Add user setting to enable/disable Continue entirely

[sebastienbarre]

Just like Copilot provides the chat.disableAIFeatures setting to turn off all AI-related functionality (code completion, chat, next edit, etc., see screenshot below), it would be great if Continue offered a similar option — a single setting to completely disable its AI features, without having to open the Extensions panel, search for it, and manually disable the extension.

The advantage is that toggling a user setting can be automated through a keyboard shortcut — much faster that way.
My use case: pressing F1 to toggle between Copilot and Continue

Thank you

[bdougie]

Hey @sebastienbarre this is an approachable idea. We would accept a contribution for this.

Here's a (long) technical guide to implement this feature:

Overview

Add a VS Code setting continue.enableContinue (similar to GitHub Copilot's chat.disableAIFeatures) that completely disables Continue's AI features. This would allow keyboard shortcuts to toggle Continue on/off.

Implementation Steps

1. Add the Configuration Setting

File: extensions/vscode/package.json

Add the new setting to the contributes.configuration.properties section (around line 88-149):

"continue.enableContinue": {
  "type": "boolean",
  "default": true,
  "description": "Enable or disable Continue's AI features entirely."
}

2. Check the Setting Early in Extension Activation

File: extensions/vscode/src/extension.ts:20

Modify the activate function to check the setting before initializing:

export function activate(context: vscode.ExtensionContext) {
  const config = vscode.workspace.getConfiguration("continue");
  const enableContinue = config.get<boolean>("enableContinue");
  
  if (enableContinue === false) {
    console.log("Continue is disabled via settings");
    return;
  }
  
  return dynamicImportAndActivate(context).catch((e) => {
    // ... existing error handling
  });
}

3. Disable Autocomplete When Setting is False

File: extensions/vscode/src/autocomplete/completionProvider.ts:168-172

The autocomplete provider already checks if tab autocomplete is enabled. Update this to also check the main enable setting:

const config = vscode.workspace.getConfiguration("continue");
const enableContinue = config.get<boolean>("enableContinue");
const enableTabAutocomplete = getStatusBarStatus() === StatusBarStatus.Enabled;

if (token.isCancellationRequested || !enableTabAutocomplete || !enableContinue) {
  return null;
}

4. Add a Toggle Command (Optional but Recommended)

File: extensions/vscode/package.json

Add a new command in the contributes.commands section:

{
  "command": "continue.toggleContinueEnabled",
  "category": "Continue",
  "title": "Toggle Continue Enabled"
}

File: extensions/vscode/src/commands.ts

Add the command implementation (around line 537, near toggleTabAutocompleteEnabled):

"continue.toggleContinueEnabled": () => {
  captureCommandTelemetry("toggleContinueEnabled");
  
  const config = vscode.workspace.getConfiguration("continue");
  const enabled = config.get<boolean>("enableContinue");
  config.update(
    "enableContinue",
    !enabled,
    vscode.ConfigurationTarget.Global,
  );
  
  // Show a message to inform the user
  const message = !enabled 
    ? "Continue enabled. Reload window to activate." 
    : "Continue disabled.";
  vscode.window.showInformationMessage(message);
}

5. Handle Configuration Changes

Since this is a global enable/disable, you may want to prompt the user to reload the window when they change this setting. Add a configuration change listener in extensions/vscode/src/activation/activate.ts:

// In activateExtension function, add:
context.subscriptions.push(
  vscode.workspace.onDidChangeConfiguration((e) => {
    if (e.affectsConfiguration("continue.enableContinue")) {
      vscode.window
        .showInformationMessage(
          "Continue enable/disable setting changed. Reload window to apply changes.",
          "Reload Window"
        )
        .then((selection) => {
          if (selection === "Reload Window") {
            vscode.commands.executeCommand("workbench.action.reloadWindow");
          }
        });
    }
  })
);

Testing

1. Change the setting via VS Code settings UI: Continue: Enable Continue
2. Test the toggle command: Open command palette (F1) and run "Continue: Toggle Continue Enabled"
3. Verify that when disabled:
   • Autocomplete doesn't trigger
   • Chat doesn't work
   • Extension appears inactive
4. Test keyboard shortcut automation by binding continue.toggleContinueEnabled to F1 in your keybindings

Key Files to Modify

• extensions/vscode/package.json - Add configuration and command
• extensions/vscode/src/extension.ts - Check setting in activation
• extensions/vscode/src/autocomplete/completionProvider.ts - Respect setting in autocomplete
• extensions/vscode/src/commands.ts - Add toggle command
• extensions/vscode/src/activation/activate.ts - Handle configuration changes

If you'd like to implement this, the team would be happy to review a PR!