Using Downsizing with Roo Code

Prerequisites

Install the Downsizing CLI — see the CLI guide if you haven't already.

Link Roo Code (Recommended)

Roo Code is a VS Code extension — the upstream project that Cline was originally forked from, and that Kilo Code itself later forked. Provider settings live inside VS Code's internal extension state (a versioned globalState database, keyed under roo_cline_config_) and the OS keychain (SecretStorage) for the API key, not in a plain config file. There is no supported, stable way for an external CLI to write to either of those safely, so ds link roo-codedoesn't edit any files. Instead it prints the exact values to paste into Roo Code's settings:

ds link roo-code

Copy the printed API Key and Base URLinto Roo Code's settings panel (gear icon in the Roo Code sidebar → Providers):

• API Provider: Anthropic
• Check "Use custom base URL" and paste the printed base URL
• Paste the printed API key
• Model: claude-opus-4-8 (or your preferred Claude model)

Manual Setup

You can configure Roo Code manually without running the CLI. Open Roo Code's settings (gear icon) and choose one of the following:

Anthropic (recommended) — set API Provider to Anthropic, enable "Use custom base URL", and set it to:

https://api.downsizing.dev/YOUR_ROUTER_ID/anthropic

Enter your Downsizing API key (starts with dws_) as the API key.

OpenAI Compatible (fallback)— if you'd rather not use the Anthropic provider, set API Provider to OpenAI Compatible and use the Downsizing OpenAI Responses API endpoint (never Chat Completions):

https://api.downsizing.dev/YOUR_ROUTER_ID/openai/v1

Find your Router ID and API key on the Inference API page.

Verify

Open Roo Code in VS Code and send a message in the chat panel to confirm traffic is routing through Downsizing. If Roo Code responds, Downsizing is set up correctly. You can also check your savings dashboard to see the request appear in your usage metrics.

Unlinking

Because ds link roo-codenever wrote a config file, there's nothing on disk to remove. Run the unlink command to update ds's own record of linked tools, then clear the API key/base URL fields directly in Roo Code's settings:

ds unlink roo-code