Continue needs to know what features your models support to provide the best experience. This guide explains how model capabilities work and how to configure them.

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What are Model Capabilities?

Model capabilities tell Continue what features a model supports:
  • tool_use - Whether the model can use tools and functions
  • image_input - Whether the model can process images
Without proper capability configuration, you may encounter issues like:
  • Agent mode being unavailable (requires tools)
  • Tools not working at all
  • Image uploads being disabled

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How Continue Detects Capabilities

Continue uses a two-tier system for determining model capabilities:

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1. Automatic Detection (Default)

Continue automatically detects capabilities based on your provider and model name. For example:
  • OpenAI: GPT-4 and GPT-3.5 Turbo models support tools
  • Anthropic: Claude 3.5+ models support both tools and images
  • Ollama: Most models support tools, vision models support images
  • Google: All Gemini models support function calling
This works well for popular models, but may not cover custom deployments or newer models. For implementation details, see:

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2. Manual Configuration

You can add capabilities to models that Continue doesn’t automatically detect in your config.yaml.
You cannot override autodetection - you can only add capabilities. Continue will always use its built-in knowledge about your model in addition to any capabilities you specify.
models:
  - name: my-custom-gpt4
    provider: openai
    apiBase: https://my-deployment.com/v1
    model: gpt-4-custom
    capabilities:
      - tool_use
      - image_input

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When to Add Capabilities

Add capabilities when:
  1. Using custom deployments - Your API endpoint serves a model with different capabilities than the standard version
  2. Using newer models - Continue doesn’t yet recognize a newly released model
  3. Experiencing issues - Autodetection isn’t working correctly for your setup
  4. Using proxy services - Some proxy services modify model capabilities

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Configuration Examples

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Basic Configuration

Add tool support for a model that Continue doesn’t recognize: 
models:
  - name: custom-model
    provider: openai
    model: my-fine-tuned-gpt4
    capabilities:
      - tool_use
The tool_use capability is for native tool/function calling support. The model must actually support tools for this to work.
Experimental: System message tools are available as an experimental feature for models without native tool support. These are not automatically used as a fallback and must be explicitly configured. Most models are trained for native tools, so system message tools may not work as well.

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Disable Capabilities

Explicitly set no capabilities (autodetection will still apply): 
models:
  - name: limited-claude
    provider: anthropic
    model: claude-4.0-sonnet
    capabilities: [] # Empty array doesn't disable autodetection
An empty capabilities array does not disable autodetection. Continue will still detect and use the model’s actual capabilities. To truly limit a model’s capabilities, you would need to use a model that doesn’t support those features.

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Multiple Capabilities

Enable both tools and image support: 
models:
  - name: multimodal-gpt
    provider: openai
    model: gpt-4-vision-preview
    capabilities:
      - tool_use
      - image_input

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Common Scenarios

Some providers and custom deployments may require explicit capability configuration:
  • OpenRouter: May not preserve the original model’s capabilities
  • Custom API endpoints: May have different capabilities than standard models
  • Local models: May need explicit capabilities if using non-standard model names
Example configuration: 
models:
  - name: custom-deployment
    provider: openai
    apiBase: https://custom-api.company.com/v1
    model: custom-gpt
    capabilities:
      - tool_use # If supports function calling
      - image_input # If supports vision

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Troubleshooting

For troubleshooting capability-related issues like Agent mode being unavailable or tools not working, see the Troubleshooting guide.

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Best Practices

  1. Start with autodetection - Only override if you experience issues
  2. Test after changes - Verify tools and images work as expected
  3. Keep Continue updated - Newer versions improve autodetection
Remember: Setting capabilities only adds to autodetection. Continue will still use its built-in knowledge about your model in addition to your specified capabilities.

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Model Capability Support

This matrix shows which models support tool use and image input capabilities. Continue auto-detects these capabilities, but you can override them if needed.

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OpenAI

ModelTool UseImage InputContext Window
o3YesNo128k
o3-miniYesNo128k
GPT-4oYesYes128k
GPT-4 TurboYesYes128k
GPT-4YesNo8k
GPT-3.5 TurboYesNo16k

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Anthropic

ModelTool UseImage InputContext Window
Claude 4 SonnetYesYes200k
Claude 3.5 SonnetYesYes200k
Claude 3.5 HaikuYesYes200k

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Google

ModelTool UseImage InputContext Window
Gemini 2.5 ProYesYes2M
Gemini 2.0 FlashYesYes1M

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Mistral

ModelTool UseImage InputContext Window
Devstral MediumYesNo32k
MistralYesNo32k

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DeepSeek

ModelTool UseImage InputContext Window
DeepSeek V3YesNo128k
DeepSeek Coder V2YesNo128k
DeepSeek ChatYesNo64k

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xAI

ModelTool UseImage InputContext Window
Grok 4YesYes128k

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Moonshot AI

ModelTool UseImage InputContext Window
Kimi K2YesYes128k

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Qwen

ModelTool UseImage InputContext Window
Qwen Coder 3 480BYesNo128k

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Ollama (Local Models)

ModelTool UseImage InputContext Window
Qwen 3 CoderYesNo32k
Devstral SmallYesNo32k
Llama 3.1YesNo128k
Llama 3YesNo8k
MistralYesNo32k
CodestralYesNo32k
Gemma 3 4BYesNo8k

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Notes

  • Tool Use: Function calling support (tools are required for Agent mode)
  • Image Input: Processing images
  • Context Window: Maximum number of tokens the model can process in a single request
Is your model missing or incorrect? Help improve this documentation! You can edit this page on GitHub using the link below.