free-ai-mcp

Free AI coding agent that works like Claude Code — read, edit, search, fix, and commit using free AI APIs with automatic fallback. When one provider hits its rate limit, the next one takes over.

Works as both a CLI tool (interactive terminal agent) and an MCP server (use inside Claude Code, Cursor, etc.).

Features

• Streaming responses — Tokens appear as the AI generates them, no waiting

• Search/Replace editing — Precise SEARCH/REPLACE blocks (like Claude Code)

• Auto-fix loop — Runs tests, reads errors, fixes code automatically (up to 3 attempts)

• Multi-file edits — "add a name column to users" plans and edits migration + model + views

• Project memory — .free-ai.md gives the AI persistent context about your project

• Grep/search — Search across your codebase without leaving the agent

• Smart commit — AI writes commit messages, you just confirm

• Image/screenshot support — Send screenshots to Gemini vision, ask "build this UI"

• Tab completion — Press Tab to autocomplete file paths

• Conversation persistence — Chat history saved, resumes next session

• Auto-retry — Bad AI response? Automatically retries with the next provider

• Usage tracking — See request counts per provider with /status

• Shell & Git — Run any command with ! prefix, git commands work directly

• Undo — Revert any edit instantly

• Auto-fallback — 5 free AI providers with automatic failover

Related MCP server: AI Collaboration MCP Server

Supported Providers (All Free)

Setup

1. Clone and install

git clone https://github.com/tmahajan90/free-ai-mcp.git
cd free-ai-mcp
npm install

2. Get your free API keys

Sign up at any of the provider links above. You need at least one, but more = more fallback.

Recommended:

• Google Gemini — best free tier (1M tokens/day) + image support

• Groq — fastest responses (<1 second)

3. Configure API keys

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env and paste your keys:

GEMINI_API_KEY=your_gemini_key_here
GROQ_API_KEY=your_groq_key_here

4. (Optional) Project memory

Create .free-ai.md in your project root:

This is a Rails 8 app using Tailwind CSS v4.
Multi-tenant with acts_as_tenant.
Use Stimulus controllers for JS.
Tests are in test/ directory, run with: bundle exec rails test

The AI will use this context for every interaction.

Usage — Interactive Mode (like Claude Code)

cd your-project
free-ai

Edit files

edit app/models/user.rb add email validation
add pagination to app/controllers/products_controller.rb
remove the header from app/views/layouts/application.html.erb

Multi-file edits

add a name column to users
add a search feature to products

Auto-fix (run tests -> fix errors -> repeat)

fix                              Auto-detects test command
fix bundle exec rails test       Custom test command
fix npm test                     Works with any runner

Search across files

grep validates app/models        Find text in files
search "def create"              Same as grep
find TODO                        Find all TODOs

Image / Screenshot (Gemini vision)

image screenshot.png             Describe what's in the image
image mockup.png build this UI   AI analyzes image and generates code

Read & explore

read app/models/product.rb
explain app/controllers/sales_controller.rb
review app/views/sales/_form.html.erb
ls app/models
scan app/controllers

Shell & Git

!bundle exec rails test          Run any shell command
git status                        Git commands directly
commit                            AI writes commit message

All commands

Keyboard shortcuts

• Tab — Autocomplete file paths

• Up/Down — Navigate input history

• Ctrl+C — Cancel current operation

Usage — One-shot CLI

free-ai edit app/models/user.rb "add email validation"
free-ai explain app/controllers/sales_controller.rb
free-ai review app/views/sales/_form.html.erb
free-ai generate app/models/invoice.rb "Rails model with validations"
free-ai ask "how to add pagination in Rails"
free-ai status

Usage — MCP Server (Claude Code / Cursor)

claude mcp add free-ai node /full/path/to/free-ai-mcp/src/mcp-server.js

How the edit engine works

Uses SEARCH/REPLACE blocks (same approach as Claude Code):

<<<<<<< SEARCH
exact lines from the original file
=======
replacement lines (or empty to delete)
>>>>>>> REPLACE

Retry chain:

1. Ask AI for SEARCH/REPLACE blocks

2. If blocks don't match the file -> retry full-file mode

3. If AI gives garbage response -> auto-retry with next provider

4. Falls back to full-file replacement as last resort

Tips

• Add all 5 provider keys to maximize free usage across the day

• Gemini has the most generous free tier (1M tokens/day) and supports images

• Groq is the fastest (responses in <1 second)

• Create .free-ai.md for project-specific context the AI always knows

• Use fix after making changes to auto-run and fix tests

• Use commit for AI-generated commit messages

• Tab-complete file paths to type faster

• Conversation persists across sessions — no need to re-explain context

• /status shows how many requests you've made per provider