Quickstart

This quickstart gets you from nothing to your first Contral build and your first lesson in about five minutes. It uses the Contral extension in VS Code, Cursor or another VS Code-based editor.

Step 1: Install the Contral extension#

1. Open your editor (VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Antigravity, Kilo Code or VSCodium).
2. Open the Extensions view: press Cmd+Shift+X on macOS or Ctrl+Shift+X on Windows and Linux.
3. Search for Contral and install Contral: Learn while you vibecode by publisher contral.

The extension ID is contral.contral. For other ways to install, see Install the extension.

Step 2: Sign in to Contral#

1. Click the Contral icon in the activity bar (the left edge of the window).
2. Click Sign in, or open the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P) and run Contral: Sign in.
3. Your browser opens contral.ai. Sign in or create an account with Google, GitHub, or email and password.
4. When the browser asks to open your editor, allow it. You're returned to the editor, signed in.

You'll see a confirmation like "Signed in as you@example.com". Details and fixes are in Sign in & connect your account.

Step 3: Make your first build#

1. Open a folder in your editor. An empty folder is fine.
2. Open Contral (Contral: Open in the Command Palette, or the Contral icon) and go to the Build chat.
3. Make sure the mode chip says Fast.
4. Type a request and press Enter, for example:

Create a small Node.js script that prints the 10 largest files in this folder.

5. Contral proposes the edit. Review each change and click Apply all, or accept and skip changes one at a time.
6. Read the teaching card that appears. It explains what the code does and why it's written that way.

If Contral wants to run a command, it asks first: "Build Agent wants to run: …" with Run and Skip.

Step 4: Start your first lesson#

1. Switch to Learn with the Build/Learn toggle at the top of the Contral panel, or type /learn in the chat.
2. Open the roadmap (/roadmap) and pick the first Java topic in Basics.
3. Work through the lesson. Ask for a hint whenever you're stuck; each hint costs one hint credit, and you earn more by completing topics.

See Learn mode & curriculum for how topics, missions and hints work.

Step 5: Try teaching on existing code#

• Select some code, right-click and choose Contral: Explain selection.
• Or let another AI agent (Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code…) edit a file. Contral shows a teaching card explaining the change.

What to read next#

• Agent modes: when to use Fast, Plan, Deep and Recursive
• Slash commands reference: every / command in the chat
• Usage limits & quotas explained: what counts against your plan
• Your dashboard: check your plan and usage at contral.ai/overview