Quickstart

Welcome to Zencoder! This guide helps you get the most out of your AI coding assistant in minutes so you can hit the ground running.

Install Zencoder

Visual Studio Code

1. Open VS Code
2. Press Cmd+Shift+X (Mac) / Ctrl+Shift+X (Windows/Linux)
3. Search for “Zencoder”
4. Click Install
5. Sign in or create account

Full installation details →

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First Steps

1. Run Repo-Info Agent (2 minutes)

   Give Zencoder deep understanding of your project:

   1. Press Cmd+. (Mac) or Ctrl+. (Windows/Linux)
   2. Select Repo-Info Agent
   3. Type: Generate repo.md file with information from my repo
   4. Press Enter

   This creates .zencoder/rules/repo.md with your project context.

   Learn about Repo-Info Agent →

2. Try Code Completion (1 minute)

   1. Open any code file
   2. Start typing a function or class
   3. Wait for gray text suggestions
   4. Press Tab to accept

   Code completion settings →

3. Ask a Question (1 minute)

   1. Open Zencoder chat in your IDE
   2. Type: How is authentication implemented in this project?
   3. Press Enter

   Learn about Ask Agent →

4. Generate Code (2 minutes)

   1. Press Cmd+. or Ctrl+.
   2. Select Coding Agent
   3. Type: Add input validation to the user registration function
   4. Press Enter

   Learn about Coding Agent →

5. Generate Tests (2 minutes)

   1. Select a function in your code
   2. Press Cmd+. or Ctrl+.
   3. Select Unit Testing Agent
   4. Type: Generate unit tests for this function
   5. Press Enter

   Learn about Unit Testing →

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Essential Features

Reference Files with @mentions

@Files:auth.py Refactor this to use JWT tokens
@Folders:src/api Add error handling to all endpoints

Use Different Agents

Ask Agent

Quick questions and explanations (read-only, fast)

Coding Agent

Create and modify code across multiple files

Web Dev Agent

Build UIs with browser testing integration

Unit Testing Agent

Generate comprehensive test suites

E2E Testing Agent

Create end-to-end tests with Playwright

All Agents

Explore all available agents and capabilities

Press Cmd+. (Mac) or Ctrl+. (Windows/Linux) to open the agent selector and switch between agents.

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Quick Customization

Create a Custom Agent (5 minutes)

1. Click three dots menu (⋮) → Agents
2. Click Add custom agent
3. Configure:
   • Name: “Code Reviewer”
   • Command: /review
   • Instructions: “Review for bugs and best practices”
   • Tools: Enable File Search, Full Text Search
4. Click Save

Custom agents can be tailored to your specific workflows, such as code review, documentation generation, or specialized testing scenarios.

Learn about custom agents →

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Create a Zen Rule (3 minutes)

1. In chat, type @

2. Select Zen Rules

3. Click + New rule…

4. Add your coding standards:

   ---
   description: "API endpoint standards"
   globs: ["**/api/*.py"]
   ---
   
   # API Standards
   - Add input validation
   - Include error handling
   - Add logging
   

Zen Rules help maintain consistent coding standards across your project by automatically applying guidelines to specific files or patterns.

Learn about Zen Rules →

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Integrations

Connect Jira

1. Click ⋮ → Integrations → Connect Jira
2. Authorize access
3. Use: @Jira:PROJ-123 Implement this ticket

(2 minutes)

Chrome Extension

1. Visit Chrome Web Store
2. Add Zencoder extension
3. Click Zencoder button on Sentry, GitHub, Linear, etc.

(1 minute)

Add MCP Server

1. Click ⋮ → Agent Tools → MCP Library
2. Browse 100+ servers (Postgres, GitHub, Slack, etc.)
3. Click server → Install
4. Configure parameters

(3 minutes)

Integrations guide →

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Common Workflows

Implement a Feature

1. Ask Agent: “How is user authentication structured?”
2. Coding Agent: “Add password reset to the auth system”
3. Unit Testing Agent: “Generate tests for password reset”
4. Generate documentation

Debug an Issue

1. Copy error message
2. Ask Agent: “Why am I getting [error]?”
3. Coding Agent: “Fix the error in user.js”
4. Run tests

Code Review

1. Create custom “/review” agent
2. Select code
3. Type: /review
4. Apply suggestions

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Keyboard Shortcuts

Action	Mac	Windows/Linux
Open agent selector	Cmd+.	Ctrl+.
Send to chat	Cmd+L	Ctrl+L
Accept completion	Tab	Tab

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Model Selection

Click the model selector in chat to choose:

• Auto (1×) - Best balance
• Grok Code Fast 1 (0.25×) - Most cost-efficient
• Sonnet 4 (1×) - High quality
• GPT-5 (1×) - Latest from OpenAI
• Opus 4.1 (5×) - Most capable (Advanced+ plans)

Learn more about models →