Comparisons:

• Git AutoReview vs CodeRabbit — 50% cheaper, human approval
• Git AutoReview vs GitHub Copilot — Different tools, different jobs
• Git AutoReview vs Qodo — No per-seat pricing
• AI Code Review Pricing Comparison — Cost comparison across tools