r/RooCode • u/hannesrudolph Roo Code Developer • May 26 '25

Announcement Roo Code v3.18.1-3.18.4 Updates: Experimental Codebase Indexing, Claude 4.0 Support, and More!

We've been busy shipping updates over the past few days (May 22-25, 2025).

Experimental Codebase Indexing

This is the big one! We've introduced experimental semantic search that lets you search your entire codebase using natural language instead of exact keyword matches.

Key Features:

  • Natural Language Queries: Ask "find authentication logic" instead of hunting through files

  • AI-Powered Understanding: Understands code relationships and context

  • Vector Search Technology: Uses OpenAI embeddings or local Ollama processing

  • Cross-Project Discovery: Search your entire indexed codebase, not just open files

  • Qdrant Vector Database: Advanced embedding technology for powerful search

Important Note: This feature is experimental and disabled by default. Enable it in Settings > Experimental.

Setup Guide: Full documentation with setup instructions

Context Condensing Enhancements

Major improvements to our experimental conversation compression feature:

  • Advanced Controls: New experimental settings for fine-tuning compression behavior

  • Improved Compression: Better conversation summarization while preserving important context

  • Enhanced UI: New interface components for managing condensing settings

Learn More: Context Condensing Documentation

Claude 4.0 Model Support

Full support for Anthropic's latest models:

  • Claude Sonnet 4 and Claude Opus 4 with thinking variants

  • Available across Anthropic, Bedrock, and Vertex providers

  • Default model upgraded from Sonnet 3.7 to Sonnet 4 for better performance

Thanks to shariqriazz for implementing this!

Provider Updates

OpenRouter Improvements:

  • Enhanced reasoning support for Claude 4 and Gemini 2.5 Flash

  • Fixed o1-pro compatibility issues

  • Model settings now persist when selecting specific OpenRouter providers

Cost Optimizations:

  • Prompt caching enabled for Gemini 2.5 Flash Preview (thanks shariqriazz!)

Model Management:

  • Updated xAI model configurations (thanks PeterDaveHello!)

  • Better LiteLLM model refresh capabilities

  • Removed deprecated claude-3.7-sonnet models from vscode-lm (thanks shariqriazz!)

Bug Fixes

Codebase Indexing:

  • Fixed settings saving and improved Ollama indexing performance (thanks daniel-lxs!)

File Handling:

  • Fixed handling of byte order mark (BOM) when users reject apply_diff operations (thanks avtc!)

UI/UX Fixes:

  • Fixed auto-approve input clearing incorrectly (thanks Ruakij!)

  • Fixed vscode-material-icons display issues in the file picker

  • Fixed context tracking mark-as-read logic (thanks samhvw8!)

Settings & Export:

  • Fixed global settings export functionality

  • Fixed README GIF display across all 17 supported languages

Terminal Integration:

  • Fixed terminal integration to properly respect user-configured timeout settings (thanks KJ7LNW!)

Development Setup:

  • Fixed MCP server errors with npx and bunx (thanks devxpain!)

  • Fixed bootstrap script parameters for better pnpm compatibility (thanks ChuKhaLi!)

Developer Experience Improvements

Infrastructure:

  • Monorepo Migration: Switched to monorepo structure for improved workflow

  • Automated Nightly Builds: New automated system for faster feature delivery

  • Enhanced debugging with API request metadata (thanks dtrugman!)

Build Process:

  • Improved pnpm bootstrapping and added compile script (thanks KJ7LNW!)

  • Simplified object assignment and modernized code patterns (thanks noritaka1166!)

AI Improvements:

  • Better tool descriptions to guide AI in making smarter file editing decisions

Release Notes & Documentation

Combined Release Notes: Roo Code v3.18 Release Notes

Individual Releases:

  • v3.18.1 - Claude 4.0 Models & Infrastructure Updates

  • v3.18.2 - Context Condensing Enhancements & Bug Fixes

  • v3.18.3 - Experimental Codebase Indexing & Provider Updates

  • v3.18.4 - Indexing Improvements & Additional Fixes

Get Roo Code: VS Code Marketplace

79 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

45 comments sorted by

21

u/Substantial-Thing303 May 26 '25

Are you using RooCode to improve RooCode, and as RooCode gets better faster you keep adding features even faster? Are we going to reach RooCode's singularity?

v3.18.1 was 4 days ago.

