# Use AlphaNeural with Continue (VS Code and JetBrains)

### Create a local secret for your AlphaNeural key

Continue can load secrets from `.env` files (workspace or global), then reference them from `config.yaml`.

Pick one of these locations (searched in this order):

* `<workspace-root>/.env`
* `<workspace-root>/.continue/.env`
* `~/.continue/.env` (global)

Example `~/.continue/.env`:

```bash
ALPHANEURAL_API_KEY=your_key_here
```

### Configure Continue to use AlphaNeural

Edit (or create) your local config file:

* macOS/Linux: `~/.continue/config.yaml`
* Windows: `%USERPROFILE%\.continue\config.yaml`

Minimal config using AlphaNeural as an OpenAI-compatible provider:

```yaml
name: AlphaNeural
version: 0.0.1
schema: v1

models:
  - name: AlphaNeural Chat
    provider: openai
    model: qwen3
    apiBase: https://proxy.alfnrl.io/v1
    apiKey: ${{ secrets.ALPHANEURAL_API_KEY }}
    roles: [chat, edit, apply]

  - name: AlphaNeural Autocomplete
    provider: openai
    model: qwen3
    apiBase: https://proxy.alfnrl.io/v1
    apiKey: ${{ secrets.ALPHANEURAL_API_KEY }}
    roles: [autocomplete]
```

* Continue’s OpenAI provider supports overriding `apiBase` for OpenAI-compatible servers.
* Continue lets you reference secrets from `.env` using the `secrets` namespace.
* `roles` controls where the model is available (chat vs autocomplete, etc).

### Reload Continue

If your model does not show up, reload VS Code so extensions re-read the config.

* Command palette: type **Reload Window**

For JetBrains, restarting the IDE is the simplest equivalent.

### Select the model and run a smoke test

Open the Continue sidebar, choose **AlphaNeural Chat**, then try:

* “Summarise this file and suggest improvements”
* “Explain this stack trace and propose a fix”

### Optional. Enable tools and vision explicitly

If Agent mode is disabled or tools are flaky, you can force capabilities in the model block.

```yaml
capabilities: [tool_use, image_input]
```

This is especially useful when you are routing through proxies where capability auto-detection is imperfect.


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.alphaneural.io/tutorials/use-alphaneural-with-continue-vs-code-and-jetbrains.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.