Continue extension shows blank white screen in GitHub Codespace ,no error, no .continue folder , previously worked

[koukiBOBS]

Continue extension used to work normally in my GitHub Codespace environment (I was able to configure and use it with multiple API providers like Pollinations, DeepSeek, etc.). However, suddenly it stopped loading.

Now, even after reinstalling the extension, recreating the Codespace from scratch, and installing Continue alone (without any custom config), the sidebar remains completely white. (No welcome screen, no chat panel, no error notification)

Additionally, the ~/.continue/ folder is never created.

[ashish993]

This is a known issue with Continue in GitHub Codespaces — the blank white screen with no .continue/ folder created is almost always caused by one of these:

Most likely cause: Codespace network/port restriction
Continue's GUI requires a local WebSocket connection. In Codespaces, this can fail silently if the forwarded port is blocked or if the extension is trying to connect before the Codespace networking is ready.

Fix 1 — Force the extension host to restart:

1. Open the VS Code command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P)
2. Run Developer: Restart Extension Host
3. Wait 10–15 seconds for Continue to initialize

Fix 2 — Check extension host logs:

1. Help > Toggle Developer Tools → Console tab
2. Look for errors from the Continue extension. Common ones:
   • ECONNREFUSED — the local server failed to start
   • Cannot find module — extension unpacked incorrectly

Fix 3 — Pin a specific version:
Some Continue releases have Codespace-specific bugs. Try pinning to a stable version in your .devcontainer/devcontainer.json:

{
  "extensions": ["continue.continue@0.9.x"]
}

Fix 4 — Create .continue/ manually:
Create ~/.continue/config.yaml with minimal content to force initialization:

models:
  - name: Free Trial
    provider: free-trial

Then restart the extension host.

If none of these work, check the Continue GitHub issues for your specific extension version — Codespace support has had intermittent regressions.

[koukiBOBS]

fix 1: I can’t find “ Developer: Restart Extension Host” in the command palette even though I literally typed it
fix 2: I'm using an iPad so it's a pity that I can't use the developer tools