# Open Code Review v1.12.3 — secrets and .env files stay out of the review

> Alibaba's open-source code reviewer now refuses to send secret paths and per-environment .env files to the model.

- Org: Alibaba
- Date: 2026-09-16
- Category: tool, repo
- Source: https://github.com/alibaba/open-code-review/releases/tag/v1.12.3
- Canonical page: https://ai-tldr.dev/releases/alibaba-open-code-review-1-12-3/

## In short

Open Code Review v1.12.3 keeps secrets out of an AI review: the allowlist now excludes secret paths and protects per-environment .env files. A path-traversal bypass in the code_search and code_comment tools is also fixed.

## What it is

Two allowlist features land in Open Code Review v1.12.3: secret paths are excluded from review, and per-environment `.env` files are protected. The tool itself is Alibaba's internal code reviewer, released under Apache-2.0, which reads a git diff and returns line-level comments through an OpenAI- or Anthropic-compatible model.

## How it works

Open Code Review pairs deterministic pipelines with an LLM agent: engineering logic picks and bundles the files, and the agent handles context retrieval through file-reading and code-search tools. v1.12.3 hardens those tools — `code_search` and `code_comment` now normalize paths, which closes a traversal bypass — and recovers a tool-call JSON response that arrives with trailing content instead of failing the run.

## Why it matters

A code reviewer reads the whole repository, so anything it can open it can also send to a model provider. Excluding secret paths and `.env` files at the allowlist level means an API key sitting in a developer's local environment file stops being part of the review payload. The project is at 28,892 stars and gained about 2,756 of them on the day v1.12.3 shipped.

## Who it's for

teams running AI code review in CI

## Try it

npm install -g @alibaba-group/open-code-review

## Quick facts

- Version: v1.12.3
- Maker: Alibaba
- Released: 2026-09-16
- License: Apache-2.0
- Language: Go
- Install: npm install -g @alibaba-group/open-code-review
- Providers: OpenAI, Anthropic, custom

## FAQ

### How does Open Code Review decide which files to skip?

Open Code Review uses an allowlist to decide what reaches the model. Version 1.12.3 adds two rules to it: secret paths are excluded from review, and per-environment `.env` files are protected. Before this release those files could be bundled into a review like any other changed file, which put their contents in front of the configured model provider.

### Which model providers does Open Code Review work with?

Open Code Review is OpenAI- and Anthropic-compatible and also accepts a custom provider, so it can point at a self-hosted or gateway endpoint. Provider and model are set through an interactive setup with `ocr config provider` and `ocr config model`, which means the same review pipeline can be repointed at a different model without changing the rules.

### Can Open Code Review run in CI instead of locally?

Yes. Open Code Review ships CI/CD integration alongside its local modes, and it runs in several shapes: a workspace review, a branch range, a single commit, or a full-file scan with no diff history at all. It also integrates with coding agents including Claude Code, Cursor and Codex, and supports resumable review sessions.

### How is Open Code Review different from asking a coding agent to review a diff?

Open Code Review splits the job: deterministic engineering logic handles file selection, bundling and rule matching, while the LLM agent handles dynamic context retrieval. It carries a built-in multi-language ruleset covering NPE, thread-safety, XSS and SQL injection. Alibaba states it has served tens of thousands of developers and found millions of code defects over two years.

## Links

- [Release Notes](https://github.com/alibaba/open-code-review/releases/tag/v1.12.3)
- [Repository](https://github.com/alibaba/open-code-review)
- [All Releases](https://github.com/alibaba/open-code-review/releases)
- [Homepage](https://open-codereview.ai)