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confg.yaml Reference

Continue can be configured using a YAML file config.yaml which for local configuration can be placed in your global .continue folder (~/.continue on Mac, %USERPROFILE%\.continue)

Below are details for each property that can be set in config.yaml.

info

Config YAML replaces config.json. View the Migration Guide. config.yaml currently only works in VS Code pre-release.

All properties at all levels are optional unless explicitly marked as required.

Properties​

The top-level properties in the config.yaml configuration file are:

name​

The name property specifies the name of your project or configuration.

config.yaml
name: MyProject

version​

The version property specifies the version of your project or configuration.

models​

The models section defines the language models used in your configuration. Models are used for functionalities such as chat, editing, and summarizing.

Properties:

  • name (required): A unique name to identify the model within your configuration.

  • provider (required): The provider of the model (e.g., openai, ollama).

  • model (required): The specific model name (e.g., gpt-4, starcoder).

  • roles: An array specifying the roles this model can fulfill, such as chat, autocomplete, embed, rerank, edit, apply, summarize.

  • defaultCompletionOptions: Default completion options for model settings.

    Properties:

    • contextLength: Maximum context length of the model, typically in tokens.
    • maxTokens: Maximum number of tokens to generate in a completion.
    • temperature: Controls the randomness of the completion. Values range from 0.0 (deterministic) to 1.0 (random).
    • topP: The cumulative probability for nucleus sampling.
    • topK: Maximum number of tokens considered at each step.
    • stop: An array of stop tokens that will terminate the completion.
    • n: Number of completions to generate.

  • requestOptions: HTTP request options specific to the model.

    Properties:

    • timeout: Timeout for each request to the language model.
    • verifySsl: Whether to verify SSL certificates for requests.
    • caBundlePath: Path to a custom CA bundle for HTTP requests.
    • proxy: Proxy URL for HTTP requests.
    • headers: Custom headers for HTTP requests.
    • extraBodyProperties: Additional properties to merge with the HTTP request body.
    • noProxy: List of hostnames that should bypass the specified proxy.
    • clientCertificate: Client certificate for HTTP requests.
      • cert: Path to the client certificate file.
      • key: Path to the client certificate key file.
      • passphrase: Optional passphrase for the client certificate key file.

Example:​

config.yaml
models:
  - name: GPT-4o
    provider: openai
    model: gpt-4o
    roles:
      - chat
      - edit
      - apply
    defaultCompletionOptions:
      temperature: 0.7
      maxTokens: 1500

  - name: Codestral
    provider: mistral
    model: codestral-latest
    roles:
      - autocomplete

context​

The context section defines context providers, which supply additional information or context to the language models. Each context provider can be configured with specific parameters.

More information about usage/params for each context provider can be found here

Properties:

  • provider (required): The identifier or name of the context provider (e.g., code, docs, web).
  • params: Optional parameters to configure the context provider's behavior.

Example:

config.yaml
context:
  - provider: files
  - provider: code
  - provider: codebase
    params:
      nFinal: 10
  - provider: docs
  - provider: diff
  - provider: folder
  - provider: terminal

rules​

List of rules that the LLM should follow. These are inserted into the system message for all chat requests.

Example

config.yaml
rules:
  - Always annotate Python functions with their parameter and return types
  - Always write Google style docstrings for functions and classes

prompts​

A list of custom prompts that can be invoked from the chat window. Each prompt has a name, description, and the actual prompt text.

config.yaml
prompts:
  - name: check
    description: Check for mistakes in my code
    prompt: |
      Please read the highlighted code and check for any mistakes. You should look for the following, and be extremely vigilant:
        - Syntax errors
        - Logic errors
        - Security vulnerabilities

docs​

List of documentation sites to index.

Properties:

  • name (required): Name of the documentation site, displayed in dropdowns, etc.
  • startUrl (required): Start page for crawling - usually root or intro page for docs
  • maxDepth: Maximum link depth for crawling. Default 4
  • favicon: URL for site favicon (default is /favicon.ico from startUrl).
  • useLocalCrawling: Skip the default crawler and only crawl using a local crawler.

Example

config.yaml
docs:
  - name: Continue
    startUrl: https://docs.continue.dev/intro
    favicon: https://docs.continue.dev/favicon.ico

mcpServers​

The Model Context Protocol is a standard proposed by Anthropic to unify prompts, context, and tool use. Continue supports any MCP server with the MCP context provider.

Properties:

  • name (required): The name of the MCP server.
  • command (required): The command used to start the server.
  • args: An optional array of arguments for the command.
  • env: An optional map of environment variables for the server process.

Example:

config.yaml
mcpServers:
  - name: My MCP Server
    command: uvx
    args:
      - mcp-server-sqlite
      - --db-path
      - /Users/NAME/test.db

Complete YAML Config Example​

Putting it all together, here's a complete example of a config.yaml configuration file:

config.yaml
name: MyProject
version: 0.0.1

models:
  - name: GPT-4
    provider: openai
    model: gpt-4
    roles:
      - chat
      - edit
    defaultCompletionOptions:
      temperature: 0.5
      maxTokens: 2000
    requestOptions:
      headers:
        Authorization: Bearer YOUR_OPENAI_API_KEY

  - name: Ollama Starcoder
    provider: ollama
    model: starcoder
    roles:
      - autocomplete
    defaultCompletionOptions:
      temperature: 0.3
      stop:
        - "\n"

rules:
  - Give concise responses
  - Always assume TypeScript rather than JavaScript

prompts:
  - name: test
    description: Unit test a function
    prompt: |
      Please write a complete suite of unit tests for this function. You should use the Jest testing framework.  The tests should cover all possible edge cases and should be as thorough as possible.  You should also include a description of each test case.

context:
  - provider: diff
  - provider: file
  - provider: codebase
  - provider: code
  - provider: docs
    params:
      startUrl: https://docs.example.com/introduction
      rootUrl: https://docs.example.com
      maxDepth: 3

mcpServers:
  - name: DevServer
    command: npm
    args:
      - run
      - dev
    env:
      PORT: "3000"

Fully deprecated settings​

Some deprecated config.json settings are no longer stored in config and have been moved to be editable through the User Settings Page. If found in config.json, they will be migrated to the User Settings Page and removed from config.json.

  • allowAnonymousTelemetry: This value will be migrated to the safest merged value (false if either are false).

  • promptPath: This value will override during migration.

  • disableIndexing: This value will be migrated to the safest merged value (true if either are true).

  • disableSessionTitles/ui.getChatTitles: This value will be migrated to the safest merged value (true if either are true). getChatTitles takes precedence if set to false

  • tabAutocompleteOptions

    • useCache: This value will override during migration.
    • disableInFiles: This value will be migrated to the safest merged value (arrays of file matches merged/deduplicated)
    • multilineCompletions: This value will override during migration.

  • experimental

    • useChromiumForDocsCrawling: This value will override during migration.
    • readResponseTTS: This value will override during migration.

  • ui - all will override during migration

    • codeBlockToolbarPosition
    • fontSize
    • codeWrap
    • displayRawMarkdown
    • showChatScrollbar

    See User Settings Page for more information about each option.