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Open-source AI dev tooling that started as an in-IDE coding assistant (Chat/Edit/Agent/Autocomplete in VS Code and JetBrains) and has pivoted to a CI-enforceable 'AI checks on every PR' framing via the `cn` CLI; the legacy IDE agent remains shipped.
Description
Continue today positions itself around the `cn` CLI that runs AI checks on pull requests. Each check is a markdown file in `.continue/checks/` whose result surfaces as a GitHub status check (green/red, with suggested fix). Underneath, the same engine still powers the long-standing VS Code and JetBrains extensions that provide Agent mode (autonomous task completion with tools and MCP), Chat (Q&A), Edit (inline edit), and Autocomplete (predictive completions). Custom assistants/blocks can be configured through Hub configs and via `mcpServers` for MCP integration.
Solution
Two distinct loops live in the project: (1) PR-check loop — on every PR, each check's markdown prompt runs against the diff and results post as GitHub status checks; failures suggest a diff users can accept from GitHub. (2) IDE agent loop — a ReAct tool-use loop where the model uses chat-equipped tools (file edit, terminal, MCP, codebase context), asking permission per-tool by default; tool outputs feed back into the model as context. Agent mode requires MCP tools; MCP is only available in agent mode.
Primary use cases
- in-IDE agent + chat + edit + autocomplete (VS Code, JetBrains)
- PR-check enforcement via `cn` CLI + GitHub status checks
- MCP-tool extensibility inside Agent mode
- Hub-shared assistant / block / MCP configurations
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