How to use
Roo Code.

1. 01

   Start at https://roocode.com/ and confirm the domain before entering account or payment information.

2. 02

   Availability: Roo Code runs as a VS Code extension with built-in and custom modes, multiple model providers, terminal and browser tools, MCP support, and per-action approvals.

3. 03

   VS Code or a compatible editor, the official extension, and a configured cloud or local model provider with an approved policy for code and tool access.

4. 04

   Sign in with the account you intend to keep using, then review plan, data, notification, and permission settings.

5. 05

   Run one low-risk test task before connecting sensitive files, repositories, or workspace data.

• Use official download pages.
• Review permissions during setup.
• Keep installers and applications updated.

1. 01

   Install the official extension and configure one approved model provider without placing credentials in the repository.

2. 02

   Open a clean branch, select the appropriate mode, and provide the task, constraints, and validation commands.

3. 03

   Keep auto-approval off while Roo inspects the codebase and proposes a minimal plan.

4. 04

   Review every tool request, changed file, command, test result, and final diff before committing.

• State the outcome before the background.
• Provide the real source material.
• Review the result before expanding the task.

1. 01

   Restate the intended behaviour and the acceptance criteria before reading a single generated line.

2. 02

   Read the diff rather than the chat summary; the summary describes intent, the diff describes what actually changed.

3. 03

   Run the test suite, then write a test that would fail if the change were wrong, and confirm it passes for the right reason.

4. 04

   Check the edges the model tends to skip: error paths, null and empty cases, concurrency, and migration or rollback behaviour.

5. 05

   Trace every new dependency, network call, and file write, and confirm each one is genuinely required.

• Review the diff, never the description of the diff.
• A passing test suite proves the tests pass, not that the change is correct.
• Keep changes small enough that a human can actually review them.

1. 01

   Decide what the tool may read and what it may write before connecting a repository.

2. 02

   Scope tokens and integrations to the narrowest repository, branch, and permission set that still works.

3. 03

   Keep secrets out of the context window: use environment variables and secret stores, never inline credentials.

4. 04

   Require review before generated code touches authentication, payments, permissions, migrations, or deletion paths.

5. 05

   Audit what the integration retained after the session, and revoke access that is no longer needed.

• Roo can read and edit files, execute terminal commands, browse, call MCP servers, switch modes, and create subtasks. Keep auto-approval disabled or narrowly allowlisted, treat repository and web content as untrusted, isolate consequential work, restrict MCP tools and credentials, review cost limits and provider data handling, inspect every diff and command, and never delegate merges, deployments, migrations, or destructive actions without explicit authorization.
• Follow your organisation's approved-use policy.
• Never treat fluent output as authorization to act.

• Roo Code documentation ↗
• Roo Code tools and approvals ↗
• Roo Code auto-approval ↗
• Roo Code FAQ ↗

Working on something like this? See how we handle product engineering, or book a call.