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Oluwaseyi Komolafe
Oluwaseyi Komolafe

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No Copilot? No Problem! Get Free AI in VSCode Now

Tired of relying on paid tools like Copilot, Cursor AI, or ChatGPT? Here's how you can integrate a powerful and completely free AI assistant directly into your Visual Studio Code. Follow these steps, and you’ll have a personal coding guru at your fingertips—without any restrictions!


Groq console

Step 1: Set Up Your Groq Account

  1. Visit Groq Console.
  2. Create an account or log in.
  3. Navigate to API Keys and create a new key.

Groq api key view

  1. Important: Copy and save your API key immediately—it’s displayed only once!

Continue extension on vscode

Step 2: Install the Continue Extension

  1. Open Visual Studio Code.
  2. Search for “Continue” in the Extensions Marketplace.
  3. Install the extension.

Step 3: Configure the Continue Extension

Continue extension look on vscode

  1. Open the installed extension and click the gear icon (third icon from the right at the top of the page).
  2. A configuration file will open. Replace its content with the following:
   {
     "models": [
       {
         "model": "AUTODETECT",
         "title": "Ollama",
         "apiBase": "http://localhost:11434",
         "provider": "ollama"
       },
       {
         "model": "AUTODETECT",
         "title": "Groq",
         "apiKey": "YOUR_GROQ_API_KEY",
         "provider": "groq"
       }
     ],
     "customCommands": [
       {
         "name": "test",
         "prompt": "{{{ input }}}\n\nWrite a comprehensive set of unit tests for the selected code. It should setup, run tests that check for correctness including important edge cases, and teardown. Ensure that the tests are complete and sophisticated. Give the tests just as chat output, don't edit any file.",
         "description": "Write unit tests for highlighted code"
       }
     ],
     "tabAutocompleteModel": {
       "title": "codeqwen",
       "provider": "ollama",
       "model": "starcoder2:3b"
     },
     "contextProviders": [
       { "name": "code", "params": {} },
       { "name": "docs", "params": {} },
       { "name": "diff", "params": {} },
       { "name": "terminal", "params": {} },
       { "name": "problems", "params": {} },
       { "name": "folder", "params": {} },
       { "name": "codebase", "params": {} }
     ],
     "slashCommands": [
       { "name": "edit", "description": "Edit selected code" },
       { "name": "comment", "description": "Write comments for the selected code" },
       { "name": "share", "description": "Export the current chat session to markdown" },
       { "name": "cmd", "description": "Generate a shell command" },
       { "name": "commit", "description": "Generate a git commit message" }
     ]
   }
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  1. Replace YOUR_GROQ_API_KEY with your saved API key. Save the file.

Step 4: Start Using Your AI Partner!

  • Highlight any code in your editor.
  • Press Command + L (or the equivalent on your system) to open Continue.
  • Ask questions, request code reviews, or generate solutions without limits!

Why This Is a Game-Changer:

  • Completely Free: Say goodbye to subscription fees!
  • Unlimited Prompts: Unlike ChatGPT, you’re not capped by usage limits.
  • Seamless Integration: Directly within your VSCode workspace.
  • Customizable: Tailor commands to suit your needs.

Experience a smarter, faster way to code. Set up your free AI assistant today and elevate your coding workflow to the next level! 🚀

Top comments (8)

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phrostxbyte profile image
Seän "frostbyte" Shepherd

This is exactly what I was looking for when I typed my query into DuckDuckGo! Thank you so much! Easy decision to bookmark, like and follow you. I really appreciate the quick setup too. Although I've been coding as a software engineer and (amateur) GameDev since my teenage years (aah, the good ol' '90s!), I am still quite new to (generative) AI and LLMs, and am sorry to say feel like a "late comer" as well as a new comer haha! Anyway, thanks again! =)

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davidhinkley profile image
davidhinkley

Continue has switched to using config.yaml now and many things don't translate. Above my pay grade (after too much time/effort.) Maybe somebody will find a way to do it.

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Sloan, the sloth mascot
Comment deleted
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essejblack profile image
Ehsan Jahanara
name: Local Assistant
version: 1.0.0
schema: v1
models:
  - name: Groq
    provider: groq
    model: meta-llama/llama-4-scout-17b-16e-instruct
    apiKey: APIKEY
    roles:
      - embed
      - chat
      - edit
      - apply
context:
  - provider: code
  - provider: docs
  - provider: diff
  - provider: terminal
  - provider: problems
  - provider: folder
  - provider: codebase

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ednsinf profile image
Edney Silva

CLICK BAIT NAO É ILIMITADA

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ednsinf profile image
Edney Silva

CLICK BAIT GROK IS NOT UNLIMITED AND ARE PAID

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royged profile image
Oluwaseyi Komolafe

Groq not Grok.

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lol123 profile image
lol 123

groq doesn't allow duck.com emails