At a glance
An Apache-licensed VS Code agent continuing the Roo Code lineage, with broad provider and subscription access, local models, custom modes, hierarchical subtasks, MCP, semantic indexing, worktree workflows, task history, and shadow-Git file checkpoints.
Good choice if
- Vibe coders who want proposed tools and diffs visible in VS Code before they run
- Roo Code users who need a maintained migration path with compatible settings and task history
- Model-agnostic IDE workflows using modes, MCP, local models, semantic indexing, subtasks, and worktrees
Check before choosing
- Commands and file tools run with the local user's host permissions; worktrees and .rooignore scope work but are not an OS or container sandbox
- Extension actions ask by default, but auto-approval can be enabled and sending a queued message implicitly approves the next pending tool, file, or command action even when auto-approval is disabled
- Shadow-Git checkpoints restore task-scoped file state and are enabled by default, but they are not created before commands and cannot reverse external command side effects
See 4 more considerations
- The new_task tool suspends the parent and opens one child as the sole active task; simultaneous work instead uses separate user-managed VS Code windows and Git worktrees, not an automatically parallel delegated swarm
- The public website says Zoo works headless, but the inspected CLI package is private, still uses Roo names and upstream Roo install URLs, and has no Zoo-owned CLI release asset; it is not counted as a dependable public CI interface
- No built-in browser controller was found in the tool registry; web access depends on a browsing-capable provider or an external Playwright or Puppeteer MCP server
- The repository has extensive engineering and end-to-end tests but no coding-harness evaluation suite, independent benchmark, or direct scientific paper; inherited release-note model scores are not Zoo Code harness evidence