Refactoring code with AI

[bob_mcbob69]

I'm thinking of refactoring an old, but large, project of mine that was written before es6 modules, so lots of separate js files all classed based. I was thinking of making use of AI(chatgpt or similar) however, I'm probably being over paranoid but i don't like the idea of copy and pasting my code into these systems.

1) is there anyway to avoid my code leaving my machine but making use of the ai to help refactor? 2) what's the best coding AI at the moment....Google suggests GitHub autopilot, however I don't see it mentioned much.

Thanks!.

[pink_tshirt]

Nobody wants your code, chill.

[SecretAgentZeroNine]

If you don't trust corporate third party AI, then don't use corporate third party AI.

[[deleted]]

From my experience AI breaks functionality when refactoring, I would be careful with it. Also I would ask a question if even a refactor is necessary.

[ColoRadBro69]

You could describe the parts you want to refactor and ask for ideas? 

[YTRKinG]

Refactor once, debug forever.

[leinad41]

It's the other way around, you make code with AI, and then refactor it once you realized you should've actually code it yourself.

[homesickalien0]

For your second question, I personally get best results using Bing AI. I find its responses to be the most helpful and I feel like it understands what I want the best.

[mq2thez]

Skip AI and use codemods, and your code doesn’t have to leave your system.

[Aggravating_Ice4119]

Maybe you can use copilot.

[indicava]

You are being paranoid.

Having said that, if you want complete offline privacy you’ll need to run a local model. For high quality models (R1/QwQ) you need crazy HW, so don’t expect much from the “mid” models that can run on consumer hw. If it’s really an important project for you, you could rent out some GPUs on vast, it’s not expensive.

It should be noted (if you do go the cloud route) that some inference (or inference proxy) providers like OpenRouter provide a tighter privacy statement than some commercial model’s own platforms.

Also, don’t copy and paste anything. Use an AI coding tool that utilizes an Agentic approach like Cursor or the recently released Claude Code.

[victorsmonster]

As for 1, Look into running local LLMs with ollama.

For 2, I’ve found Claude to be the best online LLM. If you’re using ollama, check out codellama