Doing One Thing Exceptionally Well: CodeRabbit’s Approach to AI Code Review

Recorded live at All Things Open, Robbie and guest co-host Nick Taylor talk with Erik Thorelli and Hendrik Krack from CodeRabbit about how they’re rethinking AI-powered code review, why focus beats feature-bloat, the value of transparency, and how CodeRabbit reduces cognitive load for developers while keeping humans meaningfully in the loop.

In this episode:

• (00:00) - Intro
• (00:45) - Wine rating & review
• (01:43) - What is CodeRabbit?
• (05:31) - How CodeRabbit actually works: ASTs, tools, and sequence diagrams
• (09:20) - Open source: free usage, real-world configs, and community behavior
• (15:05) - What makes CodeRabbit different from other AI code tools
• (24:57) - Customizing CodeRabbit
• (32:53) - What's next for CodeRabbit?
• (39:55) - Where to learn more about CodeRabbit

Links

• CodeRabbit: https://www.coderabbit.ai/ [https://www.coderabbit.ai/]
• GitHub: https://github.com/ [https://github.com/]
• Claude: https://claude.ai/ [https://claude.ai/]
• ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/ [https://chatgpt.com/]
• Ghostty: https://ghostty.org/ [https://ghostty.org/]
• iTerm: https://iterm2.com/ [https://iterm2.com/]
• Copilot: https://github.com/features/copilot [https://github.com/features/copilot]
• Cursor Bugbot: https://cursor.com/bugbot [https://cursor.com/bugbot]
• Daneil Roe: https://roe.dev/ [https://roe.dev/]
• VS Code: https://code.visualstudio.com/ [https://code.visualstudio.com/]
• Windsurf: https://windsurf.ai/ [https://windsurf.ai/]
• Ember: https://emberjs.com/ [https://emberjs.com/]
• React: https://react.dev/ [https://react.dev/]
• Next.js: https://nextjs.org/ [https://nextjs.org/]
• Vue: https://vuejs.org/ [https://vuejs.org/]
• Svelte: https://svelte.dev/ [https://svelte.dev/]
• Parks and Recreation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parks_and_Recreation [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parks_and_Recreation]
• Go: https://go.dev/ [https://go.dev/]
• Bun: https://bun.com/ [https://bun.com/]
• Zig: https://ziglang.org/ [https://ziglang.org/]
• Mitchell Hashimoto: https://x.com/mitchellh [https://x.com/mitchellh]
• HashiCorp: https://www.hashicorp.com/ [https://www.hashicorp.com/]
• IBM: https://www.ibm.com/ [https://www.ibm.com/]
• Linux Foundation: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/ [https://www.linuxfoundation.org/]
• Silicon Valley: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Valley_(TV_series) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Valley_(TV_series)]
• OpenAI Dev Day: https://openai.com/devday/ [https://openai.com/devday/]
• WWDC: https://developer.apple.com/wwdc25/ [https://developer.apple.com/wwdc25/]
• Assistant UI: https://www.assistant-ui.com/ [https://www.assistant-ui.com/]

Connect with Erik

• Website: https://www.coderabbit.ai/ [https://www.coderabbit.ai/]
• X / Twitter: https://x.com/esthor [https://x.com/esthor]

Connect with Hendrik

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/climateadvocateaienthusiast/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/climateadvocateaienthusiast/]
• X / Twitter: https://x.com/HKrackDev [https://x.com/HKrackDev]

Connect with the hosts

• Robbie Wagner: https://x.com/RobbieTheWagner [https://x.com/RobbieTheWagner]
• Chuck Carpenter: https://x.com/CharlesWthe3rd [https://x.com/CharlesWthe3rd]
• Adam Argyle: https://x.com/argyleink [https://x.com/argyleink]

Subscribe and stay in touch

• Website: https://whiskey.fm [https://whiskey.fm/]
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whiskey-web-and-whatnot/id1552776603 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whiskey-web-and-whatnot/id1552776603]
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19jiuHAqzeKnkleQUpZxDf [https://open.spotify.com/show/19jiuHAqzeKnkleQUpZxDf]
• Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1552776603 [https://overcast.fm/itunes1552776603]
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WhiskeyWebAndWhatnot [https://www.youtube.com/@WhiskeyWebAndWhatnot]

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