Kimi Code CLI is Moonshot AI’s terminal coding agent, and it is the first big-model-vendor harness whose default path is a challenger model instead of Claude or GPT.
What it is #
A terminal AI coding agent that reads and edits code, runs shell commands, searches files, fetches pages, and picks its next step from the feedback.
It works out of the box with Moonshot’s Kimi models and can be pointed at other compatible providers.
Distribution is a single binary (install script or npm), with a purpose-built TUI, video input in chat, conversational /mcp-config editing, a plugin marketplace with per-install trust levels, built-in coder, explore, and plan subagents, lifecycle hooks, and ACP support so Zed or JetBrains can drive a session.
The code lives in two repositories: the original MoonshotAI/kimi-cli (Apache-2.0, created 2025-10-15, archived on GitHub as of 2026-10-02) and the newer canonical MoonshotAI/kimi-code (MIT, created 2026-05-22).
Status #
Active and big-vendor backed, about 19.3k combined stars as of 2026-10-15: kimi-code at 7,873 stars, kimi-cli at 11,423 stars, with the older repository now archived by Moonshot (its last push was 2026-09-22).
The independent FrontierHarness Eval pegs it mid-pack on quality and cheap on cost: 56.7 percent pass at a $3.65 median cost per task, with an 88 percent cache rate on Kimi K3. The Hacker News footprint is thin (a 5-point 2025-10-31 thread and a 1-point 2026-01-27 one), which I read as distribution through Kimi’s own channels rather than developer-mindshare gravity.
Strengths #
- Cheapest credible big-vendor harness path: the same token budget that buys one Claude Code task in FrontierHarness bought several Kimi Code ones.
- Full agent surface in one binary: subagents, hooks, marketplace skills, MCP, and ACP editor integration without plugins or Node.js.
- The model and the harness come from the same vendor, so prompt-to-model tuning is first-party.
Cautions #
- The repository split (Apache-2.0
kimi-cliversus MITkimi-code) has resolved towardkimi-code: the official docs state the CLI was rebuilt on Node.js and that the old Python version will no longer be maintained, with a migration guide pointing at the new codebase (docs, as of 2026-09-12). The wind-down is now complete: GitHub shows the
kimi-clirepository archived as of 2026-10-02, after its final 1.52.0 release on September 22, 2026. - Your tokens flow to Moonshot’s API in the default path, the same vendor-dependency trade Claude Code and Codex make, just with a cheaper vendor.
- Thin independent coverage means the FrontierHarness numbers are nearly the only third-party evidence available.
Pricing #
The harness is free and open source.
Usage is Kimi Code OAuth (your Kimi subscription) or a Moonshot Open Platform API key: kimi-k3 at $0.239/$10.80 per million tokens (cache reads listed at $0.21) and kimi-k2.7-code at $0.67/$3.35 (cache hits $0.15) as of 2026-10-24 (verified via OpenRouter’s model list; Moonshot’s CN platform listed the same models at ¥20/¥100 and ¥6.50/¥27 as of 2026-09-09; the endpoint-roster reading (the input floor at $0.238/$16.00 on Wafer, InferenceNet matching the main listing at $0.239/$11.936, Relace off the floor at $0.30/$12.00, and the roster holding at 28) predates this output cut and is as of 2026-10-21), with other OpenAI-compatible providers configurable.
