Continue

Open-source AI code assistant project, focusing on integrating any model for custom completion and conversation; the team has been acquired by Cursor, and the open-source code repository is still freely available for self-deployment and modification.

AI Developer Tools#Open Source#Code Assistant#Plugins

Updated: 2026-10-26

What is Continue?

Continue was once one of the most popular customizable AI code assistants in the open-source community. It focused on "integrating your own models to complete code and have conversations in your own way," allowing teams not to be tied to a single vendor. It first gained popularity as an editor plugin, then evolved into an open-source coding agent project, and the community has accumulated a large number of configuration solutions and integration practices around it. The official website has now announced that it has been acquired by Cursor, and the product status has changed. However, the official clearly stated that the open-source code repository can still be freely accessed. The project will continue to exist as an open-source foundation, and the team's mission "to empower developers rather than replace them" is also continued in the announcement, which represents a coding tool route of "developer autonomy".

Who is it for?

Organizations that want to retain data sovereignty on Code Assistant and need to use self-deployed or private models; developers who want to study the implementation of open-source coding agents or perform secondary development based on their code bases; as well as original Continue users need to understand the product's direction and alternative solutions. It is also suitable for educational scenarios to demonstrate how open-source coding agents work.

Key features

Model Freedom

It previously focused on connecting to any model provider or local models, without being tied to a single vendor. It supports mainstream cloud-based models and locally run models, allowing you to independently control costs and compliance.

Customizable Completion and Dialogue

Configure completion behaviors and dialogue contexts according to team habits. Contexts, rules, and prompts can be adjusted to match team workflows, rather than adhering to a fixed set of rules.

IDE Integration

Works in mainstream editors as a plugin, with code completion, chat, and agent capabilities directly embedded in the editor, integrating seamlessly into existing development workflows.

Open-source and self-buildable

The codebase is hosted on GitHub, allowing you to deploy, modify, and study the implementation independently. This is the key feature that distinguishes it from commercial assistants.

How to use Continue

If you just want an out-of-the-box assistant, you can directly evaluate Cursor and its ecosystem.
if you must self-deploy and have strict requirements on data boundaries, the open-source route of Continue is still worth following, and you can pull the code by yourself for verification.
For teams that already have a lot of Continue configurations, it is recommended to first compare the costs of migrating to Cursor and continuing to maintain the self-built one.
Community documents and historical versions are still of reference value.
when encountering problems, you can first check the issues and discussions in the open-source repository, and the overall investment is controllable.

Things to know

Product status has changed: The official website currently focuses on the acquisition announcement and FAQs. The official has answered two questions most concerned by developers — the open-source code repository is still freely available; please confirm the data usage in the FAQs on the official website.

Searching for "Continue" may yield outdated feature introductions; please refer to the official announcements and open-source repository for accurate feature details.

The long-term maintenance roadmap is undetermined after the acquisition. Before relying on it as a production tool, it is recommended to evaluate its sustainability, and important projects should prepare migration plans.

The subsequent functional evolution will most likely be subject to the plans of the acquirer (Cursor), and for the self-built route, you need to keep up with the community versions on your own.

As an open-source project, you are responsible for its security and compliance, and you must conduct your own assessment before accessing private data.