Skip to content

README.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
232 lines (182 loc) · 6.07 KB

README.md

File metadata and controls

232 lines (182 loc) · 6.07 KB
Raw

Voice Mode Integration: Continue

🔗 Official Documentation: Continue Documentation
📦 Download/Install: VS Code Marketplace
🏷️ Version Requirements: Continue v0.8.0+, VS Code v1.90+

Overview

Continue is an open-source AI assistant for VS Code and JetBrains IDEs. Voice Mode enhances Continue with natural voice conversations, enabling hands-free coding assistance and verbal interactions with any LLM.

Prerequisites

  • VS Code installed
  • Continue extension installed
  • Python 3.10 or higher
  • uv package manager (curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh)
  • OpenAI API key (or compatible service)
  • System audio dependencies installed (see main README)

Quick Start

# Install Continue from VS Code marketplace
# Configure Voice Mode in config.json
# Use Cmd+M and voice commands

Installation Steps

1. Install Continue

  1. Open VS Code
  2. Go to Extensions (Cmd+Shift+X or Ctrl+Shift+X)
  3. Search for "Continue"
  4. Click Install on the extension by Continue

2. Configure Continue for Voice Mode

Configuration File Location:

  • macOS: ~/.continue/config.json
  • Linux: ~/.continue/config.json
  • Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.continue\config.json

Add Voice Mode to Continue configuration:

{
  "models": [
    {
      "title": "Your existing model config",
      "provider": "openai",
      "model": "gpt-4"
    }
  ],
  "contextProviders": [
    {
      "name": "voice-mode",
      "params": {
        "command": "uvx",
        "args": ["voice-mode"],
        "env": {
          "OPENAI_API_KEY": "your-openai-key"
        }
      }
    }
  ],
  "slashCommands": [
    {
      "name": "voice",
      "description": "Have a voice conversation",
      "params": {
        "command": "uvx",
        "args": ["voice-mode", "converse"],
        "env": {
          "OPENAI_API_KEY": "your-openai-key"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Note: Using uvx means Voice Mode will be downloaded and run on-demand. No separate installation required!

3. Restart VS Code

After saving the configuration, restart VS Code for changes to take effect.

4. Environment Variables (Optional)

For advanced configuration, you can set these environment variables:

# Required
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-key"

# Optional - Custom STT/TTS endpoints (comma-separated lists)
export VOICEMODE_TTS_BASE_URLS="http://127.0.0.1:8880/v1,https://api.openai.com/v1"
export VOICEMODE_STT_BASE_URLS="http://127.0.0.1:2022/v1,https://api.openai.com/v1"

# Optional - Voice preferences (comma-separated lists)
export VOICEMODE_TTS_VOICES="af_sky,nova,alloy"
export VOICEMODE_TTS_MODELS="gpt-4o-mini-tts,tts-1-hd,tts-1"

Verification

  1. Check Continue Configuration:

    • Open Continue sidebar (Cmd+M or Ctrl+M)
    • Click settings icon
    • Verify voice-mode is in context providers

  2. Test Voice Mode:

    • Open Continue chat (Cmd+M or Ctrl+M)
    • Type: "/voice let's talk"
    • Try saying: "Hello, can you hear me?"

Usage Examples

Basic Voice Conversation

In Continue chat:
/voice
You: "Explain this function"
Continue: [Speaks the explanation]

Voice-Driven Code Generation

/voice generate code
You: "Create a React component for a todo list"
Continue: [Explains and generates code verbally]

Interactive Debugging

Select code, then:
/voice debug this
You: "Why is this throwing an error?"
Continue: [Analyzes and explains verbally]

Troubleshooting

Voice Mode Not Available

  • Check Continue's config.json for proper formatting
  • Ensure Voice Mode is in contextProviders or slashCommands
  • Verify your OPENAI_API_KEY is set correctly

No Audio Input/Output

  • Check system audio permissions for VS Code
  • Run audio diagnostics: python scripts/diagnose-audio.py
  • Ensure microphone is not muted

Continue Not Loading Voice Mode

  • Check Continue logs: View → Output → Continue
  • Ensure uvx is installed and in PATH
  • Try running uvx voice-mode manually

Platform-Specific Notes

macOS

  • Grant microphone permissions to VS Code
  • Continue may need additional file system permissions

Linux

  • Install PulseAudio or PipeWire for audio support
  • May need: sudo apt-get install portaudio19-dev (Debian/Ubuntu)

Windows

  • Native Windows support requires WSL2
  • Run VS Code from WSL2 for best results

Advanced Configuration

Using Local STT/TTS Services

To use local services for privacy:

  1. Start Kokoro TTS:

    # In terminal
uvx voice-mode kokoro-start

  2. Update config.json:

    {
  "slashCommands": [
    {
      "name": "voice",
      "description": "Have a voice conversation",
      "params": {
        "command": "uvx",
        "args": ["voice-mode", "converse"],
        "env": {
          "OPENAI_API_KEY": "your-key",
          "VOICEMODE_TTS_BASE_URLS": "http://127.0.0.1:8880/v1,https://api.openai.com/v1",
          "VOICEMODE_STT_BASE_URLS": "http://127.0.0.1:2022/v1,https://api.openai.com/v1"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

LiveKit Integration

For room-based voice conversations:

  • Configure LiveKit in environment variables
  • Useful for collaborative debugging sessions

Custom LLM + Voice

Continue supports any LLM provider:

  • Use voice with local models (Ollama, etc.)
  • Combine voice with custom model configurations
  • Create voice-enabled workflows for any LLM

See Also

Need Help? Join our Discord community or check the FAQ