Roo Code AI Agent

Step 1: Install VS Code

Download Visual Studio Code from the official site:

https://code.visualstudio.com/Download

Available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Step 2: Install the Roo Code Extension

1. Open VS Code
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+X (or Cmd+Shift+X on Mac) to open Extensions
3. Search for Roo Code
4. Click Install on the extension by RooVeterinaryInc
5. The Roo Code icon will appear in your sidebar

Or install directly from: VS Code Marketplace

Step 3: Get a Free API Key

Roo Code needs an LLM provider. The easiest free option is OpenRouter:

1. Go to openrouter.ai and create a free account
2. Navigate to Keys in your dashboard
3. Click Create Key and copy it

OpenRouter gives you access to dozens of free models including DeepSeek, Qwen, Gemini, and more.

Step 4: Configure Roo Code

1. Click the Roo Code icon in the VS Code sidebar
2. Click the gear icon (settings) in the Roo Code panel
3. Select OpenRouter as your API provider
4. Paste your API key
5. Choose a model — recommended free options:
   • qwen/qwen3-coder:free — best free coding model
   • deepseek/deepseek-chat-v3-0324:free — strong all-rounder
   • google/gemini-2.5-flash:free — fast and capable

Step 5: Use Local Models (Optional)

For full privacy, run models on your own machine with Ollama:

curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh

ollama pull qwen2.5-coder:7b

Step 6: Test It

Open any project folder in VS Code, click the Roo Code panel, and try a prompt:

Create a Python script that fetches the top 5 Hacker News stories and prints their titles.

Roo Code will create the file, write the code, and can even run it for you. It has full access to your terminal, file system, and browser (with your permission).