Kilo Code - AI Code Assistants Tool

Overview

Kilo Code (kilocode) is an open-source, agentic coding assistant for VS Code (and other editors via integrations) that helps developers plan, implement, and fix code through natural-language workflows. It combines an orchestrator-style multi-mode approach — Architect for planning, Coder for implementation, and Debugger for diagnosing and fixing bugs — with automation features such as running terminal commands, automating browser interactions, and automated refactoring. According to the project README, Kilo checks its own work (context lookups to reduce hallucinations), supports many hosted and local models, and can be used with or without provider API keys. The project is published under the Apache-2.0 license and provides both a VS Code extension and a standalone CLI for terminal-first workflows. (Source: repository README and docs.) Kilo is positioned as a pragmatic, community-driven alternative to proprietary coding assistants: it ships as a free, open-source extension while offering paid Teams/Enterprise seats for centralized billing, org management, and enterprise controls. The codebase and docs emphasize transparent, usage-based AI token billing (paying provider list prices) and flexible model choices (BYOK or local models). These design choices make Kilo useful for individual developers who want an extensible IDE agent and for engineering teams that need governance and cost visibility.

GitHub Statistics

• Stars: 13,857
• Forks: 1,651
• Contributors: 375
• License: Apache-2.0
• Primary Language: TypeScript
• Last Updated: 2026-01-09T02:11:15Z
• Latest Release: cli-v0.19.2

The GitHub repository is highly active and widely adopted: the project has a large star and fork footprint (the repo page shows roughly 13.8k stars and 1.6k forks) and a long commit history (tens of thousands of commits). The repo includes many community touchpoints (Issues and Pull Requests are actively used), comprehensive docs, and a published development guide for contributors. That combination — high stars, frequent commits, and an established docs site — indicates strong community interest and a healthy contributor base. The project is Apache-2.0 licensed, which encourages enterprise adoption and third‑party contributions. For contributors the repo provides a DEVELOPMENT.md, CI/QA workflows, and build instructions, which helps lower onboarding friction for new maintainers and plugin authors. (Sources: GitHub repository README/insights; project docs.)

Installation

Install via npm:

Install the official CLI (global): npm install -g @kilocode/cli

Install the VS Code extension from CLI: code --install-extension kilocode.kilo-code

Clone and build from source: git clone https://github.com/Kilo-Org/kilocode.git

From repo root (dev): pnpm install && pnpm build

Install a locally built VSIX: code --install-extension "bin/kilo-code-*.vsix"

Key Features

• Multi-mode agent flow: Architect, Coder, and Debugger modes for planning, implementation, and fixes.
• Generate code from natural language and inline autocomplete tied to project context.
• Run terminal commands and automate repetitive CLI workflows within the agent.
• Automate browser interactions and UI flows to reproduce or validate frontend behavior.
• Extendable via MCP marketplace and bring-your-own-models/providers for custom integrations.

Community

Kilo has an active, visible community and commercial ecosystem: the GitHub repo shows high adoption (≈13.8k stars, ≈1.6k forks) and a large commit history, the project publishes extensive docs and contributor guides, and it maintains community channels and a Discord for support and discussion. The project offers a free open-source extension and paid Teams/Enterprise tiers for organizations that want centralized billing, analytics, role management, and enterprise controls. The team publishes CLI tooling and development docs to encourage contributions and local builds. (Sources: GitHub README/insights; official docs and pricing pages.)

Key Information

• Category: Code Assistants
• Type: AI Code Assistants Tool