Demo Lab Environment Setup

This guide shows how to access the browser-hosted lab environment for this lesson, inspect the pre-populated environment variables, and configure the Roo Code VS Code extension with the lab’s temporary API keys. Roo Code is a chat-based coding assistant that runs inside VS Code (similar to Cursor AI). Before you begin:

Create a free account and start the first lab using the lab signup link provided with this lesson.
The lab runs a remote VS Code instance in your browser connected to a real system.

Interface layout

Left pane: step-by-step instructions for the lab tasks (this lab contains seven tasks).
Right pane: VS Code server (editor + terminal). Open the terminal by focusing the lower pane and selecting Terminal → New Terminal.

Step 1 — Open the terminal and inspect environment variables

Open a new terminal in the remote VS Code instance.
Run the following to view the pre-populated shell profile:

cat ~/.bash_profile

You should see several export entries for temporary keys and base URLs. Example (trimmed for clarity):

export CLAUDE_API_KEY=59b2f572be074c31
export GROQ_API_KEY=b2f572be074c31
export OPENAI_API_BASE=https://dev.kk-ai-keys.kodekloud.com/v1
export OPENAI_API_KEY=59b2f572be074c31
export AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT=https://dev.kk-ai-keys.kodekloud.com/openai
export AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY=ca447759b2f572be074c
export GROQ_API_BASE=https://dev.kk-ai-keys.kodekloud.com
export CLAUDE_API_BASE=https://dev.kk-ai-keys.kodekloud.com

The two values Roo Code needs in this lab are OPENAI_API_BASE and OPENAI_API_KEY. Copy those values now — you’ll paste them into Roo Code’s provider settings in the next step.

The lab provides temporary credentials that expire. Do not reuse these keys outside this lab — treat them as ephemeral.

Step 2 — Open Roo Code inside VS Code

Click the Roo Code button in the VS Code activity bar to open its chat interface.
From the Roo Code panel, click Settings → Configure Providers to add a provider configuration.

Step 3 — Configure Roo Code with the lab API keys Fill in the provider configuration using the values copied from ~/.bash_profile. Use these recommended settings:

Setting	Description	Example / Value
API Provider	Choose the compatible provider type for the lab	`OpenAI Compatible`
Base URL	The API base URL for the lab-provided service	`https://dev.kk-ai-keys.kodekloud.com/v1`
API Key	The temporary API key found in `~/.bash_profile`	`59b2f572be074c31`
Model	The model to use for the chat assistant	`deepseek/deepseek-chat-v3-0324:free`

After entering the values, click OK or Apply to save. Roo Code will attempt to connect using the provided Base URL and API Key. Step 4 — Verify the connection Send a simple prompt from the Roo Code chat pane to confirm the assistant responds. Example prompt:

Create a one-line shell command to list Python files in the current directory.

If you receive a reply, the connection is successful and Roo Code is ready for use. Troubleshooting

Double-check you copied the exact values from ~/.bash_profile (no extra spaces or missing characters).
Confirm you selected OpenAI Compatible and set the correct model string.
If Roo Code still can’t connect, retry saving the provider config or restart the VS Code window.

If Roo Code fails to connect, first verify OPENAI_API_BASE and OPENAI_API_KEY are current in ~/.bash_profile. These lab keys are temporary — re-open the terminal to confirm they haven’t changed.

Explore Roo Code

Ask coding questions, request explanations, get help writing scripts, or ask the assistant to open files in your workspace.
The Roo Code panel also provides example tasks to try.

Next steps

Head back to the lab and complete the tasks using Roo Code to accelerate your workflow.
Try prompts like: “Refactor this script for readability,” “Find TODO comments in the repo,” or “Show a one-line command to count files by extension.”

Model Context Protocol (MCP)

Demo Lab Environment Setup

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Practice Lab