JSPM

KITE CODE
Open-source AI coding CLI — zero telemetry, any LLM provider

Kite Code is a general-purpose AI terminal assistant built with TypeScript and Ink. It connects to any LLM provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, Ollama, Groq, DeepSeek, Mistral, OpenRouter, or custom endpoints) and gives you a powerful AI agent with web search, web browsing, shell access, file operations, and 29 built-in tools — with zero telemetry, zero OAuth, and zero vendor lock-in. Not just for coding — ask it anything.

Features

• 29 built-in tools — Bash, file read/write/edit, grep, glob, web search, web fetch, agent spawning, todo management, LSP diagnostics, MCP integration, and more
• 48 slash commands — /model, /provider, /context, /stats, /effort, /theme, /rewind, /rename, /sandbox, and more — many with interactive arrow-key pickers
• Command autocomplete — type / and get a fuzzy-matched dropdown with arrow-key navigation, Tab to apply, ghost text for inline completion
• Message timestamps — relative timestamps ("just now", "2m ago", "1h ago") on user and assistant messages
• 8 LLM providers — Anthropic, OpenAI, Ollama, Groq, DeepSeek, Mistral, OpenRouter, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint
• 6 color themes — dark, light, colorblind-friendly, ANSI-only
• Markdown rendering — bold, italic, code blocks with syntax highlighting, tables with box-drawing borders, lists, headings, links
• Session persistence — auto-saves to ~/.kite/sessions/, resume with --continue or --resume
• File history snapshots — auto-backups before every file write/edit, restore with /rewind
• Auto-compaction — automatically compacts conversation when approaching context window limits
• Token tracking — live context window usage in the status bar, /context for detailed breakdown with visual bar
• Permission system — Allow / Always allow / Deny per tool, with session memory and per-tool permission dialogs
• Plugin system — load custom tools, commands, and hooks from .kite/plugins/
• 14 React hooks — useElapsedTime, useHistorySearch, useDoublePress, useMinDisplayTime, useTimeout, useCancelRequest, and more
• Typed state management — AppStateStore with React context, selectors, and disk persistence
• Provider setup wizard — guided first-run onboarding with --setup
• Zero telemetry — no analytics, no tracking, no GrowthBook, no Datadog

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+ — install
• An API key for your chosen LLM provider

Install from npm

npm install -g @viditraj/kite-code
kite

Install from source

git clone https://github.com/viditraj/kite-code.git
cd kite-code
npm install
npm run build
npm link
kite

First Run

On first launch, Kite walks you through a setup wizard:

  ██╗  ██╗██╗████████╗███████╗
  ██║ ██╔╝██║╚══██╔══╝██╔════╝
  █████╔╝ ██║   ██║   █████╗    CODE
  ██╔═██╗ ██║   ██║   ██╔══╝
  ██║  ██╗██║   ██║   ███████╗
  ╚═╝  ╚═╝╚═╝   ╚═╝   ╚══════╝

  Welcome to Kite Code!

  Step 1: Choose a color theme
  Step 2: Configure your LLM provider
  Step 3: Security notes

The walkthrough saves your preferences to ~/.kite/config.json (theme) and kite.config.json (provider). It only runs once. Re-run anytime with kite --setup.

Or configure manually:

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."   # Anthropic
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."          # OpenAI
# Ollama needs no key — just `ollama serve`

Configuration

Kite uses kite.config.json in your project directory:

{
  "provider": {
    "name": "anthropic",
    "model": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
    "apiKeyEnv": "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"
  },
  "behavior": {
    "permissionMode": "default",
    "maxTokens": 8192
  }
}

Config Loading Order

1. CLI flags (--model, --provider, etc.)
2. Project config (./kite.config.json)
3. Global config (~/.kite/config.json)
4. Built-in defaults

Provider Examples

{
  "provider": {
    "name": "anthropic",
    "model": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
    "apiKeyEnv": "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"
  }
}

{
  "provider": {
    "name": "openai",
    "model": "gpt-4o",
    "apiKeyEnv": "OPENAI_API_KEY"
  }
}

{
  "provider": {
    "name": "ollama",
    "model": "llama3.1",
    "apiBaseUrl": "http://localhost:11434"
  }
}

