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Mike Kipruto
Mike Kipruto

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Offline Qwen3 AI Coding Setup for VS Code – No Internet, No Cost, Full Privacy

#ai #ollama #qwen #offline

Offline Qwen3 AI Coding Assistant

Run a powerful, private AI coding assistant on your laptop — completely offline.

No API keys. No monthly fees. No telemetry. Your code never leaves your machine.

What You'll Get

  • Intelligent code generation, refactoring, debugging, and explanation
  • Support for Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Go, Rust, Java, C++, PHP, SQL, and more
  • Works on airplanes, remote sites, air-gapped networks, or when internet is down
  • Full privacy and zero cost after initial setup

Prerequisites

Requirement Minimum Recommended
Operating System macOS 12+, Windows 10/11, Linux Latest macOS / Windows 11
RAM 8 GB 16 GB+
Disk Space 6 GB 10 GB+
VS Code Latest version Latest version
GPU (Optional) None NVIDIA 6GB+ / Apple Silicon

Step-by-Step Setup

Step 1: Install Ollama

macOS / Linux

curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh
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Windows: Download the installer from ollama.com/download

Verify:

ollama --version
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Step 2: Download Qwen3 8B Model 

ollama pull qwen3:8b
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(≈5.2 GB – This is the only step that needs internet)

Step 3: Install Continue.dev in VS Code

  1. Open VS Code
  2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + X)
  3. Search for "Continue" (by Continue Dev, Inc. — blue spiral icon)
  4. Install it

Step 4: Configure Continue for Local Qwen3

Press Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + P → search "Continue: Open Config File"

Replace everything with:

{
  "models": [
    {
      "title": "Qwen3-8B (Code)",
      "provider": "ollama",
      "model": "qwen3:8b",
      "contextLength": 32768,
      "completionOptions": {
        "temperature": 0.2,
        "maxTokens": 4096
      }
    }
  ],
  "tabAutocompleteModel": {
    "title": "Qwen3-8B Autocomplete",
    "provider": "ollama",
    "model": "qwen3:8b"
  }
}
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Save the file.

Step 5: Test It Offline

  1. Open Continue sidebar (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + L)
  2. Select Qwen3-8B (Code)
  3. Turn off your internet completely
  4. Type in the chat: "Write a fast Python function to validate email addresses"

If it responds, your offline setup is working perfectly.

Useful Daily Workflows

  • Code Review: @Current File + "Review this function for bugs, security issues and performance"
  • Refactoring: Highlight code → Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + I → "Refactor with proper error handling and type hints"
  • Test Generation: "Write comprehensive pytest tests covering edge cases"
  • Faster responses: Set temperature to 0.1
  • Deeper analysis: Type /think in the chat

Hardware Performance Guide

Hardware Tokens/sec Experience
Apple M1/M2 (16GB) 18–28 Very Good
NVIDIA RTX 3060 / 4060 25–45 Excellent
NVIDIA RTX 4090 50–80+ Near Instant
CPU Only (8-core) 2–6 Usable

Troubleshooting

Issue Solution
Model not appearing Save config → Reload VS Code
Slow generation Check GPU usage (nvidia-smi)
Ollama not running Run ollama serve in terminal
Connection refused Restart Ollama desktop app

Why This Setup Matters in 2026

  • Complete privacy for client or proprietary code
  • Zero recurring costs
  • True offline capability anywhere
  • Full control over your AI tools

This is currently one of the strongest local AI coding setups available.

Originally published on mike.co.ke

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