QCoder

A free, open-source AI code editor. Bring your own API key.

QCoder is a fork of Visual Studio Code with a first-class AI assistant built into the shell. It talks to whatever model provider you already pay for (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, DeepSeek, Mistral, Groq, xAI) or runs entirely offline against a local Ollama instance. No signup, no telemetry, no license key, no lock-in.

Website: https://www.qcoderai.com Latest download: https://downloads.qcoderai.com/releases/latest/QCoderSetup-win-x64.exe

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Install

Windows

Download QCoderSetup-win-x64.exe from the releases page or the direct link above and run it. The installer is signed with an SSL.com EV code-signing certificate issued to Quantum Horizon AI LLC, so Windows SmartScreen will show the publisher name and let it through without a warning.

macOS (Apple Silicon)

Download QCoder-macos-arm64.dmg, open it, drag the app into Applications. First launch will need a right-click -> Open because the mac build is not yet notarized by Apple.

Linux

Build from source (see below). Prebuilt .deb and .rpm packages are on the roadmap.

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Bring your own key

QCoder does not include any API keys or credits. You provide the key.

1. Launch QCoder.
2. Open the QCoder sidebar (Ctrl+Shift+Q).
3. Add a provider from the settings pane. Any of these work out of the box:
   • OpenAI (sk-... key)
   • Anthropic (sk-ant-... key)
   • Google Gemini (API key)
   • DeepSeek, Mistral, Groq, xAI
   • Ollama running locally on port 11434 (no key required)
   • Any OpenAI-compatible endpoint (LM Studio, vLLM, LiteLLM, TogetherAI, ...)
4. Pick a model from the dropdown and start chatting or use inline edits.

Your keys stay on your machine. They are stored in VS Code's SecretStorage, which uses the OS keychain (Keychain on macOS, Credential Vault on Windows, libsecret on Linux). No key ever hits any QCoder server.

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What's inside

• AI Chat in a sidebar panel with markdown, code blocks, and copy buttons.
• Inline edits with red/green diff decorations and per-hunk accept/reject.
• Agent mode for multi-step tasks. QCoder reads files, writes code, runs shell commands, and iterates, with every step visible as a reviewable diff.
• MCP servers for connecting external tools (databases, APIs, custom tooling) via the Model Context Protocol.
• Zero telemetry. The editor sends nothing to us. Ever.
• Air-gapped ready. Runs fully offline with a local Ollama or LM Studio.

Full feature list at https://www.qcoderai.com/features.

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Build from source

QCoder tracks upstream VS Code closely. The build process is the same as VS Code's, with a few QCoder-specific patches.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 22.x (nvm recommended, nvm use 22)
• Python 3
• On Windows: Visual Studio 2022 (or newer) with the C++ workload
• On macOS: Xcode command line tools
• On Linux: libx11-dev libxkbfile-dev libsecret-1-dev
• Electron target: 39.8.8 (pinned via .npmrc)

Steps

git clone https://github.com/Quantum-Horizon-AI/QCoder.git
cd QCoder
npm install
npm run compile         # TypeScript
npm run watch           # Or: keep the build running
./scripts/code.sh       # Launch (Linux/macOS)
scripts\code.bat        # Launch (Windows)

For a production installer build on Windows, see docs/BUILD_GUIDE.md in the platform monorepo (private, ask if you need it).

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Enterprise / self-hosted

Some organizations want centralized policy enforcement, seat management, audit logging, and offline license files. Those live in the QCoder Management Platform, which is a separate product. QCoder the editor talks to it via a plug-and-play deployment.json file dropped next to the installer. The open-source build defaults to standalone mode (no backend, no calls out).

Enterprise deployments: enterprise@qcoderai.com.

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Contributing

QCoder is a small, opinionated project. Issues and PRs welcome, especially around:

• New model providers (add to src/vs/workbench/contrib/qcoder/engine/providers/)
• MCP server integrations
• Bug fixes with a reproducer

Security disclosures: email security@qcoderai.com. Please do not open a public issue for security bugs.

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License

MIT, same as upstream VS Code. See LICENSE.txt.

QCoder is a fork of Visual Studio Code, released under the MIT License by Microsoft. The QCoder additions (everything under src/vs/workbench/contrib/qcoder/, plus the branding and build customizations) are also MIT-licensed by Quantum Horizon AI LLC.

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Credits

• Microsoft for Visual Studio Code, the incredible editor this is built on.
• Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and the open Ollama / LM Studio community for the models that make this useful.
• SSL.com for the EV code-signing cert that gets QCoder past SmartScreen.

Built and maintained by Quantum Horizon AI LLC in Virginia, USA.