Cody FAQs

Find answers to the most common questions about Cody.

General

Does Cody train on my code?

For Enterprise customers, Sourcegraph will not train on your company’s data. For Free and Pro tier users, Sourcegraph will not train on your data without your permission.

Our third-party Language Model (LLM) providers do not train on your specific codebase. Cody operates by following a specific process to generate answers to your queries:

  • User query: A user asks a question
  • Code retrieval: Sourcegraph, our underlying code intelligence platform, performs a search and code intelligence operation to retrieve code snippets relevant to the user's question. During this process, strict permissions are enforced to ensure that only code that the user has read permission for is retrieved
  • Prompt to Language Model: Sourcegraph sends a prompt, and the code snippets are retrieved to a Language Model (LLM). This prompt provides the context for the LLM to generate a meaningful response
  • Response to user: The response generated by the LLM is then sent back to Cody and presented to the user

This process ensures that Cody can provide helpful answers to your questions while respecting data privacy and security by not training on or retaining your specific code.

Does Cody work with self-hosted Sourcegraph?

Yes, Cody is compatible with self-hosted Sourcegraph instances. However, there are a few considerations:

  • Cody operates by sending code snippets (up to 28 KB per request) to a third-party cloud service. By default, this service is Anthropic but can also be OpenAI
  • To use Cody effectively, your self-hosted Sourcegraph instance must have internet access for these interactions with external services

Is Cody licensed for private code, and does it allow GPL-licensed code?

There are no checks or exclusions for Cody PLG (VS Code, JetBrains) for private and GPL-licensed code. We are subject to whatever the LLMs are trained on. However, Cody can be used with StarCoder for autocomplete which is trained only on permissively licensed code.

Is there a public facing Cody API?

Currently, there is no public-facing Cody API available.

Does Cody require Sourcegraph to function?

Yes, Cody relies on Sourcegraph for two essential functions:

  • It is used to retrieve context relevant to user queries
  • Sourcegraph acts as a proxy for the LLM provider to facilitate the interaction between Cody and the LLM

What programming languages does Cody support?

Cody supports a wide range of programming languages, including:

  • JavaScript
  • TypeScript
  • PHP
  • Python
  • Java
  • C/C++
  • C#
  • Ruby
  • Go
  • SQL
  • Swift
  • Objective-C
  • Perl
  • Rust
  • Kotlin
  • Scala
  • Groovy
  • R
  • MATLAB
  • Dart
  • Lua
  • Julia
  • COBOL
  • Shell scripting languages (like Bash, PowerShell)

Cody's response quality on a programming language depends on many factors, including the underlying LLM being used. We monitor accuracy metrics across all languages and regularly make improvements. Let us know if you're seeing poor quality on a particular programming language.

Can Cody answer non-programming questions?

Cody Chat is optimized for coding related use cases and can be used primarily for reviewing, analysis, testing, writing, and editing of software code. Use of Cody for any other purposes is against our acceptable use policy and may result in your account being restricted.

What happened to the Cody App?

We’ve deprecated the Cody App to streamline the experience for our Cody Free and Cody Pro users.The Cody App is no longer available for download.

Embeddings

Why were embeddings removed once my instance was upgraded to v5.3?

Cody leverages Sourcegraph Search as a primary context provider, which comes with the following benefits:

  • More secure: No code being sent to a third-party embedding API
  • Easier to manage: Less tech debt for embeddings setup and need for refreshes
  • More repos: Sourcegraph Search scales to larger repos and a greater number. Users on Enterprise instances will now be able to select multiple repos as context sources from within the IDE
  • Equal, or better, quality: Sourcegraph Search provides high-quality retrieval, as tested over the last ten years. When a customer sees degradation, we will be ready to respond quickly.

We leverage multiple retrieval mechanisms to give Cody the right context and will be constantly iterating to improve Cody's quality. The most important aspect is getting the files from the codebase, not the specific algorithm used to find those files.

Why are embeddings no longer supported on Cody PLG and Enterprise?

Cody does not support embeddings on Cody PLG and Cody Enterprise because we have replaced them with Sourcegraph Search. There are two driving factors:

  • The need for a retrieval system that can scale across repos and to repos of greater size
  • A system that is secure and requires low maintenance on the part of users

Leveraging Sourcegraph Search allowed us to deliver these enhancements.

Third party dependencies

What is the default sourcegraph provider for completions?

The default provider for completions, specified as "provider": "sourcegraph" refers to the Sourcegraph Cody Gateway. The Cody Gateway facilitates access to completions for Sourcegraph enterprise instances by leveraging third-party services such as Anthropic and OpenAI.

What third-party cloud services does Cody depend on?

Cody relies on one primary third-party dependency, i.e., Anthropic's Claude API. Users can use this with the OpenAI API configuration.

It's worth noting that these dependencies remain consistent when utilizing the default sourcegraph provider, Cody Gateway, which uses the same third-party providers.

What is the retention policy for Anthropic and OpenAI?

Please refer to this terms and conditions for details regarding the retention policy for data managed by Anthropic and OpenAI.

Can I use my own API keys?

Yes, you can use your own API keys. However, this is an experimental feature. Bring-your-own-API-key is fully supported in the Enterprise plan.

Can I use Cody with my Cloud IDE?

Yes, Cody supports the following cloud development environments:

  • vscode.dev and GitHub Codespaces (install from the VS Code extension marketplace)
  • Any editor supporting the Open VSX Registry, including Gitpod, Coder, and code-server (install from the Open VSX Registry)

Can I use my LLM of preference to chat with Cody on CLI?

Yes you can. In the CLI you can use the following command to get started. Please replace $name_of_the_model with the LLM model of your choice.

SHELL
cody chat --model '$name_of_the_model' -m 'Hi Cody!'

For example, to use Claude 3.5 Sonnet, you'd pass the following command in your terminal, `cody chat --model 'claude-3.5-sonnet' -m 'Hi Cody!'

OpenAI o1

What are OpenAI o1 best practices?

Context Management

  • Provide focused, relevant context
  • Use file references strategically
  • Keep initial requests concise

Model Selection

  • o1-preview: Best for complex reasoning and planning
  • o1-mini: More reliable for straightforward tasks
  • Sonnet 3.5: Better for tasks requiring longer outputs

Prompting Strategy

  • Be specific and direct
  • Include complete requirements upfront
  • Request brief responses when possible
  • Use step-by-step approach for complex tasks

Response Time

  • Start with smaller contexts
  • Use o1-mini for faster responses
  • Consider breaking complex tasks into stages

Quality

  • Provide clear acceptance criteria
  • Include relevant context but avoid excess
  • Use specific examples when possible

What are the known limitations?

Technical Constraints

  • 45k input token limit
  • 4k output token limit
  • No streaming responses for o1 series
  • Limited context window
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