How to make it access local files?

[rumleyo]

Is it possible to make it access local files instead of attaching files relevant to a prompt?

Context:
I want to use it to develop applications in Python in my VS Code setup.
It would help a lot if it could read and write in my application folder directly.
The problem is that it thinks it's running in a cloud-based environment.
See the facts it's pulling out when asked to access local files:
Identify Key Facts:

• I am Qwen, developed by Alibaba Group's Tongyi Lab.
• My architecture is cloud-based. I run on Alibaba Cloud servers, not locally on the user's machine.
• Even if the user is interacting with me through a local app/extension (like a VS Code plugin), the actual AI inference happens in the cloud. The local app is just a client/interface that sends prompts to the cloud and displays responses.

[mohsenakbari79]

Hi @rumleyo,

According to the official docs/api.md, Colibri runs 100% locally (pure C inference engine). The model itself cannot access your filesystem through plain chat — it needs an agent layer that provides tools like read_file and write_to_file.

Why it thinks it's in the cloud

The LLM weights (e.g., Qwen) keep their pre-training belief that they run on Alibaba Cloud. Running locally doesn't change that unless you give it filesystem tools via Tool Calling / Function Calling.

Official solution: Use an agentic VS Code extension

1. Start the OpenAI-compatible server:

   cd c
   COLI_MODEL=/path/to/your/model ./coli serve --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8000 --model-id glm-5.2-colibri

2. In VS Code, install an agent extension like Cline or Roo Code.
3. Configure it:
   • Provider: OpenAI Compatible
   • Base URL: http://127.0.0.1:8000/v1
   • Model ID: glm-5.2-colibri (or your --model-id)
   • API Key: any non-empty string (e.g., local)

Now the extension will read/write .py files directly in your project folder.

For images only (if needed)

Set COLI_IMAGE_ROOT before starting the server:

export COLI_IMAGE_ROOT=/home/user/my_project

This allows reading images from that directory. Text files still require the agent extension.

Summary: Use coli serve + Cline/Roo Code for full local file access in VS Code.

[rumleyo]

Thank you so much for your reply and proposed solution which suits my requirements. This place is great!