---
title: Build a pipeline in your IDE
sidebar_label: Build in your IDE
---

import ThemedImage from '@theme/ThemedImage';
import { LuPlay } from 'react-icons/lu';

# Build a pipeline in your IDE

The visual canvas in the VS Code extension is the fastest way to author a `.pipe` file.
This walkthrough starts from zero and finishes with a running `Chat → LLM` pipeline you
can talk to.

## 1. Install the extension

Search for **RocketRide** in the VS Code Extension Marketplace and install it. The
extension also works in VS Code forks (Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium) via the
[Open VSX Registry](https://open-vsx.org/extension/RocketRide/rocketride).

## 2. Deploy a server

Click the RocketRide
(<ThemedImage alt="RocketRide" className="rr-inline-icon" sources={{ light: '/img/rocketride-icon-colored.svg', dark: '/img/rocketride-icon-white.svg' }} />)
icon in your IDE sidebar, then choose how to run the runtime. **Local** is the
right choice here — it pulls the server straight into your IDE with no extra
setup. (The other options are covered in
[Choose How to Run RocketRide](/operate).)

## 3. Create a pipeline file

Create a file ending in `.pipe` (e.g. `my-first-pipeline.pipe`). The extension opens it in
the visual builder canvas. `.pipe` files are JSON under the hood, but you author them
visually.

## 4. Build a simple chat pipeline

Every pipeline starts with a **source node**:

1. Add a **Chat** source node: an interactive conversational interface.
2. Add an **LLM** node: pick a provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, …) and set your API key.
3. Connect the Chat source's output lane to the LLM's input lane.

The result is a `Chat → LLM` pipeline; the LLM's response routes back to the chat interface
automatically.

## 5. Run it

Press the **<LuPlay className="rr-inline-icon" /> Run button** on the source node, or launch
from the **RocketRide sidebar**. Open the chat interface, send a message, and watch
the LLM respond in real time. Use the **Server Monitor** page to trace call trees, token usage,
and memory consumption.

Save the `.pipe` file, you'll run it from code in the next walkthrough.

## Next

- [Integrate a pipeline with an SDK](/quickstart/sdk-integration): run the `.pipe` file you
  just built from your own Python or TypeScript application.
- [VS Code extension](/clients/vscode): the full extension guide (canvas, runtime
  management, tracing).