Rode Explained in 10 Minutes: The Open-Source AI That Transforms VS Code

One name consistently emerges in discussions about AI-powered IDEs: Rode. It's an open-source VS Code extension that can transform your editor into an AI powerhouse, rivaling tools like Cursor. What makes Rode particularly compelling is its open-source nature, allowing you to bring your own API keys, and its welcoming approach to community pull requests, which has resulted in some truly unique features.

Getting Started with Rode

It can be installed directly from the VS Code extensions marketplace. Upon installation, it adds a rocket icon to the status bar and greets you with "Hi, I'm Rode."

To get started, you need to provide an API key. This article will use OpenRouter. For those unfamiliar, OpenRouter is a service that provides a single API to access a multitude of models, including Claude, OpenAI, DeepSeek, Gemini, and many others. OpenRouter's app showcase highlights Rode as its second most-used client, just behind Continue, from which Rode is actually a fork. The fork was reportedly created because some community members were dissatisfied with the number of pull requests being accepted into the original Continue project, leading to the creation of Rode with a more open contribution policy.

With the API key configured, it's time to explore its features. There are numerous settings to explore, which we will revisit later. First, let's examine the standard out-of-the-box experience.

The Core Experience: A Familiar Interface with Powerful Modes

The interface is quite standard for AI-powered IDEs. You can type your prompt in the input box at the bottom. Using the @ symbol, you can add context from various sources, such as files, folders, identified problems, Git commits, and even URLs.

The real power, however, lies in its prompt modes. It includes three default modes:

• Code: A multi-purpose coding assistant.
• Architect: For high-level system and design insights.
• Ask: A chat mode for research, Q&A, and deeper exploration of your codebase.

However, the key feature is customizability. You can create your own modes or modify existing ones by altering everything from the system prompt to file access permissions. You can even prompt Rode to generate a new mode for you. We'll explore this feature later.

Building a Hacker News Clone in Just 7 Steps

To demonstrate, let's use the Architect mode. The prompt asks it to create a Hacker News clone using Next.js, with a screenshot of the Hacker News front page provided for additional context. There's an 'Enhance Prompt' button that refines the initial request. This adds more specific details, such as implementing features like story listings with points and comment counts, and using a responsive design with Tailwind CSS.

After enhancing, you can proceed. A task status window appears, displaying token usage, the context window size, and the API cost in real-time. The cost transparency is a great feature, especially when using expensive models like Claude. It highlights the benefit of being able to switch to more affordable options like Gemini or DeepSeek.

Changes are displayed in a diff view as they are generated. Since the process started in Architect mode, Rode first creates a detailed project plan. It then prompts for approval to create the new file. By default, you must approve each new file creation, but fortunately, you can configure auto-approval settings. For instance, you can set it to automatically approve file edits, which streamlines the workflow.

After creating the plan, it suggests switching to Code mode to begin writing the implementation. Next, it requests permission to run the create-next-app command. You could configure it to approve all actions, effectively turning it into an automated AI agent.

Intelligent Error Handling

During the process, an error occurred because the project folder name contained capital letters, which is not allowed. Rode intelligently picked up on the terminal error and proposed a new command to fix it, creating a new hacker-news-clone directory and rerunning the command.

After about two minutes, it has created all the necessary files for the Hacker News clone. It then suggests running the following command to start the application:

cd hacker-news-clone && npm run dev

The total cost for this process was just two cents. This again highlights the cost of using Claude, but this can be changed to a cheaper model like Gemini later. It encountered another error because it was already in the correct directory and handled this gracefully.

Advanced Browser Automation

One of the most impressive features is its browser automation. Once the development server is running, Rode suggests using its integrated browser to check the application. It launches a dedicated browser instance, allowing it to read console logs, identify UI issues, and perform debugging automatically.

It compares the current state of the application to the provided screenshot and identifies discrepancies. Based on its visual analysis, it makes several code modifications to better match the original design. It then re-launches the browser to verify the changes. The UI now looks closer to the target, with elements like the 'Y' logo now correctly styled.

Finally, the task is marked as complete. It provides the command to open http://localhost:3000 in a standard browser. The initial result is a fairly accurate recreation of the Hacker News front page. However, the submit page is not yet functional.

The next step is to ask it to create the submit page. A new task is started with the prompt: "Can you create the submit page now?" The 'Enhance Prompt' button is used again to add more detail. The result is a mock submit page, as no backend has been implemented.

This part further demonstrates the power of the browser automation feature. After launching the browser, you can review the exact steps it took. For example, it tested form validation by attempting to submit an empty form and correctly identified that the error messages appeared as expected. It also tested invalid URL input and confirmed the corresponding error message was displayed. This functionality makes it feel like a true AI teammate.

Cost, Limitations, and Deep Customization

A potential downside, which isn't Rode's fault, is the cost associated with certain models like Claude Sonnet. The submit page creation cost 50 cents. However, thanks to the tool's flexibility, switching to a model like Gemini would have reduced the cost to around 2 cents.

Regarding inline prompting, Rode is somewhat limited because it's a VS Code extension, not a full fork of the editor. It doesn't offer the same pop-up prompt box found in tools like Cursor. However, you can still select code, click the quick actions lightbulb, and ask Rode to explain, add to context, or fix logic. Similarly, you can right-click on issues in the 'Problems' tab and ask Rode for a fix.

That covers the out-of-the-box experience, but Rode's true power lies in its deep customizability. In the settings, you can select your preferred model. As mentioned, Claude is expensive, so this article will switch to Gemini, which is significantly cheaper—approximately 37 times cheaper.

Several other settings can be configured: * Custom temperature for models * Auto-approve settings * Browser behavior (viewport size, screenshot quality) * Sound effects * Rate limits and terminal output limits

The prompt settings offer the most powerful customization options. Here, you can modify the entire behavior of the tool. The 'Modes' section is particularly powerful, listing the three default modes: Code, Architect, and Ask. Each has a specific role definition, such as 'highly skilled software engineer' for Code mode.

A standout feature is the ability to configure a different API for each mode. For example, you could create a 'Documentation Writer' mode that uses the affordable Gemini API, while your 'Code' mode uses the more powerful Claude API for coding tasks. Combined with automatic mode switching, this allows for dynamic model selection based on the task at hand.

Creating Your Own AI Modes

As mentioned, you can create your own custom modes. To simplify this process, you can prompt Rode to create a new mode for you. For example, prompting it to create a 'Documentation Writer' mode generates the new mode and saves it in a project-specific .rode/modes.json file.

The newly generated 'Documentation Writer' mode has a role definition ("You are a technical writer...") and custom instructions, all created by AI. A powerful feature within the JSON settings is the ability to use regex to restrict file access. For instance, the Documentation Writer mode can be configured to only edit Markdown files (.md). This level of customization gives you complete control over how each mode operates.

The prompt settings also allow you to control the behavior of support prompts, like the 'Enhance Prompt' button. You can change the underlying prompt and even the API model used for each enhancement.

Additionally, Rode supports MCP (Modular Command Protocol) servers. These servers can be set up to control virtually anything, from Docker and databases to custom tools. Rode even includes an MCP server creation mode. You can describe a new tool, and Rode will attempt to create the corresponding MCP server for you.

Overall, Rode is a surprisingly feature-rich and highly customizable tool. It's an ideal choice for developers who enjoy having complete control over their tools and fine-tuning every detail.