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Supercharge your code editor with free AI assistance

The Rundown: Mistral’s new Codestral model can be integrated directly in your code editor for free, helping you write, debug, and understand code better.

 

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🧰 Who is this useful for:

  • Developers looking to speed up their coding workflow

  • Students learning to code who need guidance

  • Technical teams wanting AI assistance with code review

  • Anyone working on complex coding projects

 

STEP 1: Setting Up Your Environment

First, open Visual Studio Code and navigate to the Extensions marketplace. Search for "Continue" in the search bar. Look for the extension with the hexagonal icon and a high number of downloads (500K+). Click "Install" to add it to your editor.

 

STEP 2: Adding Your AI Assistant

Once installed, you'll see a "Continue" button in the bottom-right corner of your editor. Click it to access the command palette. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Command+L (Mac) or Ctrl+L (Windows) to open the chat interface.

In the chat sidebar, click "Add Chat Model" and select the following options:

  • Provider: Mistral

  • Model: Codestral

Note: You'll need a free API key to proceed.

 

STEP 3: Getting Your Free API Key

Head over to Mistral AI and create an account. Once logged in, look for the “Codestrl” option to try Codestral for free. This will generate your API key. Copy this key and paste it back in VS Code where prompted in the chat model settings.

 

STEP 4: Using Your AI Assistant

With everything set up, you can now:

  • Type questions directly in the chat

  • Add file context using the '@' symbol

  • Highlight code and press Command+L to add it to your chat

  • Ask for explanations, improvements, or debugging help

Pro tip: When asking about specific code, highlight the relevant section and hit CMD + L. This gives the AI assistant more context to provide accurate help.

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