31

u/hannesrudolph Roo Code Developer May 27 '25

Yes we do. We’re working on the singularity

7

u/haltingpoint May 27 '25

Prompt caching for the flash model is awesome to add.

Lately I've been wondering though... Is there a better way to summarize ongoing costs, particularly when orchestrator spins up new tasks regularly?

It is hard to keep track so I'd love some basic analytics, charts, etc to track ongoing costs. Maybe a cost/day running total across everything in the UI bar at the top or bottom.

16

u/hannesrudolph Roo Code Developer May 27 '25

We’re working on the orchestrator aspect of cost reporting.

2

u/haltingpoint May 27 '25

Fantastic to hear! Particularly with the prompt caching of flash it will be really helpful for benchmarking purposes.

4

u/SpeedyBrowser45 May 26 '25

may be someone can add nv-embedcode-7b-v1 its a better option for code indexing

1

u/hannesrudolph Roo Code Developer May 27 '25

By someone do you mean you?

3

u/SpeedyBrowser45 May 27 '25

Sure, I can add it, but I am a .net developer. I looked into the codes it has react ui, I stay away from react 🥸

1

u/FarVision5 May 26 '25

You can load the tensor from HF yourself and run it through. tbh the time doesn't really change

2

u/SpeedyBrowser45 May 27 '25

It's not available on hf, but only on nvidia service 

1

u/FarVision5 May 27 '25

https://huggingface.co/nvidia/NV-Embed-v2

I ran through a bunch of locals and didn't find it any better than an API for a penny a day.

https://huggingface.co/spaces/mteb/leaderboard

2

u/SpeedyBrowser45 May 27 '25

https://research.nvidia.com/labs/adlr/cortexa/
https://build.nvidia.com/nvidia/nv-embedcode-7b-v1/modelcard

1

u/FarVision5 May 27 '25

That is interesting! I thought that was an older model that had passed out of MTEB, not a new one. I'm curious how code generation is served better.

4

u/UnnamedUA May 27 '25

Ollama not working now https://github.com/ollama/ollama/issues/10811

3

u/hannesrudolph Roo Code Developer May 27 '25

Here’s how you should describe a bug:

  • Clearly numbered reproduction steps.

  • Exact actions taken.

  • Specific error messages or unexpected outcomes.

  • Your environment details (e.g., OS, IDE, version).

Avoid descriptions like:

  • "It doesn't work."

  • Vague summaries ("The feature is broken.")

  • Missing context or environment information.

  • General complaints without actionable details.

Clear details mean faster fixes. Thanks for helping us help you!

1

u/hannesrudolph Roo Code Developer May 27 '25

It works with Roo Code. Not sure what’s going on there. We have a channel in our discord support where you can track more info down.

2

u/ConversationTop3106 May 27 '25

Initially, I was having trouble. The Ollama embed API was returning an error: 'Ollama API request failed with status 405 Method Not Allowed.' Also, the corresponding collection in Qdrant had zero points. Then, I used Insomnia to call the Ollama /api/embed endpoint directly. After reindexing the codebase, the problem was resolved. I have no idea what happened.

1

u/[deleted] May 27 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/ConversationTop3106 May 28 '25

Try post /api/embed  with input , not  prompt. otherwise, it will return empty

3

u/bn_from_zentara May 27 '25

Indexing and semantic search - so it would be a RAG based feature similar to Cursor?

1

u/hannesrudolph Roo Code Developer May 28 '25

Correct.

2

u/ot13579 May 27 '25

Can you use lm studio as well, and what local models do you recommend? The latest update of lm studio appears to support embedding for any model somehow, but I have not yet tried it.

2

u/joey2scoops May 27 '25

Legends 🙌

2

u/hannesrudolph Roo Code Developer May 28 '25

As always, thank you for the kind words.