Price history #
| Date | Plan | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-09 | Moonshot CN platform | kimi-k3 at ¥20/¥100 and kimi-k2.7-code at ¥6.50/¥27 per million tokens; harness free and open source. | Moonshot CN platform listing, see References |
| 2026-09-20 | API (OpenRouter) | kimi-k3 at $1.70/$8.50 per million tokens (cache hits $0.17), kimi-k2.7-code at $0.71/$3.21. | |
| 2026-09-22 | API (OpenRouter) | kimi-k3 raised to $3.00/$15.00 per million tokens (cache hits $0.30); kimi-k2.7-code completion raised to $3.30 (cache hits $0.18). | |
| 2026-09-24 | API (OpenRouter) | kimi-k2.7-code input dropped to $0.66 per million tokens (completion $3.30 and cache $0.18 unchanged); kimi-k3 unchanged at $3.00/$15.00. | |
| 2026-10-02 | API (OpenRouter) | kimi-k3 dropped sharply to $0.4255/$10.00 per million tokens (cache reads listed at $0.4255, equal to input); kimi-k2.7-code at $0.67/$3.35 (cache hits $0.18). | |
| 2026-10-02 | API (OpenRouter) | kimi-k3 raised again to $2.70/$13.50 per million tokens (cache reads $0.27); kimi-k2.7-code unchanged at $0.67/$3.35 (cache hits $0.18). | |
| 2026-10-04 | API (OpenRouter) | kimi-k3 dropped to $0.72/$13.00 per million tokens (cache reads $0.70); kimi-k2.7-code unchanged at $0.67/$3.35 (cache hits $0.18). | |
| 2026-10-05 | API (OpenRouter) | kimi-k3 moved again to $0.67/$14.00 per million tokens (cache reads $0.22); kimi-k2.7-code unchanged at $0.67/$3.35 (cache hits $0.18). | |
| 2026-10-06 | API (OpenRouter) | kimi-k3 moved again to $0.95/$14.00 per million tokens (cache reads $0.31), with the cheapest endpoint host at $0.96/$13.00 on Relace; kimi-k2.7-code unchanged at $0.67/$3.35 (cache hits $0.18). | |
| 2026-10-06 | API (OpenRouter) | kimi-k3 moved again the same day to $0.83/$14.00 per million tokens (cache reads $0.27), with the endpoint floor at $0.82/$13.00 on Relace; kimi-k2.7-code unchanged at $0.67/$3.35 (cache hits $0.18). | |
| 2026-10-06 | API (OpenRouter) | the Relace endpoint floor dropped to $0.66/$13.00 per million tokens (input down from $0.82, output unchanged, endpoint cache read $0.30); the main listing re-verified unchanged at $0.83/$14.00 (cache reads $0.27). | |
| 2026-10-07 | API (OpenRouter) | kimi-k3 moved to $0.62/$15.00 per million tokens (cache reads $0.43), the seventh recorded move, with the endpoint floor at $0.61/$13.00 on Relace; kimi-k2.7-code unchanged at $0.67/$3.35 (cache hits $0.18). | |
| 2026-10-08 | API (OpenRouter) | kimi-k3 moved to $0.58/$12.30 per million tokens (cache reads $0.40), the eighth recorded move, with the endpoint floor at $0.58/$13.00 on Relace and InferenceNet at the same input but $12.30 output; kimi-k2.7-code unchanged at $0.67/$3.35 (cache hits $0.18). | |
| 2026-10-09 | API (OpenRouter) | kimi-k3 moved to $0.50/$12.00 per million tokens (cache reads $0.35), the ninth recorded move, with the endpoint floor at $0.49/$13.00 on Relace and InferenceNet matching the main listing; kimi-k2.7-code unchanged at $0.67/$3.35 (cache hits $0.18). | |
| 2026-10-10 | API (OpenRouter) | kimi-k3 moved to $0.64/$13.50 per million tokens (cache reads $0.28), the tenth recorded move; the endpoint floor moved to a new host, $0.40/$15.00 on Wafer, with InferenceNet matching the main listing and Relace off the floor at $2.00/$14.00; kimi-k2.7-code unchanged at $0.67/$3.35 (cache hits $0.18). | |
| 2026-10-11 | API (OpenRouter) | kimi-k3 moved to $0.80/$10.00 per million tokens (cache reads $0.55), the eleventh recorded move; the endpoint floor moved hosts again, $0.75/$14.90 on Morph, with InferenceNet matching the main listing, Wafer’s $0.40/$15.00 endpoint gone at $0.95/$15.00, and Relace unchanged at $2.00/$14.00; kimi-k2.7-code unchanged at $0.67/$3.35 (cache hits $0.18). | |
| 2026-10-12 | API (OpenRouter) | kimi-k3 moved to $0.73/$10.00 per million tokens (cache reads $0.55), the twelfth recorded move; the endpoint floor moved to a returning Wafer endpoint at $0.65/$20.00, with InferenceNet matching the main listing, Morph up to $1.00/$14.90, Sail Research at $0.84/$13.50, and Relace unchanged at $2.00/$14.00; kimi-k2.7-code unchanged at $0.67/$3.35 (cache hits $0.18). | |
