Roo Code

What it is

Roo Code is a community fork of Cline maintained by the RooVet team, born from the observation that one prompt + one model is not enough for serious work — sometimes you want a planner, sometimes an executor, sometimes a debugger. Roo Code makes that explicit with modes (architect, code, ask, debug, plus user-defined) and Boomerang task delegation that hands work between modes automatically.

It is the tool to reach for when:

• You want Cline's BYOK + auto-approve model but with explicit role separation.
• You're doing big refactors that benefit from a plan-then-execute split (architect mode plans, code mode executes).
• You want to author custom modes (e.g. "security-reviewer", "perf-tuner") and chain them.

Why it stands out

How to install

# In VS Code
code --install-extension RooVeterinaryInc.roo-cline

# Or open Extensions panel and search "Roo Code"

After install, open the Roo Code panel from the sidebar, paste an API key, and pick a starting mode. The architect → code Boomerang flow is the default for "build me a feature" prompts.

What to install in Roo Code

Roo Code reads .clinerules (instructions, shared with Cline) and .roomodes (custom modes). Three TokRepo packs to start:

• Roo Code Modes Pack — pre-built modes for security review, perf tuning, doc-gen, test-writing
• .clinerules Templates — vendor-neutral instruction files (also work in Cline)
• MCP Server Stack — Postgres / GitHub / Filesystem servers shared with Cline / Claude Code

tokrepo install lays down all three, which together give you the architect-led Boomerang baseline that the RooVet team demos.

Common pitfalls

• Mode prompt drift between updates — Roo Code occasionally tweaks default mode prompts. Pin custom versions in .roomodes for reproducibility.
• Boomerang loops without exit conditions — architect → code → architect can ping-pong forever on ambiguous specs. Set max-iteration in mode config.
• Auto-approve interacting badly with mode switches — auto-approve is per-mode. Switching modes resets the approval state; you may suddenly need to approve again.
• Custom modes that omit tool restrictions — by default a custom mode inherits all tools. For "ask"-style read-only modes, explicitly set allowedTools: ['read_file', 'list_files'].
• MCP path same as Cline but .roomodes is repo-level — don't put .roomodes in ~/Documents/. It's project-scoped.
• Token cost mismatch by mode — architect mode uses larger context windows than code mode. Run a budget review after the first week so you don't get a surprise bill from architect-heavy prompts.

Relationship to other tools

Roo Code is to Cline what Cursor is to VS Code — a fork that took a strong base and pushed UX further in a specific direction. Cline kept things minimal; Roo Code bet that explicit modes plus delegation would scale better for serious refactor work. Compared to Claude Code, Roo Code's modes loosely correspond to Claude Code's subagents — both let you specialize, but the dispatch mechanics differ. Compared to GitHub Copilot agent mode, Roo Code is more configurable and BYOK-friendly but lacks the enterprise SSO/audit story Copilot ships. Many devs who like Cline's BYOK approach but find single-agent flow limiting end up adopting Roo Code for the mode-based discipline. The TokRepo pack ecosystem treats Roo Code and Cline as siblings — most .clinerules packs explicitly support both, and Roo Code-specific .roomodes packs assume a Cline-style baseline.