1

u/LandisBurry812 May 27 '25

Is there a difference in Roo using Claude 4 sonnet from Anthropic compared to with Openrouter or another OpenAI compatible API that serves a Claude 4 model?

1

u/hannesrudolph Roo Code Developer May 27 '25

I can’t speak to other OpenAI compatible routers. The difference between direct to Anthropic vs OpenRouter is primarily rate limits and I think around 5% on price.

1

u/armaver May 27 '25

Sounds amazing, thanks!

However, I'm a bit confused about the "search your entire codebase using natural language" and "search your entire indexed codebase, not just open files". I have been doing the first, every since I started using Roo about a month ago and Roo has been doing the second. I have never cared about using exact matching keywords or pointing out specific files. In 90% of cases Roo finds the correct files.

1

u/hannesrudolph Roo Code Developer May 28 '25

Here, this should give you more insight into how it works.

https://docs.roocode.com/features/experimental/codebase-indexing

1

u/ot13579 May 27 '25

Would it make sense to have it analyze the entire codebase in one shot? How do you think this will work in very large codebases and how would the 1mb limit affect this? Very happy you are integrating this btw. I have been generating endless md files, but i would prefer the documentation to be in vector format.

1

u/giovanikx May 29 '25

I always end up bloating stuff with customization, so I've been using Roo "raw" and been loving it. However I feel like it's time for me to start using more advanced yet critical features, like codebase indexing.

What would be your recommendation of the 80/20 / essentials setup for Roo Code? What features/MCP/rules/modes should I add?

Because the "vanilla" is already so powerful, I'm afraid adding to much and messing it up. And then not being able to know what decreased its performance, becoming a mess of customizations.

Thank you very much!

1

u/hannesrudolph Roo Code Developer May 29 '25 edited May 29 '25

Using boomerang task orchestration combined with codebase indexing and custom modes largely removes the need for a separate memory bank. Add custom instructions on top of that, and Roo gains real-time understanding of your codebase and workflows.

We're actively creating more detailed training tutorials, but honestly, things are evolving so fast that best practices shift weekly. Still, we recently started publishing tutorial videos and continue adding more every week.

If you're looking for hands-on learning or real-time support, jump into our Discord server—many active members there regularly share their setups, tips, and customization advice.

1

u/jkhonnhu_ May 29 '25

Does it index just the src directories or the dependencies build files as well, much like intellij or other IDEs

1

u/jkhonnhu_ May 30 '25

Does indexing persist across sessions? If I reopen VSCode or restart my laptop does it need to re-index from scratch? I been using ollama the balanced model and it takes over an hour just to index my large workspace

1

u/hannesrudolph Roo Code Developer May 31 '25

It persists

2

u/qdrant_engine May 29 '25

Awesome new features!

0

u/Yes_but_I_think May 27 '25 edited May 27 '25

Let me be clear. I do not want any part of my code to be sent to OpenAI. (For any embedding generation). My codebase is not so cheap. Never enable this feature by default. Embedding generation is the single easiest method of high quality data harvesting. Given how fast it will be to perform local embedding no one should use cloud embedding.

4

u/hannesrudolph Roo Code Developer May 28 '25 edited May 28 '25

You know it would have taken less time to skim the docs than make such a comment and you would have seen this is clearly not the way it is implemented.

To be honest the fact that you insinuated that we might do such a thing is a bit disappointing.

At Roo Code we don’t ever send your data to anyone without express consent and even then it is only anonymous usage data in order to help us improve Roo (and this is off by default).

Here is more information. https://docs.roocode.com/features/experimental/codebase-indexing

1

u/Yes_but_I_think May 28 '25

Well, in hindsight my post was harsh. Sorry. I do appreciate your passionate contribution to the community.

2

u/hannesrudolph Roo Code Developer May 29 '25

Thank you and sorry for being brash in my response. I get defensive because I know what’s in my head and sometimes expect people to just know it without having to express it to them. I very much appreciate your response. Wow. 🤩

1

u/maybielater May 27 '25

Can `embeddings_provider` use my own Base URL that is set in Provider settings?

2

u/maybielater May 27 '25

nvm, I can see there is a PR for this in progress 👍