Kimi Code CLI
MIT-licensed terminal coding agent from Moonshot AI, with subagents and a purpose-built TUI.
About
Kimi Code CLI is Moonshot AI's open-source terminal coding agent and the successor to the legacy kimi-cli (installing it migrates your old config and sessions automatically). Written in TypeScript and distributed as a single binary with millisecond startup, it reads and edits code, runs shell commands, searches files, fetches web pages, and plans multi-step work from a feedback-driven execution loop.
It is built for long agent sessions: a purpose-built TUI, built-in coder, explore, and plan subagents running in isolated contexts, plan mode and goal mode, lifecycle hooks, video input support, and AI-native MCP configuration you do conversationally instead of hand-editing JSON. It also opens a local browser UI (kimi web) and speaks ACP for compatible editors.
MIT-licensed and genuinely open, which sets it apart from most terminal agents. The catch is model access: it works out of the box with Kimi models via Kimi Code OAuth or a Moonshot Open Platform API key, with other providers configurable. A strong pick for developers who want Claude-Code-class terminal agency without the closed source.
What it can do
- Terminal coding agent: read, edit, run, plan, iterate
- Built-in coder, explore, and plan subagents in isolated contexts
- Purpose-built TUI with video input and lifecycle hooks
- AI-native MCP configuration via conversation
- Local browser UI and ACP editor support; MIT-licensed
Setup
Install via curl -fsSL https://code.kimi.com/kimi-code/install.sh | bash or npm install -g @moonshot-ai/kimi-code; run kimi, then /login for Kimi Code OAuth or a Moonshot API key.
Prerequisites
macOS, Linux, or Windows; Kimi Code OAuth login or a Moonshot AI Open Platform API key for model access.
Use cases
Works with
Trust score — 7/10
Scored 7/10 (verified tier, metrics-v1). Evidence: 7,879 GitHub stars (MoonshotAI/kimi-code); repo pushed 2026-10-15 (same-day activity); MIT license confirmed via GitHub API; Single-binary TUI, subagents, MCP-via-conversation, and kimi-cli migration path verified against official product page and repo. Manual review: genuinely open where competitors are closed, but model access requires Kimi OAuth or Moonshot API key; recent rename means older tutorials reference the legacy CLI. License: MIT.
★ 7,879 GitHub stars
How the trust score is built
Full methodology →- Adoption · stars/downloads, log-scaled vs peers
- 7.0/10
- Maintenance · recency, releases, issue load
- 9.0/10
- Openness · license + docs
- 10.0/10
- Manual review · sanity read + red-flag check
- 7.0/10
- · 7,879 GitHub stars (MoonshotAI/kimi-code); repo pushed 2026-10-15 (same-day activity); MIT license confirmed via GitHub API
- · Single-binary TUI, subagents, MCP-via-conversation, and kimi-cli migration path verified against official product page and repo
- · manual review: genuinely open where competitors are closed, but model access requires Kimi OAuth or Moonshot API key; recent rename means older tutorials reference the legacy CLI
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these sources. Where a claim comes from the provider and couldn't be independently verified, the text says so.