| 2026-10-14 | API (OpenRouter) | the main kimi-k3 listing held at $0.73/$10.00 per million tokens (cache reads $0.55) while the endpoints reconfigured: the 2026-10-12 Wafer floor at $0.65/$20.00 is gone (Wafer now $0.72/$24.00, cache reads $0.30), Morph dropped to $0.75/$14.90, Sail Research holds $0.84/$13.50, Relace holds $2.00/$14.00, and Moonshot’s official endpoint holds $3/$15 (cache reads $0.30); kimi-k2.7-code unchanged at $0.67/$3.35 (cache hits $0.18). | |
| 2026-10-14 | API (OpenRouter) | kimi-k3 moved to $0.70/$15.00 per million tokens (cache reads $0.32), the thirteenth recorded move; the endpoint floor moved to Relace at $0.56/$14.00 (input down from $2.00), with InferenceNet matching the new main listing at $0.70/$15.00, Morph back up to $1.00/$14.90, Wafer holding $0.72/$24.00, Sail Research at $0.84/$13.50, and Moonshot’s official endpoint at $3/$15; kimi-k2.7-code unchanged at $0.67/$3.35 (cache hits $0.18). | |
| 2026-10-15 | API (OpenRouter) | kimi-k3 moved to $0.45/$15.00 per million tokens (cache reads $0.28), the fourteenth recorded move; the endpoint floor dropped to Relace at $0.30/$14.00 (input down from $0.56), with InferenceNet matching the main listing at $0.45/$15.00, Wafer split into a $0.29/$24.00 and a $0.37/$14.90 endpoint, Morph down to $0.80/$14.90, Sail Research holding $0.84/$13.50, and Moonshot’s official endpoint at $3/$15; kimi-k2.7-code unchanged at $0.67/$3.35 (cache hits $0.18). | |
| 2026-10-16 | API (OpenRouter) | kimi-k3 moved to $0.304/$11.936 per million tokens (cache reads $0.21), the fifteenth recorded move, with InferenceNet matching the main listing; the output leg rose intraday from an earlier $11.588 reading, the endpoint floor moved by input to Wafer at $0.294/$28.00 (its US endpoint $0.36/$17.50), Relace rose to $0.35/$14.00, Morph returned to $1.00/$14.90, Sail Research held $0.84/$13.50, and Moonshot’s official endpoint held $3/$15; kimi-k2.7-code unchanged at $0.67/$3.35. | |
| 2026-10-17 | API (OpenRouter) | the main kimi-k3 listing held at $0.304/$11.936 per million tokens (cache reads $0.21, InferenceNet matching) while the endpoints churned through the day: the closing fetch put the input floor at Relace $0.27/$14.2307 (after a morning reading of $0.25/$8.5378, itself down from $0.35/$14.00 yesterday), the output floor at Sail Research’s new fp4 endpoint $0.504/$8.10, Wafer at $0.28/$24.00 and $0.50/$14.90, Morph’s input down to $0.30/$14.90, and the roster widened to 26 endpoints; kimi-k2.7-code unchanged at $0.67/$3.35. | |
| 2026-10-18 | API (OpenRouter) | the main kimi-k3 listing held at $0.304/$11.936 per million tokens (cache reads $0.21, InferenceNet matching) while the endpoints recomposed around the same floors: the input floor held at Relace $0.27/$14.00 (output trimmed from $14.2307), the output floor held at Sail Research’s fp4 endpoint $0.504/$8.10, Wafer moved down to $0.28/$16.00 and $0.36/$11.90, Morph rose to $0.392/$14.90, and the roster stayed at 26 while ten new hosts joined (AkashML, Makora, Decart, Chutes, Phala, DigitalOcean, DeepInfra, Amazon Bedrock, BaseTen, Alibaba); kimi-k2.7-code unchanged at $0.67/$3.35. | |
| 2026-10-21 | API (OpenRouter) | the main kimi-k3 listing moved to $0.239/$11.936 per million tokens with cache reads held at $0.21 (a same-day $0.00 reading corrected against the listing on re-fetch), InferenceNet matching; the input floor moved to Wafer at $0.238/$16.00, Relace off the floor at $0.30/$12.00, and the roster grew to 28 with the ten 10-18 joins holding; kimi-k2.7-code unchanged at $0.67/$3.35 (cache hits $0.18). | |
| 2026-10-24 | API (OpenRouter) | kimi-k3’s output leg cut from $11.936 to $10.80 per million tokens (input $0.239 and cache reads $0.21 unchanged), the seventeenth recorded move; kimi-k2.7-code’s cache-hit price cut from $0.18 to $0.15 with input and completion unchanged. |
Compared to #
- Codex: the other big-vendor open CLI, stronger on FrontierHarness quality (66.7 percent) but no longer on price, at $3.47 versus $3.65 median cost per task as of 2026-09-13.
