Arkane Cloud for VS Code
Use Arkane Cloud models in VS Code chat and agent mode, with
your credit balance in the status bar.
Paste one API key and every model on your account appears in the chat model picker — context
windows, pricing, and tool-calling support are read from the API, so there is nothing to configure
per model.
Requirements
- VS Code 1.122 or later with the bundled GitHub Copilot Chat extension enabled.
- An Arkane Cloud account with a verified email address and available credit.
- VS Code's AI features enabled —
chat.disableAIFeatures off. In managed environments, this
and the Copilot Chat extension can be controlled by your administrator.
Setup
- Install the extension.
- Run Arkane Cloud: Set API Key from the Command Palette.
- Create a key in the console's API Keys section, then paste it back into VS Code.
- If prompted, choose Enable Chat. This enables GitHub Copilot Chat, which supplies the
chat interface; GitHub sign-in is not required. Other extensions are left unchanged.
- The extension configures its provider group and opens Chat. Pick an Arkane Cloud model
from the model picker.
The key is stored in your OS keychain via VS Code's SecretStorage. It is never written to
settings or logs.
What you get
- Every model on your account, populated from the API — no per-model configuration.
- Agent mode and tool calling, with tool results round-tripped back to the model.
- Images on vision models. Attach a PNG, JPEG, WebP, or GIF and pick a model whose picker entry
supports image input.
- Credit balance in the status bar. Amber below $1, red at $0. Click it for top-up, usage,
and key actions.
- What each turn cost. The balance drops the moment a turn finishes, with the amount beside it
for a few seconds. Hover for the last request's tokens and this window's running total.
- Real errors. Running out of credit gives you a Top Up action instead of an opaque failure.
Custom instructions work unchanged. VS Code assembles the prompt — system prompt, instruction
files, memory, workspace context — and hands the finished result to this extension, so
.github/copilot-instructions.md, AGENTS.md, *.instructions.md, prompt files, and custom chat
modes all apply. Arkane Cloud has no prompt caching yet, so that context is re-sent and billed in
full on every turn.
Limitations
- Attachments other than those image formats are refused — audio, video, PDFs, and images sent
to a text-only model — with a message explaining why rather than a silent drop. Text and JSON
attachments are passed through as text.
- Token counts shown in the editor are estimates. Billing uses the token counts the server reports, not these estimates.
- Usage is billed to your Arkane Cloud credit, not to a subscription.
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Purpose |
arkanecloud.preferredModels |
(two models) |
Models to show at the top of the picker, most preferred first. Matched against the model id ignoring case and punctuation. |
arkanecloud.showBalanceInStatusBar |
true |
Show remaining credit in the status bar. |
arkanecloud.baseUrl |
https://console.arkanecloud.com |
Target a self-hosted deployment. User settings only — a workspace cannot redirect where your key is sent. |
arkanecloud.debug.logTranscripts |
false |
Write the full prompt and answer of every request to a text file. User settings only. |
arkanecloud.debug.transcriptDirectory |
(empty) |
Where to write those files. Empty means the extension's log folder. |
Commands
- Arkane Cloud: Set API Key
- Arkane Cloud: Sign Out
- Arkane Cloud: Manage Models & Balance
- Arkane Cloud: Top Up Credits
- Arkane Cloud: Refresh Credit Balance
- Arkane Cloud: Open Usage History
- Arkane Cloud: Reload Models
- Arkane Cloud: Show Logs
- Arkane Cloud: Open Debug Transcripts Folder
Troubleshooting
If Chat says "You need to set up GitHub Copilot and be signed in to use Chat" even though
Arkane Cloud models are visible, run Arkane Cloud: Manage Models & Balance to retry setup,
and choose Enable Chat if prompted. There is no need to enable all extensions.
VS Code needs a configured provider group to recognize signed-out BYOK setup; the extension creates
it after key entry and on startup for an existing key. Reload the window after updating the extension.
Keep chat.disableAIFeatures off. On VS Code 1.122 or later, GitHub sign-in is not required for BYOK.
Run Arkane Cloud: Show Logs to see what the extension sent and what came back.
For a full record, turn on arkanecloud.debug.logTranscripts and every chat request writes a text
file holding the exact prompt and the answer, one file per request; Arkane Cloud: Open Debug
Transcripts Folder opens them. Two things to know before leaving it on: a transcript is the whole
prompt in cleartext, including any workspace source the chat gathered as context — your API key is
never in it — and only the default location is cleaned up automatically.
Support
Questions, bugs, or feedback — reach me at github.com/Randyopo.
