Take full control of your AI coding experience in VS Code—use any model
provider without signing into Copilot. Learn how to add native providers
like Anthropic, set up custom endpoints, enable third-party integrations,
and even run local models completely offline. A practical walkthrough of
VS Code's flexible language model system.

Docs: https://code.visualstudio.com/blogs/2025/10/22/bring-your-own-key

00:00 Introduction to AI-First VS Code
00:01:00 Managing Language Models and Custom Endpoints
00:04:00 Third-Party Extensions and Providers
00:05:00 Wrap-up

#vscode #byok

Visual Studio Code is a lightweight and powerful code editor developed by Microsoft, offering built-in support for multiple programming languages, debugging, and extensions. From this resource developers can learn about VSCode's features, extensions, and customization options to enhance their coding productivity and workflow.

Visual Studio Code

VS Code now supports using AI models from any provider without signing into GitHub Copilot, via a 'Bring Your Own Key' (BYOK) approach. Users can add native providers like Anthropic directly through the Manage Language Models view, configure custom endpoints (e.g., Mistral via OpenAI-compatible API), or install third-party extensions like the Hugging Face provider. A chat debug view lets users verify API calls go directly to the chosen provider. Utility models for background tasks (commit messages, chat titles, etc.) can also be set from BYOK models. All configured models are available in the agents window, and local models via LM Studio work too, enabling fully offline or air-gapped setups.

Bring Your Own AI… No Sign‑In Required!