I'm curious, what tools are people using to vibe code and research with local LLMs? I'm getting really frustrated with some of the interfaces and lack of capabilities. I think it's probably just a user error, but I can't figure it out, regardless of which tools I try.
For example, say I use vscode and I load 4 different directories into my workspace. Then I use something like continue and ask it to look at files in the different directories and tell me how they interact. It tells me it can't find them. If I use my paid Claude code subscription with the VS code plugin, this is not an issue and it can access all the files in the workspace.
Another example, I tried to use zed but once the context runs out I basically have to start brand new. The docs say there should be a summarize button to continue with the thread but tbh, that is not a good user experience (and I can't seem to find this button anyways). I've also ran into similar problems with other tools. Seems most don't have a "auto compaction" or equivalent like we find on paid tools.
One last complaint is tool usage. Many models just seem to fail using tools most of the time. I did find that some release pages will have some instructions to add which resolved some of my issues, but still seems to be hit or miss.
What am I doing wrong? What is everyone else using? I like the "Claude Code" and GitHub Copilot experience in vscode, but it seems that maybe I am stuck thinking the wrong way to go about this?
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