How to Use Qwen3.8-Max for Free in VS Code using Kilo chat

DashScope is Alibaba Cloud's model hosting platform. It offers a free tier for Qwen models.

Sign Up for DashScope Go to Alibaba Cloud DashScope :https://www.qwencloud.com/ Click Sign Up / Log In Complete the registration (email or phone) Verify your account if required Create an API Key Once logged in, navigate to API Keys (usually in the dashboard or Model Studio) Click Create API Key Copy the key it will look like: sk-ws-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Save it somewhere safe you'll need it in the next step

Now we'll tell Kilo to use your DashScope API key and the Qwen Max model. Open Kilo Configuration Kilo stores its settings in a JSON config file. We'll edit it directly. Option A: Open Config File in VS Code (Recommended) Press Ctrl+Shift+P → type Kilo: Open Config → select Global Config or Project Config. If you don't see that option, open the config file manually: Windows path: C:\Users\YourUser.config\kilo\kilo.jsonc Add the Qwen Provider Configuration Replace the contents of kilo.jsonc with the following: Add the Qwen Provider Configuration Replace the contents of kilo.jsonc with the following: { "$schema": "https://app.kilo.ai/config.json", "model": "dashscope/qwen3.8-max", "provider": { "dashscope": { "options": { "apiKey": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE", "baseURL": "https://dashscope-intl.aliyuncs.com/ compatible-mode/v1", "timeout": 300000 }, "models": { "qwen3.8-max": { "name": "Qwen3 8-Max" } } } } }

Important: Replace YOUR_API_KEY_HERE with your actual DashScope API key.

Open the Chat Interface of kilo its on the left side of Vs code and select that model Qwen3.8 max and start chatting if it doesn't show up restart Vs code it will show up and reload perfectly