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Zhipu ZCode Offers Reset Cards to Paid Users, Kills Code Upload Pipeline

Zhipu ZCode Offers Reset Cards to Paid Users, Kills Code Upload Pipeline

Zhipu's AI coding assistant ZCode has moved to patch things up with its user base after a data upload scare. On September 28, the company rolled out a fresh compensation plan and detailed the technical fixes it's made to prevent a repeat of the controversy.

What users get

The compensation kicked in at 10:30 AM on September 28. Paid users—and those who returned within a month—will receive 4 weekly quotas and 4 five-hour quota reset cards, valid for one month. On top of that, from September 28 to October 7, ZCode is giving away "100 million Tokens × 100,000 copies" every day to all users. That's a hefty olive branch.

Market reaction

Investors weren't immediately impressed. Zhipu's shares opened lower on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that same day, trading at HKD 620.5 per share, down 2.05%. The dip reflects lingering unease over the earlier incident.

The technical fix

Zhipu confirmed that the repository snapshot upload path has been completely removed. Any data that had been stored in the cloud has been verified by a third party and fully deleted. The company now pledges that code will stay entirely local unless the user initiates an operation. In other words, no more silent uploads.

How it all started

The trouble began on September 18, when ZCode's "Code Repository Index" feature triggered data uploads by default while generating Repo Wiki pages. Developers cried foul, and Zhipu scrambled to respond. Since then, the company has patched the function, open-sourced parts of the product, and brought in third-party security audits.

Why it matters

AI coding tools are quickly becoming part of everyday production workflows. But when they touch source code, privacy stops being a nice-to-have and becomes a hard line. Zhipu's shift from default cloud sync to pure local indexing—and its push for transparent governance—signals a bigger shift in the AI developer tool race. It's no longer just about model smarts. Data sovereignty and engineering security are now part of the scorecard.

Key Points

  • ZCode gives paid users 4 weekly quotas and 4 five-hour reset cards, plus daily token drops through October 7.
  • The code snapshot upload pipeline is gone; cloud data has been verified and deleted by a third party.
  • The controversy started September 18 over default data uploads during Repo Wiki generation.
  • Zhipu shares fell 2.05% on the Hong Kong exchange as the compensation plan rolled out.
  • The incident highlights a broader industry shift: local-first indexing and transparent data governance are becoming must-haves for AI coding tools.