Continue is an open-source AI code assistant that integrates directly into VS Code and JetBrains IDEs. With over 32,000 stars on GitHub, it provides full workspace context awareness, interactive code editing with diffs, automated PR reviews, and customizable AI agents — all without leaving your editor.

Continue bridges the gap between AI-powered code generation and real-world software engineering workflows, offering model-agnostic support for GPT-4, Claude, local models, and more, with deep integration into Git workflows and CI/CD pipelines.

Continue operates as an IDE extension backed by a CLI engine (@continuedev/cli) that enables both interactive and headless operation. It automatically gathers context from open files, related code snippets, Git diffs, and the entire codebase to provide accurate, project-specific responses. Code changes are proposed as side-by-side diffs with Accept/Reject controls for safe review.

Agents and checks are defined as simple markdown files with YAML frontmatter stored in repo directories (e.g., .continue/rules/ or .continue/checks/), making them version-controlled and team-shareable.

• Full workspace context — Automatically gathers context from files, snippets, Git diffs
• Interactive diffs — Side-by-side code changes with Accept/Reject controls
• AI PR reviews — Automated GitHub status checks via customizable markdown rules
• Multiple modes — Agent (complex tasks), Chat (queries), Autocomplete (tab completions), Edit (changes)
• Custom agents — Define workflows for GitHub, Sentry, and other integrations
• Model-agnostic — GPT-4, Claude, local models, any provider
• CI/CD ready — Headless CLI mode for GitHub Actions integration

# Install Continue extension in VS Code or JetBrains
# Then configure in .continue/config.json
 
# Example: Custom check for PR reviews
# .continue/checks/security-review.md
# ---
# name: Security Review
# description: Check for common security issues
# ---
# Review the changed files for:
# - SQL injection vulnerabilities
# - Hardcoded credentials or API keys
# - Insecure deserialization
# - Missing input validation
 
# Python example: Using Continue's context in a custom rule
# .continue/rules/python-style.md
# ---
# name: Python Style Guide
# description: Enforce team Python conventions
# globs: ["**/*.py"]
# ---
# When writing Python code:
# - Use type hints for all function parameters and return values
# - Follow PEP 8 naming conventions
# - Use dataclasses or Pydantic models for structured data
# - Prefer list comprehensions over map/filter
 
# GitHub Actions integration
# .github/workflows/continue-review.yml
# uses: continuedev/continue-action@v1
# with:
#   checks_dir: .continue/checks/
#   api_key: ${{ secrets.CONTINUE_API_KEY }}

%%{init: {'theme': 'dark'}}%%
graph TB
    Dev([Developer]) -->|Code + Queries| IDE[VS Code / JetBrains]
    IDE -->|Extension API| Ext[Continue Extension]
    Ext -->|Context Gathering| CG[Context Engine]
    CG -->|Open Files| Files[Workspace Files]
    CG -->|Git Data| Git[Git Diffs / History]
    CG -->|Codebase| Index[Code Index]
    Ext -->|Prompts| LLM[LLM Provider]
    LLM -->|Responses| Ext
    Ext -->|Diffs| DV[Diff Viewer]
    DV -->|Accept/Reject| IDE
    Ext -->|Headless| CLI[CLI Engine]
    CLI -->|CI/CD| GHA[GitHub Actions]
    GHA -->|Status Checks| PR[Pull Request]
    Rules[Markdown Rules] -->|Configuration| Ext

• GitHub Repository
• Official Documentation
• GitHub PR Review Bot Guide
• Community Rules Collection
• Official Website

• Open Interpreter — Natural Language Computer Interface
• Goose — AI Coding Agent by Block
• Promptfoo — LLM Evaluation and Red Teaming