# Quickstart

Get Cencurity running in VS Code in under two minutes.

## Steps

1. Install the [Cencurity](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=cencurity-labs.cencurity-vscode) extension from VS Code Marketplace.
2. Open Command Palette (`Ctrl+Shift+P` / `Cmd+Shift+P` on macOS) and run `Cencurity: Enable Protection`.
3. If Roo Code is not installed, Cencurity installs it automatically and reloads the window when needed.
4. Select your LLM provider and enter the provider URL (e.g. `https://api.x.ai`).
5. Enter your API key.
6. Select a model.
7. Run `Cencurity: Open Security Center` from the Command Palette to open the security dashboard inside VS Code.

Done. Once protection is active, Cencurity routes traffic through a local gateway (`127.0.0.1:38180`) and applies local security scanning to LLM responses before they reach Roo Code.

## How it works

```text
AI Agent → Cencurity Security Gateway → LLM Provider
```

- Your API key stays inside the IDE — it is never sent to an external server.
- Requests are routed through the local security gateway.
- Responses are scanned against local security policies before reaching the editor.
- Only policy violations are logged. Normal traffic is not stored.

## Supported providers

- OpenAI
- Anthropic
- Gemini
- OpenRouter
- Any OpenAI-compatible LLM

## Command Palette commands

| Command                                    | Description                                        |
| ------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------- |
| `Cencurity: Enable Protection`            | Activate protection and select an LLM provider     |
| `Cencurity: Disable Protection`           | Deactivate protection and restore previous routing  |
| `Cencurity: Open Security Center`         | Open the security dashboard inside VS Code         |
| `Cencurity: Test Protection`              | Verify local proxy connectivity                      |
| `Cencurity: Show Runtime Info`            | Check runtime and protection status                 |
| `Cencurity: Install or Update Core`       | Install or update the local core runtime           |

## Next steps

- [What is CAST?](/content/docs/how-cencurity-works/cast/index.html)
- [Proxy Architecture](/content/docs/how-cencurity-works/proxy-architecture/index.html)
- [Streaming Security](/content/docs/how-cencurity-works/streaming-security/index.html)