How to Add Local AI to VS Code Using the Continue Extension | Local AI Coding Setup

HowTo Guide 27 days ago

Description

In this tutorial, I'll show you how to set up a fully local AI coding assistant
in VS Code using Ollama and the Continue extension — completely free, private,
and running entirely on your own machine. No subscriptions, no API keys, no data
leaving your computer.

🔧 What you'll learn:
✅ Install and configure Ollama locally
✅ Install the Continue extension in VS Code
✅ Set up local chat (qwen2.5-coder: 7b)
✅ Enable AI tab autocomplete (qwen2.5-coder:1.5b)
✅ Configure config.yaml for Ollama provider


💻 Requirements:
- VS Code installed
- 8GB+ RAM (16GB recommended for larger models)
- Modern CPU (Intel, AMD, or Apple Silicon)

📦 Models used:
- Chat: qwen2.5-coder:7b
- Autocomplete: qwen2.5-coder:1.5b

🔗 Resources:
- Ollama: https://ollama.com/

- `config.yaml`
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
name: Local Config
version: 0.0.1
schema: v1

models:
- name: Local Chat
provider: ollama
model: qwen2.5-coder:7b
roles:
- chat
- edit
- apply

- name: Local Autocomplete
provider: ollama
model: qwen2.5-coder:1.5b
roles:
- autocomplete
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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