Open-source IDE extension for building your own AI code assistant
Continue is an open-source extension for VS Code and JetBrains IDEs that turns chat, inline edits and tab autocomplete into a configurable assistant. Rather than shipping one fixed model, it reads a config file where you declare which model handles chat, which handles completion, and which context providers feed the prompt: open files, documentation, terminal output or a repository index. That makes it a common choice for teams that must route inference through a local model or a self-hosted endpoint for data-residency reasons. Rules files let you encode project conventions so suggestions follow the codebase instead of a generic style.
Last updated: 2026-09-20. This site only provides an index; for exact features, pricing, and licensing, see the official website.
self-hosted ai assistants, local model setups, data residency rules and custom code assistants
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Not necessarily. Continue works with hosted providers using a key you supply, and it can also point at a local model served by Ollama or another runtime, which is common when code must not leave the machine.
VS Code and the JetBrains IDEs are the primary targets and share one configuration format. Feature parity is closest in VS Code, and JetBrains releases tend to follow a little behind.
Copilot is a managed service tied to GitHub and a fixed set of models. Continue is a client you configure, so you pick the models, the context and where inference runs, including fully local setups.
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