Not Reading Custom Modes

[ARCIST-AI]

App Version

3.21.3

API Provider

Google Gemini

Model Used

N/A

🔁 Steps to Reproduce

Bug Report Title:
Critical: Roo IDE Extension (v3.21.3) Fails to Load Modes on macOS Sequoia

User System Details:

• Device: Mac mini (2024)
• Processor: Apple M4 Pro
• Memory: 64 GB
• Operating System: macOS Sequoia 15.5
• Roo Extension Version: 3.21.3

Initial State:
The Roo IDE extension only displays default modes in the mode selection dropdown. A valid .roomodes file with multiple mode definitions exists in the project, but none are available for use.

---

Reproduction & Troubleshooting Steps:

1. Tried delegating a task to uber-orchestrator-sparc-sequencer, which failed with:
   Invalid mode: uber-orchestrator-sparc-sequencer.
   This confirmed that the .roomodes file was not being loaded.

2. Removed a non-standard comment ("//": "...") from the .roomodes file and restarted the IDE.
   No change — modes were still missing.

3. Found the global settings at
   ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/rooveterinaryinc.roo-cline/settings/.
   Discovered an empty custom_modes.yaml file (customModes: []).
   Suspected the extension was loading this empty file instead of the project-specific .roomodes.

4. Used a Python script (scripts/convert_modes_to_yaml.py) to convert the project’s .roomodes to YAML and populate custom_modes.yaml.
   Restarted the IDE. Modes still not visible.

5. Deleted the extension cache file at
   ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/rooveterinaryinc.roo-cline/roo-index-cache-*.json
   and restarted the IDE. Still no modes.

6. Manually added a valid "Test Mode" to custom_modes.yaml and restarted the IDE.
   The mode did not appear, confirming the extension isn’t reading the global config file.

7. Fully reinstalled the extension:

   • Deleted the global extension settings directory.
   • Fixed permissions on /usr/local/bin using sudo chown -R $(whoami) /usr/local/bin.
   • Reinstalled the code shell command.
   • Reinstalled the Roo extension via code --install-extension rooveterinaryinc.roo-cline --force.
   • Re-ran the YAML population script.
   • Restarted the IDE.

   Result: No change. Mode list is still empty.

---

Conclusion:
The Roo IDE extension (v3.21.3) fails to load any mode configurations on macOS Sequoia, regardless of their validity or correct placement. It appears to completely ignore both global and project-specific configuration files, making it unusable. The issue persists even after a full reinstall and reset.

💥 Outcome Summary

As above

📄 Relevant Logs or Errors (Optional)

(none provided)

[hannesrudolph]

Can you please provide the content of your mode? I cannot repro your issue on my computer and want to get this solved asap!

[ARCIST-AI]

Which mode? I have about 35 of them. Do you want all of them? I have the json i originally had in the .roomodes file. I’ll have to dig around for the yaml conversion. Alistair

…

---- On Sun, 22 Jun 2025 21:53:08 +0100 Hannes Rudolph ***@***.***> wrote --- hannesrudolph left a comment #5020 (comment) Can you please provide the content of your mode? I cannot repro your issue on my computer and want to get this solved asap! — Reply to this email directly, #5020 (comment) , or https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AW5R7UNOTFNTFUTANFRCKTD3E4JTJAVCNFSM6AAAAAB73SSW66VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDSOJUGQ2DIMJQG4 . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.

[ARCIST-AI]

Here’s the json Alistair

…

---- On Sun, 22 Jun 2025 21:53:08 +0100 Hannes Rudolph ***@***.***> wrote --- hannesrudolph left a comment #5020 (comment) Can you please provide the content of your mode? I cannot repro your issue on my computer and want to get this solved asap! — Reply to this email directly, #5020 (comment) , or https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AW5R7UNOTFNTFUTANFRCKTD3E4JTJAVCNFSM6AAAAAB73SSW66VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDSOJUGQ2DIMJQG4 . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.

[daniel-lxs]

@ARCIST-AI

The JSON was not attached to your comment:

[ARCIST-AI]

@daniel-lxs sorry it was on the email> Here

Roomodes.json

you go.

[daniel-lxs]

I found that these 2 issues are the cause of Roo Code not being able to load your custom modes:

1. Slug: coder-sparc-aligned-test-driven-reflective

   • Issue: Duplicate group entry.
   • Details: The groups array is ["read", "edit", "command", "mcp", "command"], containing "command" twice. This is redundant and should be corrected.

2. Slug: git-manager

   • Issue: Inconsistent group name.
   • Details: The groups array is ["mcp", "command", "read_file"]. The group "read_file" is non-standard; all other agents use "read" for file reading permissions. This should be standardized to "read" for consistency.

By fixing these issues the modes load successfully.

I'll close this issue for now.