Continue Cheat Sheet

Open-source AI code assistant for VS Code and JetBrains. Fully customizable with any LLM.

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Installation

VS Code

1. Open Extensions (Cmd+Shift+X / Ctrl+Shift+X) 2. Search "Continue" 3. Install 4. Configure API keys in Continue settings

JetBrains (IntelliJ, PyCharm, WebStorm, etc.)

1. Settings → Plugins 2. Search "Continue" 3. Install 4. Restart IDE 5. Configure in Continue settings

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Core Features

Chat

Ask questions and get code suggestions. Open: Cmd+L (Mac) / Ctrl+L (Win/Linux)

> Explain this function
> How do I add authentication?
> Fix the bug in line 42

Edit

Inline code edits. Open: Cmd+I (Mac) / Ctrl+I (Win/Linux)

1. Select code 2. Press Cmd+I 3. Describe change 4. Accept/Reject

Autocomplete

Tab completion as you type.

Tab — Accept suggestion
Escape — Reject

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Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
`Cmd+L / Ctrl+L`	Open Chat
`Cmd+I / Ctrl+I`	Inline Edit
`Cmd+Shift+L / Ctrl+Shift+L`	New Chat
`Cmd+Shift+R / Ctrl+Shift+R`	Regenerate Response
`Tab`	Accept autocomplete
`Escape`	Cancel/Reject

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Slash Commands

In Chat

Command	Description
`/edit`	Edit selected code
`/comment`	Add comments to code
`/share`	Share conversation
`/cmd`	Run terminal command
`/commit`	Generate commit message

Examples

> /edit Add error handling to this function
> /comment Document this API endpoint
> /cmd npm run test
> /commit

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Configuration (config.json)

Location:

macOS: ~/.continue/config.json
Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.continue\config.json
Linux: ~/.continue/config.json

Example config.json

{
  "models": [
    {
      "title": "GPT-4 Turbo",
      "provider": "openai",
      "model": "gpt-4-turbo",
      "apiKey": "sk-..."
    },
    {
      "title": "Claude Sonnet",
      "provider": "anthropic",
      "model": "claude-3.5-sonnet",
      "apiKey": "sk-ant-..."
    },
    {
      "title": "Local Llama",
      "provider": "ollama",
      "model": "llama3:70b"
    }
  ],
  "tabAutocompleteModel": {
    "title": "Codestral",
    "provider": "mistral",
    "model": "codestral-latest",
    "apiKey": "..."
  },
  "embeddingsProvider": {
    "provider": "transformers.js"
  },
  "customCommands": [
    {
      "name": "test",
      "description": "Write unit tests",
      "prompt": "Write comprehensive unit tests for the selected code using Jest."
    }
  ],
  "contextProviders": [
    {
      "name": "code",
      "params": {}
    },
    {
      "name": "docs",
      "params": {}
    },
    {
      "name": "github",
      "params": {
        "token": "ghp_..."
      }
    }
  ]
}

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Supported Providers

Cloud Providers

Provider	Models
OpenAI	gpt-4-turbo, gpt-4o, gpt-3.5-turbo
Anthropic	claude-3.5-sonnet, claude-3-opus, claude-3-haiku
Google	gemini-1.5-pro, gemini-1.5-flash
Mistral	mistral-large, codestral
Groq	llama3-70b, mixtral-8x7b
Together AI	Various open-source models

Local Providers

Provider	Description
Ollama	Run Llama, Mistral, etc. locally
LM Studio	Local model inference
llamafile	Single-file local models

Configure Provider

{
  "models": [
    {
      "title": "My Model",
      "provider": "openai",  // or anthropic, ollama, etc.
      "model": "gpt-4-turbo",
      "apiKey": "sk-...",
      "apiBase": "https://api.openai.com/v1"  // optional
    }
  ]
}

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Context Providers

Context providers add extra information to prompts.

Built-in Context Providers

Provider	Description
`code`	Current file and selected code
`docs`	Project documentation
`terminal`	Terminal output
`problems`	Editor errors/warnings
`folder`	Folder contents
`codebase`	Entire codebase (indexed)
`github`	GitHub issues/PRs
`gitlab`	GitLab issues/MRs
`jira`	Jira issues

Use in Chat

> @docs How do I set up authentication?
> @terminal Why did the build fail?
> @codebase Find all API endpoints
> @github Show open bugs

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Custom Commands

Add custom slash commands in config.json:

{
  "customCommands": [
    {
      "name": "review",
      "description": "Code review",
      "prompt": "Review this code for:\n1. Bugs\n2. Performance\n3. Security\n4. Best practices"
    },
    {
      "name": "test",
      "description": "Write tests",
      "prompt": "Write comprehensive unit tests using Jest. Include edge cases and error scenarios."
    },
    {
      "name": "optimize",
      "description": "Optimize performance",
      "prompt": "Analyze this code for performance issues and suggest optimizations."
    }
  ]
}

Use in chat: /review, /test, /optimize

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.continuerc (Project Config)

Create .continuerc.json in project root:

{
  "systemMessage": "You are a TypeScript expert. Follow Airbnb style guide.",
  "rules": [
    "Always use async/await over promises",
    "Prefer functional components in React",
    "Write tests for all new features",
    "Use TypeScript strict mode"
  ],
  "temperature": 0.5,
  "contextLength": 16000
}

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Examples

Code Explanation

Chat: > @code Explain this authentication middleware

Continue analyzes selected code and explains how it works.

Refactoring

Inline Edit (Cmd+I):
Select function → Cmd+I
> Extract this logic to a separate helper function
Continue creates helper and updates original code.

Testing

Custom Command:
Select function → /test
Continue generates comprehensive unit tests.

Bug Fixing

Chat: > @problems Fix the TypeScript error on line 42 > @terminal Why is the build failing?

Continue analyzes errors and suggests fixes.

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Tips & Best Practices

Model Selection

Use GPT-4 Turbo for complex tasks
Use Claude 3.5 Sonnet for large context
Use GPT-3.5 Turbo for simple tasks (cheaper)
Use local models for privacy

Context Management

Use @code for focused questions
Use @codebase for broad searches
Use @docs to reference documentation
Clear context when switching tasks (Cmd+Shift+L)

Custom Commands

Create commands for repetitive tasks
Use descriptive names
Test prompts before committing

Performance

Lower temperature for code generation (0.3-0.5)
Higher temperature for brainstorming (0.7-0.9)
Limit contextLength to save costs

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Ollama Integration (Local Models)

Setup

1. Install Ollama: https://ollama.ai 2. Pull model: ollama pull llama3:70b 3. Configure in Continue:

{
  "models": [
    {
      "title": "Llama 3 70B",
      "provider": "ollama",
      "model": "llama3:70b"
    }
  ]
}

Recommended Models

llama3:70b — Best quality
codellama:34b — Code-focused
mistral:7b — Fast, small
deepseek-coder:33b — Code generation

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Troubleshooting

API Key Errors

Check config.json for correct API keys
Verify provider and model names
Ensure API key has credits/access

Autocomplete Not Working

Check tabAutocompleteModel in config
Reload window (Cmd+R / Ctrl+R)
Check provider status

Slow Responses

Switch to faster model (gpt-3.5-turbo)
Reduce context length
Use local models (Ollama)

Context Too Large

Limit context with specific @ references
Clear chat (Cmd+Shift+L)
Reduce contextLength in config

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Resources

Official Site: https://continue.dev
GitHub: https://github.com/continuedev/continue
Documentation: https://continue.dev/docs
Discord: https://discord.gg/continue
Model Providers: https://continue.dev/docs/providers