- Qwen Code: Alibaba’s fork-and-rebrand path into the same market; Kimi Code is a from-scratch Moonshot product rather than a Gemini CLI derivative.
- OpenCode: the provider-neutral alternative when you want the harness decoupled from any one model vendor.
Bottom line #
Recommended for engineers already inside the Kimi ecosystem and for token-payers who want a big-vendor-polished agent on challenger-model economics. Not for teams that need local models, or anyone who needs more than one independent evaluation before trusting a harness.
Changes #
- 2026-09-05 - Created from the same-day entrant resolution as Moonshot’s MIT CLI.
- 2026-09-06 - Recorded the docs confirming the Node.js rebuild with the Python version unmaintained, and replaced the measured-cost comparison.
- 2026-09-16 - Refreshed star counts (about 18.8k combined) and updated the kimi-k2.7-code output price to $3.21 per million tokens on OpenRouter.
- 2026-09-18 - Refreshed star counts (about 18.9k combined) and recorded the kimi-k3 price drop on OpenRouter to $2.10/$10.95 per million tokens with cache hits at $0.23.
- 2026-09-20 - Recorded the further kimi-k3 price drop on OpenRouter to $1.70/$8.50 per million tokens with cache hits at $0.17.
- 2026-09-20 - Added the Price history section tracking price changes in a table, per the new owner rule.
- 2026-09-22 - Recorded the kimi-k3 price rise on OpenRouter to $3.00/$15.00 per million tokens (cache hits $0.30) and the kimi-k2.7-code completion rise to $3.30 (cache hits $0.18).
- 2026-09-22 - Noted kimi-cli shipping 1.52.0 on September 22 despite the migration notice, and refreshed repository counters.
- 2026-09-24 - Recorded the kimi-k2.7-code input price drop on OpenRouter to $0.66 per million tokens (completion and cache unchanged, kimi-k3 unchanged) and refreshed repository counters.
- 2026-10-02 - Recorded Moonshot archiving the original
kimi-clirepository on GitHub, and the kimi-k3 price dropping on OpenRouter to $0.4255/$10.00 per million tokens (cache reads listed at the input price) with kimi-k2.7-code at $0.67/$3.35, and refreshed repository counters. - 2026-10-02 - Recorded the kimi-k3 price rising again on OpenRouter to $2.70/$13.50 per million tokens (cache reads $0.27) hours after the drop, with kimi-k2.7-code unchanged, and refreshed repository counters.
- 2026-10-04 - Recorded the kimi-k3 price dropping again on OpenRouter to $0.72/$13.00 per million tokens (cache reads $0.70), with kimi-k2.7-code unchanged, and refreshed repository counters.
- 2026-10-05 - Recorded the kimi-k3 price moving again on OpenRouter to $0.67/$14.00 per million tokens (cache reads $0.22), with kimi-k2.7-code unchanged, and refreshed repository counters.
- 2026-10-06 - Recorded the kimi-k3 price moving again on OpenRouter to $0.95/$14.00 per million tokens (cache reads $0.31), with the endpoint floor at $0.96/$13.00 on Relace, and kimi-k2.7-code unchanged.
