Moonshot pulled Kimi Code out of the command line. Recently, it announced the official release of the desktop version of the AI coding tool Kimi Code, serving as the official desktop client for the CLI version, bringing the AI programming capabilities originally provided via the command line into a graphical interface. Developers can now let the agent read code, modify files, and run commands through conversation, continuously tackling complex development tasks.
The desktop version manages projects and sessions by workspace. After creating a new session and selecting a local project folder, work can begin. The agent will actively analyze the code structure, edit files, execute build and test commands, and adjust the plan based on the results. For different tasks, it offers multiple working modes: Plan mode first thoroughly understands the requirements and generates an execution plan, and then makes changes to the code only after the user approves; Target mode is suitable for long-term goals that require multiple iterations and continuous checks; Swarm mode breaks down independent tasks and schedules multiple sub-agents to handle them in parallel; there is also an experimental multi-agent collaboration mode specifically designed for larger engineering projects. The interface will show in real-time the agent's tool calls, execution progress, and file changes. Developers can directly open files mentioned in the conversation, view code differences, and use tabs, search, pinning, and batch management to organize multiple project sessions.
Integrating the terminal, browser, and Git into a single window is the most practical feature of the desktop version. The built-in terminal can directly run projects, perform tests, run formatting checks, and debug; the right panel allows auditing differences by file or modification round, and conveniently previewing MD, JSON, HTML, and other files. For front-end development, the built-in browser can preview web pages, verify interactions, find information, and annotate web elements or screen areas. It can also send screenshots with text comments directly to the agent, helping it accurately locate page misalignment, style issues, and errors. In Git projects, the desktop version can display the current branch, ahead/behind status, file changes, and associated PR information, making the process of modifying, testing, reviewing, and merging seamless.
Notably, the CLI version of Kimi Code was released in an open-source form, but this desktop version has not been open-sourced. Moonshot did not mention in its release content whether the source code of the desktop version will be made available in the future. For developers who want to explore the underlying implementation locally, this door remains temporarily closed.
