Use Tech AI monkey (Ollama Engine) in VS Code

Tech AI monkey runs on its own independent Ollama brain (no OpenAI or DeepSeek dependency) with continuous automatic API-key rotation. You can connect VS Code directly to this Ollama-powered agent — or download Ollama yourself on the Download & Ollama page.

Powered by Ollama — Continuous Automatic Key Rotation

Unlike external OpenAI or DeepSeek endpoints that stop working when an external provider key expires, Tech AI monkey runs its own local Ollama model (tech-ai-monkey) and automatically refreshes its internal engine token every 10 minutes. In VS Code, keep "toolCalling": false and use it in Ask mode because the agent runs its own sandbox and research tools on the server.

1Get an API key

Open Dashboard → API keys and create a key. It looks like tai_… and is shown to you exactly once — copy it straight into VS Code. Only its SHA-256 hash is stored, and you can revoke it at any time from the same page.

You need to be signed in. Spending goes against your normal token balance; the owner account is unlimited.

2Add the model in VS Code

Open the chat model picker in the Chat view and choose Manage Language Models (the gear icon) — or run Chat: Manage Language Models from the Command Palette.
Select Add Models, then Custom Endpoint from the provider list.
Enter a group name (for example Tech AI monkey), then paste your tai_… key when asked.
Pick the API type Chat Completions.
VS Code opens chatLanguageModels.json — replace its contents with the block below and save.

3Paste the configuration

[
  {
    "name": "Tech AI monkey",
    "vendor": "customendpoint",
    "apiKey": "${input:techAiKey}",
    "apiType": "chat-completions",
    "models": [
      {
        "id": "tech-ai-monkey",
        "name": "Tech AI monkey",
        "url": "https://tech-ai.tech/v1/chat/completions",
        "toolCalling": false,
        "vision": false,
        "maxInputTokens": 128000,
        "maxOutputTokens": 8192
      }
    ]
  }
]

The key is referenced as ${input:techAiKey} so it lives in VS Code's secret storage instead of sitting in the file as plain text. VS Code asks for it the first time the model is used.

4Select it in chat

The model now appears in the model picker as Tech AI monkey. If it does not show up straight away, reload the window.

5Use it anywhere else

Nothing here is VS Code specific — any client that lets you set a base URL and an API key works, for example Cline, Continue, an SDK, or your own server.

curl https://tech-ai.tech/v1/models \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer tai_…"

curl https://tech-ai.tech/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer tai_…" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "tech-ai-monkey",
    "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "hello" }],
    "stream": false
  }'

Set "stream": true to receive Server-Sent Events exactly as OpenAI sends them:

curl -N https://tech-ai.tech/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer tai_…" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "tech-ai-monkey",
    "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "hello" }],
    "stream": true
  }'

Endpoint reference

Method	Path	Purpose
GET	/v1/models	Lists the models you can call
POST	/v1/chat/completions	Chat Completions, with `stream` or without

Authentication is always Authorization: Bearer tai_…. Errors use OpenAI's shape: { "error": { "message": "…", "type": "…" } }. Status 401 means the key is wrong, revoked or expired; 402 means the account is out of tokens.

Troubleshooting

The model is missing from the picker. Reload VS Code. In Agent mode the picker only lists models with tool calling, which is why the configuration sets toolCalling: false and why it belongs in Ask mode.
401 on every request. The key was revoked or the whole Authorization header was overridden by a custom requestHeaders entry.
Answers feel like they forget the thread. Each request is a fresh agent session — the full message list is replayed into it. Very long conversations get summarised by the client, not by us.
Corporate Copilot policy. Copilot Business/Enterprise admins can disable “Bring Your Own Language Model Key in VS Code” organisation-wide; that setting wins over anything configured locally.

Your data

Requests go to this instance using your own key and are metered against your account exactly like the web chat and the CLI. What is stored — prompts, replies, retention and deletion — is described in the privacy policy. Revoking the key in Dashboard → API keys cuts access off immediately.

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