Using Roo Code With CBorg

1. Install Roo Code

Install the Roo Code Extension for VS Code.

2. Configure Provider

  1. Open the Settings menu.
  2. Go to Providers
  3. Click + to create a new profile
  4. Name the profile something appropriate, e.g. ‘CBorg Coder’ (can be changed later)
  5. For API Provider select LiteLLM
  6. Set Base URL to https://api.cborg.lbl.gov
  7. Add your CBORG_API_KEY to LiteLLM API Key
  8. Click Refresh Models
  9. Select the desired model

For more information please consult the RooCode documentation: Using LiteLLM with RooCode

To improve context caching and reduce cost, the following settings are recommended:

Context Menu

  • Open Tabs Context Limit: 1
  • Workspace Files Context Limit: 10
  • Git Status Max Files: 1
  • Maximum diagnostic messages: 10
  • Include current time in context: DISABLE
  • Include current cost in context: DISABLE
  • Context condensing: 50% or around 100K tokens
  • Enable subfolder rules: ON

Terminal Menu

  • Command output preview size: Small

MCP Servers

  • MCP servers consume significant amount of context. Only enable MCP servers you are actively using.

Models for Low Budget

  • Gemini Flash High (gemini-flash-high)
  • Claude Haiku High (claude-haiku-high)
  • GPT 5.4 Nano (gpt-5.4-nano)

Troubleshooting Tips

Gemini Models

  • The cache setting in RooCode is not supported for Gemini models. These models automatically apply caching discounts, therefore you can leave “Enable prompt caching” disabled.

Preventing Common Errors

If you have issues with API errors, add the following to your global rules: ~/.roo/rules/rules.md.

## Chat compatibility

Make sure to always return an assistant message in your responses.

## Diff-based Editing

When targeting text for a diff, copy the exact lines from the source file. The diff tool requires a 100% string match to apply the edit. Do not strip out newlines (\n) or combine multiple lines into a single continuous string."