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Getzilla

Current source: 2.3.1 source candidate, including the verifier child-test scope fix. Latest published: v2.3.0, source 2bb417431f1e4b9494e4af71ebf27adb1d04d898, with ZIP and checksum assets. Publication does not prove production readiness. Continue through START_HERE.md.

Getzilla lets an AI write code for your project and checks that code before it is allowed to stay.

The optional EU AI Act layer includes matrix freshness checks, risk records, Python and Node transparency adapters, and audit evidence. Run getzilla compliance scaffold to create an adapter for a registered system on platforms with descriptor-relative file creation. Install the layer first with getzilla components add compliance:eu-ai-act. Lean project installs omit its audit and scaffold scripts; the CLI gives the installation command before any adapter write. On Windows, copy the installed template manually; the scaffold command refuses before writing. Read-only CI checks and a trusted installed verifier can record signed audit execution. Normal audit bundles still need local verification receipts. The ISO/IEC 42001 map is informational. These are engineering evidence tools, not legal advice. Trust CI signed-argv emission and policy wiring ship in a separate successor; legacy attestations without argv cannot establish EU execution evidence.

The local command guard checks Codex exec_command.cmd before policy and workdir checks. It rejects malformed native input and conflicting cmd/command fields. Legacy command string/list inputs remain supported. Generated hooks use the nearest installed project, so nested worktrees keep their own route and denial state. Task scratch stays under the canonical project root .getzilla/runtime.

The short version

With "vibe coding", you ask an AI for something, it writes the code, and you hope it works. It is fast and fun. You usually find out later what it broke.

Getzilla keeps the fast part and adds a checking part. The AI still builds what you asked for. Before that work joins the real project, it gets checked: tests run, a second AI reviews it, and the required checks and review decide whether it can merge.

Think of a child building a LEGO tower. Building is the fun part, and nobody should slow it down. But before the tower goes on the shelf next to everything else, someone makes sure it is steady, so it does not knock the whole shelf over. Getzilla is that someone.

Vibe coding vs. Getzilla

	Plain vibe coding	With Getzilla
"It works"	The AI says so	Tests and checks really ran, and the results are saved
Who checks the work	The same AI that wrote it	A different AI reviewer. The author cannot approve itself
Where changes go	Wherever the AI puts them, sometimes straight into main	Every task gets its own branch and pull request
Memory	Gone when the chat ends	Every task leaves a folder: the request, the plan, test results, reviews
Mistakes	The next session repeats them	Lessons are written down in mistakes.md and decisions.md for the next session
Small vs. risky tasks	Treated the same	Small tasks take a short path. Risky ones get more checks and a human sign-off
Something unclear	The AI guesses	Getzilla stops instead of guessing
Who ships	The AI	The agent uses a pull request. Under conditional L5, it merges after checks and independent review

You do not give up vibe coding. The rule is vibe first, check second: build it fast, then run it through Getzilla before it is kept.

How a task goes

1. Build it. Get the feature working quickly on its own branch.
2. Sort it. Getzilla looks at the task and decides how careful to be: which skills to use, which reviewers to call, whether a person must approve the plan first.
3. Check it. Tests and other checks run. The results are saved next to the task.
4. Review it. Separate AI reviewers read the change and write down what they find.
5. Ship it. A pull request is opened. Conditional L5 permits agent merge after exact-head checks, independent review and resolved threads. Teams that want an extra lock can add Trust CI, a separate service that tests the exact version again before merge.

What it costs

• Getzilla itself is free.
• Public repositories are gated by GitHub Actions for free: python3 scripts/getzilla_ci.py --write adds a pinned, read-only workflow.
• Private repositories are gated by Trust CI, which runs on dedicated hardware. It is paid, priced on request: ask for access.

Try it

One command installs everything that is missing (Git, Python and a coding agent of your choice), downloads Getzilla to ~/Getzilla and checks the machine.

What you need. Getzilla is free; the AI models are yours to pay for. The installer asks which coding agent to use (Qwen Code by default, or Codex, Claude Code, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot CLI, Grok Build) and where its models come from: OpenRouter with your own key (the default for Qwen Code, Codex and Claude Code), or the agent's own sign-in (ChatGPT for Codex, Anthropic for Claude Code). Gemini CLI, Copilot CLI and Grok Build always use their own accounts (Google or GEMINI_API_KEY, GitHub Copilot or COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN, xAI). Your key is kept as the user environment variable OPENROUTER_API_KEY (plus ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN for Claude Code), so every agent process sees it; it never goes into a project, and Getzilla never ships or shares its own keys. On Windows, Getzilla needs PowerShell 7.4 or newer; the installer adds it with winget (Windows PowerShell 5.1 is enough to start the installer).

