Vetal PR: Vetal Is Back — Your AI Code Reviewer Has a Riddle for You!

Hacktoberfest Open-Source AI Challenge: Ghost in the Machine Submission 👻🌼

This is a submission for the Hacktoberfest Open-Source AI Challenge Week 4: Ghost in the Machine

“Bol Vikram, varna tera sar phut jayega!”

Remember Vikram-Betaal? I brought that childhood folklore into the developer workflow.

Vetal PR is an AI-powered Git hook that challenges developers to understand the code they are about to push. Instead of simply checking whether tests pass or linting rules are satisfied, Vetal reads your Git diff locally using Gemma 3 through Ollama, creates a folk tale inspired by the changes, and asks a pointed riddle about the actual code.

The goal isn't to catch bugs. It's to catch code that works but nobody can explain — especially code written with AI assistance.

Run Vetal locally and experience an encounter:

ollama pull gemma3:4b pip install git+https://github.com/rajanikant04/ghostWire cd your-repo vetal install vetal demo Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode The demo mode includes a sample diff and works even without Ollama.

GitHub Repository: https://github.com/rajanikant04/ghostWire

The project is built with Python and uses a local Ollama instance to run Gemma 3.

Explore the repository to see how Vetal transforms a Git diff into a story, a riddle, and ultimately a verdict.

The core of Vetal PR is powered by Gemma 3, an open-weight model running locally through Ollama.

I deliberately kept the implementation lightweight: pure Python standard library, Git hooks, and two calls to the local model.

I also extended Vetal beyond local Git hooks with a GitHub Actions workflow concept for pull requests. It can post a riddle as a PR comment, evaluate /answer replies, and report a status check.

Some implementation decisions I'm particularly proud of:

Vetal PR reads potentially sensitive source code every time a developer pushes changes.

Using a closed-source API would mean sending proprietary code, unfinished experiments, and potentially sensitive implementation details to an external service just to generate a riddle.

Open-weight models made a different approach possible.

By running Gemma 3 locally through Ollama:

Open innovation wasn't just a technology choice for Vetal. It was what made the project's privacy-first design possible.

Growing up in the 90s, the words “Bol Vikram, varna tera sar phut jayega” were instantly recognizable.

I wanted to bring that memory into something developers encounter every day.

There's something amusing about having an ancient ghost question you about a modern software diff. But there's also a serious idea underneath the humour:

Passing tests doesn't always mean understanding your code.

AI coding assistants have made writing code easier than ever. But understanding, reviewing, and taking responsibility for that code still matters.

Vetal is my little reminder that before code leaves your machine, you should be able to explain what you've built.

Betaal is back. This time, he's reviewing your PRs. 🌳

Gemma: Built using Gemma 3, an open-weight AI model running locally through Ollama.