IDE & API ·
An API key in your editor: where do you start?
Continue and Aider offer two ways to work with external models. Here is what matters.
CONSTELLO & BIDAR
Your editor and model are separate choices
Your development environment organises code. The model adds generation or analysis. Connecting them through an API lets you keep familiar workflows while choosing a model for each task. Start by explaining an existing function or proposing a test.
Two approaches
Continue documents OpenAI-compatible connections through apiBase and apiKey. Aider supports them from the terminal through OPENAI_API_BASE and OPENAI_API_KEY. One integrates with the editor; the other favours command-line work.
A connection is not a full feature test
Chat, tools and autocomplete require different capabilities. A successful text response does not prove an agent can edit files. Evaluate each workflow on a small project. This article does not certify these tools’ compatibility with CONSTELLO.
Your first trial
Prepare a dedicated key, the exact service URL and model identifier. Keep the key out of Git-tracked files. Ask about a few non-sensitive lines, then request a small change you can review. Find CONSTELLO models in your account and connection details in our documentation.