Windows (PowerShell):

$f = Join-Path $env:TEMP 'getzilla-install.ps1'
Invoke-WebRequest -UseBasicParsing https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Dimkox/Getzilla/v2.3.0/scripts/install.ps1 -OutFile $f
if ((Get-FileHash $f -Algorithm SHA256).Hash -eq '4D89D8C77617FF3B262BBF8866F05E1A14D9FB45C6BA2C3C39E298AF9A499B76') { $env:GETZILLA_REF = 'v2.3.0'; Invoke-Expression (Get-Content -Raw $f) } else { throw 'install.ps1 SHA-256 mismatch: do not run it' }

Linux:

curl -fsSLo getzilla-install.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Dimkox/Getzilla/v2.3.0/scripts/install.sh
echo "aa10c167d02aa8633f0d0d4478b9c0ad0fac3122ef293f633f1075f218889807  getzilla-install.sh" | sha256sum -c - && GETZILLA_REF=v2.3.0 bash getzilla-install.sh

macOS:

curl -fsSLo getzilla-install.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Dimkox/Getzilla/v2.3.0/scripts/install.sh
echo "aa10c167d02aa8633f0d0d4478b9c0ad0fac3122ef293f633f1075f218889807  getzilla-install.sh" | shasum -a 256 -c - && GETZILLA_REF=v2.3.0 bash getzilla-install.sh

The installer is verified before it runs: the commands download it from the v2.3.0 release tag, compare its SHA-256 with the digest published here (the test suite binds this digest to the installer bytes at the published tag), run it only when the digest matches (the check and the run are one command, so a failed check stops it), and install Getzilla from the same tag. Never pipe the installer straight into bash or iex. If the check fails, do not run the file: re-download it and report the mismatch.

To choose without being asked, set GETZILLA_AGENT (qwen, codex, claude, gemini, copilot, grok), GETZILLA_PROVIDER (openrouter, native) and OPENROUTER_API_KEY first. To switch agents later, run python3 scripts/getzilla_setup_agent.py --agent codex from the Getzilla folder.

To bring third-party tools (agent CLIs, Superpowers, BMAD, Spec Kit, vibevm, the CVE database) to their latest versions and install the pinned, SHA-256-verified OpenGrep release, run python3 scripts/getzilla_update.py; the installer offers this at the end of every run.

To update everything with one command, run getzilla update inside your project. It updates Getzilla itself, then writes the new Getzilla files into the project on a new branch getzilla-update-<version> and commits them there, then updates the third-party tools. The project must have no uncommitted changes. Nothing is pushed or deleted; review the branch and open a pull request. --no-self and --no-tools skip the first and the last step. If a file your project keeps as its own (.getzilla/AGBP_SYNC.json) changed since its digest was recorded, the update stops; getzilla update --accept-local records the committed version as the one to keep and continues.

Then, from the Getzilla folder, take the read-only tour in your browser:

python3 scripts/getzilla_demo.py --open

On Windows, use py -3 instead of python3.

To add Getzilla to your own project, start by asking for a plan. This only reads your project and changes nothing:

python3 scripts/install_into.py --plan /absolute/path/to/your/repo

Then follow QUICKSTART.md.

What is inside

• scripts/: the commands you run, such as getzilla_route.py and getzilla_verify.py
• .grok/ and .agents/skills/: instructions and skills for the AI agents (the canonical source)
• .grok/skills/, .qwen/, .claude/, .codex/, .gemini/, .github/hooks/, .github/agents/: the same hooks, agents and skills for Qwen Code, Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI and Copilot CLI, generated by scripts/getzilla_harness.py --write
• .cursor/rules/getzilla/: prompt-only Cursor rules from .grok/cursor-rules/, generated the same way for this repository only; install_into.py does not install them into consumer repositories (Cursor reads AGENTS.md and .agents/skills/ itself)
• .getzilla/: the engine that sorts tasks, runs checks and saves the evidence
• engineering/changes/: one folder per task, with its plan, tests and reviews
• architecture/: a map of the system (system.yaml, rules.yaml, diagrams)
• trust-ci/: the optional outside checker, run as its own service
• factory/, delivery/, pilot/: bigger automation pieces, switched off by default

What it is not

• Not a hosted service. It runs on your machine, inside your repository.
• Not a CI service. CI follows repository visibility: public repositories run the pinned GitHub Actions workflow from scripts/getzilla_ci.py, private ones use Trust CI.
• Conditional L5 covers repository merge, tag and release with exact grants after required checks and independent review. Deploy and production writes require separate scoped authority.

Learn more

• QUICKSTART.md: setup, step by step
• docs/REFERENCE.md: the full technical reference, with the current state, every subsystem and the release history
• docs/SECURITY.md: the security model: threats, keys, what to do when a check fails, reviewer independence and their limits
• docs/eu-ai-act.md: the optional EU AI Act evidence layer (off by default): AI system register, draft risk class confirmed by a person, Art. 5/50/9-15 gates and the release audit bundle
• START_HERE.md: where a new AI agent or contributor starts
• AGENTS.md: the rules every agent follows
• docs/INVESTOR_DEMO.md: a five-minute demo walkthrough

Getzilla grew out of an earlier project and was renamed. Older pull-request numbers and releases mentioned in the docs belong to that project.

Current version: VERSION. License: MIT.