Tool
Continue
An open-source coding agent that lived in your editor (and as a CLI): chat, autocomplete-style help, and agent workflows — often wired to local models via Ollama or LM Studio, or to hosted APIs you bring yourself.
What it is
Continue (Continue Dev, Inc.) was a BYO-model coding assistant: VS Code extension, JetBrains plugin, and CLI, configured to talk to providers you choose — including local OpenAI-compatible endpoints. That “bring your own LLM” stance is why it shows up next to local runners even though it is not a model server itself.
Status note (verify before you commit to it): As of this writing, continue.dev states that Continue was acquired by Cursor, frames the project in the past tense, and says the open-source codebase remains available. Treat active product development, marketplace listings, and support channels as something to check yourself — acquisition pages change faster than nostalgia posts.
What it replaces
When it was the daily driver, it replaced “only use the editor vendor’s locked-in AI chat” for people who wanted config-file control and local or multi-provider backends. It does not replace the underlying model (local or hosted), and it does not replace a maintained commercial coding agent if the Continue product path has gone quiet for your editor version.
License
The public GitHub repository continuedev/continue is licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (GitHub license metadata and LICENSE file). Apache-2.0 is a permissive OSI-approved license: use, modify, distribute, including commercially, with attribution and patent terms as spelled out in the license text.
Acquisition does not automatically erase the Apache-2.0 grant on published code, but it does change who maintains what next. Forks and pinned releases are how open-source survives product sunsets — if you need that path, confirm the exact commit and license notice you are shipping.
Where it falls over
- Editor companions age with the editor API. Unmaintained extensions eventually break.
- Local model support is only as good as the runner and the model; Continue was glue, not magic weights.
- Acquisition / EOL messaging means docs, Hub features, auth, and telemetry assumptions can be stale overnight.
- Star counts on GitHub measure past interest, not whether the VS Code build you installed still works next month.
- If your goal is “supported commercial coding agent,” evaluate current products (including Cursor) on their own terms — don’t assume Continue’s old feature matrix still ships.
Who it's for
Developers who specifically want an Apache-2.0, BYO-model editor agent — and who are willing to pin versions, fork, or migrate if upstream maintenance stops. Not the default recommendation for someone who just wants “install and forget” AI in the IDE after an acquisition announcement.
Verdict
Continue mattered: it normalized BYO-LLM coding agents under Apache-2.0. Today, start at continue.dev and the GitHub repo, confirm whether you are installing a still-supported build or adopting archived code, and pair it with a local runner only if that stack still works on your editor. Honest tooling includes admitting when the product story has moved.
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