{
  "provider": {
    "name": "my-endpoint",
    "model": "my-model",
    "apiKeyEnv": "MY_API_KEY",
    "apiBaseUrl": "https://my-server.com/v1/chat/completions",
    "verifySsl": false
  }
}

CLI Usage

kite                              # Interactive REPL (default)
kite -p "explain this error"      # Non-interactive, print and exit
kite --continue                   # Resume last session
kite --resume abc12345            # Resume specific session
kite --resume                     # Interactive session picker
kite --resume "refactor auth"     # Search sessions then pick
kite --model gpt-4o              # Override model
kite --doctor                     # System diagnostics
kite --setup                      # Provider setup wizard
kite --help                       # Show help

CLI Flags

Commands

Type / and get autocomplete suggestions. Type /help for the interactive command picker.

Navigation & Config

Session & Context

Tools & System

Tools

Kite has 29 built-in tools that the AI can use:

Themes

Switch with /theme:

Permission System

Kite asks before executing tools that modify files or run commands:

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  Bash — command: npm install lodash

  Allow (y)   Always allow (a)   Deny (n)
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

• y — Allow this one use
• a — Always allow this tool for the rest of the session
• n — Deny (Escape also denies)

Permission Modes

Set with --permission-mode or /mode:

Plugins

Kite supports a plugin system for extending functionality:

.kite/plugins/
  my-plugin/
    plugin.json       # Plugin manifest
    tools/            # Custom tool modules
    commands/         # Custom command modules
    hooks/            # Lifecycle hook handlers

Plugin Manifest (plugin.json)

{
  "name": "my-plugin",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "My custom plugin",
  "author": "Your Name",
  "tools": ["./tools/myTool.js"],
  "commands": ["./commands/myCommand.js"],
  "hooks": {
    "onSessionStart": "./hooks/onStart.js"
  }
}

Plugins are loaded from both project-level (.kite/plugins/) and global (~/.kite/plugins/).

Skills

Skills are markdown-based command extensions. Create .kite/skills/<name>/SKILL.md:

---
name: deploy
description: Deploy the application
arguments: [environment]
allowedTools: [Bash, Read]
---

Deploy the application to the {{environment}} environment.
Follow the deployment checklist in DEPLOY.md.

Then invoke with /deploy production.

MCP (Model Context Protocol)

Kite integrates with MCP servers. A built-in Playwright server provides browser tools automatically.

Configure MCP Servers

Add to .mcp.json or kite.config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "my-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Use /mcp to check server status.

Architecture

See ARCHITECTURE.md for the full system design.

src/
├── entrypoints/cli.ts          # CLI boot sequence and arg parsing
├── screens/REPL.tsx            # Ink-based interactive REPL
├── screens/readlineRepl.ts     # Fallback readline REPL
├── QueryEngine.ts              # Query orchestration
├── query.ts                    # Async generator query loop
├── Tool.ts                     # Tool interface + factory
├── tools.ts                    # Tool registry
├── commands.ts                 # 48 slash commands
├── providers/                  # LLM provider adapters
├── tools/                      # 29 tool implementations
├── components/                 # 70+ Ink/React UI components
├── ink/hooks/                  # 14 React hooks
├── state/                      # AppStateStore + persistence
├── plugins/                    # Plugin loader system
├── services/                   # MCP, compaction, retry, browser
├── themes/                     # 6 color themes
├── skills/                     # Skill loading from SKILL.md
├── utils/                      # Config, permissions, session, git, bash
└── vim/                        # Vim mode (motions, operators, text objects)

Development

npm install           # Install dependencies
npm start             # Run with tsx (no build needed)
npm run dev           # Watch mode
npm run build         # Build TypeScript to dist/
npm test              # Run all 692 tests
npm run typecheck     # Type check only
npx vitest run src/path/to/test.ts   # Run specific test

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full contributor guide.

Project Stats

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Acknowledgments

Kite Code is inspired by Claude Code by Anthropic. It studies Claude Code's architecture and implements equivalent functionality as an open-source, provider-agnostic alternative.

Built with:

• Ink — React for CLIs
• Zod — Runtime validation
• Commander — CLI argument parsing
• MCP SDK — Model Context Protocol
• Playwright MCP — Browser automation