Trae is an AI-powered IDE that accelerates your development workflow with intelligent code generation, real-time assistance, and advanced project management features. Similar to tools like Cursor, Trae brings AI assistance directly into your coding environment. By integrating Novita AI’s language models into Trae, you can further amplify your coding capabilities.
Using your own Novita AI API key, this integration lets you leverage powerful open-source LLMs like DeepSeek (R1, V3) right when they launch, while giving you full control over usage, performance, and costs. This guide walks you through setting up Novita AI access in Trae, so you can unlock even more AI-driven features in a familiar VS Code-based interface.
What is Trae?
Trae is a cross-platform (macOS and Windows) integrated development environment built on Visual Studio Code technology. It combines a modern code editor with seamless AI integration to help developers write better code faster. In Trae, you can connect multiple AI models using your own API keys, giving you flexibility and control over which AI services you use and how much you spend.
Key Features of Trae
Cross-Platform Support: Works on both macOS and Windows, so you can use Trae regardless of your operating system.
Context-Aware Code Suggestions: The AI provides intelligent code completions, auto-generates boilerplate, and suggests refactorings tailored to your project context.
Interactive Debugging Assistant: Use Trae’s built-in AI chat to ask questions, troubleshoot issues, and get real-time help. It can explain errors, propose fixes, and answer coding questions on the spot.
Built on VS Code Technology: Enjoy a familiar interface with support for standard VS Code extensions and shortcuts.
Configurable AI Models: Easily connect any AI model via custom API keys (Novita AI, OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) for maximum flexibility.
What is Novita AI?
Novita AI is a cloud platform that provides API access to a wide range of open-source AI models, including large language models (LLMs) like LLaMA, DeepSeek, Mistral, Qwen, and more. With Novita AI, you can sign up for an account, generate an API key, and choose from dozens of hosted models to integrate into your tools.
Novita’s infrastructure offers low-latency access and pay-as-you-go pricing, making it easy to use cutting-edge models without a large upfront cost.
By integrating Novita AI with Trae, you gain the ability to pick new LLMs (for example, DeepSeek R1-0528 or DeepSeek V3-0324) as soon as they are available. You control your usage by setting up billing on your Novita account, so you only pay for what you use.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, ensure you have the following:
Novita AI Account & API Key
- Sign up for a Novita AI account if you don’t have one.
- In the Key Management section of the Novita console, create your API key, and copy it for later use.
- Browse the Model Library and decide which model you want to use. Popular choices for coding assistance include deepseek/deepseek-r1-0528 and deepseek/deepseek-v3-0324.
Trae IDE
- Download Trae from the official website and install it on your operating system (macOS or Windows)
- Open Trae and create a free account (you can log in with GitHub or Google)
Integration Steps
Follow these steps to connect your Novita AI model in Trae:
Step 1: Open Trae and Access Models
Launch the Trae app. Click the Toggle AI Side Bar in the top-right corner to open the AI Side Bar. Then, go to AI Management and select Models.
Step 2: Add a Custom Model
Click the Add Model button to create a custom model entry.
Step 3: Choose Novita as Provider
In the add-model dialog, select Provider = Novita from the dropdown menu.
Step 4: Select or Enter the Model
From the Model dropdown, pick your desired model (e.g., DeepSeek-R1-0528, DeepSeek-V3-0324, or MiniMax-M1-80k). If the exact model isn’t listed, simply type the model ID that you noted from the Novita library. Ensure you choose the correct variant of the model you want to use.
Step 5: Enter Your API Key
Copy the Novita AI API key from your Novita console and paste it into the API Key field in Trae.
Step 6: Save the Configuration
Click Add Model to save. Trae will validate the API key and model selection in the background.
Now Trae is successfully connected to Novita AI. All model requests will go through Novita’s API and apply to your Novita account usage.
Using AI in Trae
With Novita AI configured, you can use its model in Trae’s AI features. Trae typically offers two main AI modes:
Builder Mode (Project Scaffolding)
In Builder mode, Trae uses AI to generate new code structures.
- Click @Agent button
- Select your Novita model from the available model list
- Enter a description of what you want (e.g., “Create a Node.js REST API with Express and user authentication”)
- Trae will use the AI to scaffold files and starter code based on your prompt. You can review, edit, and finalize the generated starter code
Chat Mode (Assistant)
In Chat mode, Trae provides an interactive chat interface with the AI.
- Open the Chat (AI Assistant) panel in Trae
- Choose your Novita model for the chat session
- Type questions or describe problems in natural language. For example, paste an error message and ask, “How can I fix this?” or request “Explain what this code does.”
- If needed, upload a screenshot or error log (Trae supports multimodal input). The AI will analyze it and offer guidance, code snippets, or explanations
Use Builder mode when you need to generate or scaffold new code, and switch to Chat mode for iterative assistance like debugging, refactoring, and code explanation. Because you added a Novita model, any request you send in Trae will be handled by that Novita model under your account.
Advanced Features
Trae offers additional advanced features to enhance your workflow with Novita AI:
Model Context Protocol (MCP)
Trae can share context between different AI agents or extensions. For example, context from a Builder session (like project files) can help the Chat agent give better advice.
Custom AI Agents
You can define custom agents for specific tasks. For instance, create a “Unit Test Generator” agent that uses the Novita model to automatically write tests for your code.
Multimodal Support
Trae supports more than text. You can upload screenshots (e.g., of a UI or error), and the AI model can use that image context to provide relevant assistance, such as fixing layout issues or analyzing the error content.
These features let you tailor the AI integration to your needs, all powered by Novita’s models in the background.
Why Use Trae with Novita AI?
Here’s why combining Trae and Novita AI is powerful for developers:
Control Costs
You use your own Novita API key, so all usage is billed to your Novita account. You manage usage limits and billing directly. Trae itself charges no extra for model access—you pay Novita only for what you use.
Access Cutting-Edge Models
Novita AI hosts the latest open-source models like DeepSeek R1-0528/V3-0324, LLaMA, Mistral, and more. With this setup, you can instantly try new models in Trae without waiting for updates to Trae itself.
Scalable Plans
Novita’s pay-as-you-go pricing means you can start small. Many models have free or low-cost tiers for development, and you can scale up usage as needed. Trae’s free tier lets you explore AI features without commitment.
All-in-One Dev Environment
Trae not only provides AI code help but also project scaffolding, code analysis, team tools, and VS Code compatibility. Bringing Novita’s AI into that environment means you have a comprehensive development toolkit at your fingertips.
Seamless Workflow
The integration happens entirely within Trae’s UI. There’s no need to switch between multiple apps—write code, get AI suggestions, debug, and manage your project all in one place.
With your Novita AI model set up, you’re ready to code smarter and faster. Happy coding!
Novita AI is an AI cloud platform that offers developers an easy way to deploy AI models using our simple API, while also providing the affordable and reliable GPU cloud for building and scaling.
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