- 2026-10-06 - Recorded the kimi-k3 listing moving again the same day to $0.83/$14.00 per million tokens (cache reads $0.27) with the endpoint floor at $0.82/$13.00 on Relace, and appended the matching Price history row.
- 2026-10-06 - Recorded the Relace endpoint floor dropping to $0.66/$13.00 per million tokens (input down from $0.82, output unchanged, endpoint cache read $0.30), with the main listing re-verified unchanged at $0.83/$14.00 on OpenRouter’s endpoints API.
- 2026-10-07 - Added the MoonshotAI/kimi-code star history chart to the Status section.
- 2026-10-07 - Recorded the kimi-k3 price moving to $0.62/$15.00 per million tokens (cache reads $0.43), the seventh recorded move, with the endpoint floor at $0.61/$13.00 on Relace and kimi-k2.7-code unchanged, and appended the matching Price history row, and refreshed repository counters.
- 2026-10-07 - Corrected the kimi-cli reference annotation, which had said archived since 2026-09-22: that was the last push, and the archive state (re-verified via the GitHub API today) is recorded in Status as noticed on 2026-10-02.
- 2026-10-08 - Recorded the kimi-k3 price moving to $0.58/$12.30 per million tokens (cache reads $0.40), the eighth recorded move, with the endpoint floor at $0.58/$13.00 on Relace and InferenceNet at $12.30 output, and appended the matching Price history row.
- 2026-10-09 - Recorded the kimi-k3 price moving to $0.50/$12.00 per million tokens (cache reads $0.35), the ninth recorded move, with the endpoint floor at $0.49/$13.00 on Relace and InferenceNet matching the main listing, appended the matching Price history row, and refreshed repository counters.
- 2026-10-10 - Recorded the kimi-k3 price moving to $0.64/$13.50 per million tokens (cache reads $0.28), the tenth recorded move, with the endpoint floor moving to $0.40/$15.00 on new host Wafer while Relace left the floor at $2.00/$14.00, appended the matching Price history row, and refreshed repository counters.
- 2026-10-11 - Recorded the kimi-k3 price moving to $0.80/$10.00 per million tokens (cache reads $0.55), the eleventh recorded move, with the endpoint floor moving to $0.75/$14.90 on new host Morph while Wafer’s day-old $0.40 endpoint disappeared and Relace held at $2.00/$14.00, appended the matching Price history row, and refreshed repository counters.
- 2026-10-12 - Recorded the kimi-k3 price moving to $0.73/$10.00 per million tokens (cache reads $0.55), the twelfth recorded move, with the endpoint floor moving to a returning Wafer endpoint at $0.65/$20.00 while Morph rose to $1.00/$14.90 and Relace held at $2.00/$14.00, appended the matching Price history row, and refreshed repository counters.
- 2026-10-14 - Recorded the endpoint reconfiguration with the main listing holding at $0.73/$10.00 per million tokens: the 2026-10-12 Wafer floor at $0.65/$20.00 disappeared (Wafer now $0.72/$24.00), Morph dropped to $0.75/$14.90, and Sail Research and Relace held, and appended the matching Price history row; the subscription ladders stay in the model-access note.
- 2026-10-14 - Recorded the kimi-k3 price moving to $0.70/$15.00 per million tokens (cache reads $0.32), the thirteenth recorded move, with the endpoint floor moving to Relace at $0.56/$14.00 while InferenceNet matched the new main listing and Morph rose back to $1.00/$14.90, appended the matching Price history row, and refreshed the usage sentence.
- 2026-10-15 - Recorded the kimi-k3 listing’s fourteenth move to $0.45/$15.00 (cache reads $0.28) with the endpoint floor dropping to Relace at $0.30/$14.00, appended the matching Price history row, and refreshed the usage sentence and star figures.
- 2026-10-16 - Recorded the kimi-k3 listing’s fifteenth move, closing the day at $0.304/$11.936 (cache reads $0.21) after the output leg rose intraday from an earlier $11.588 reading, with the endpoint floor moving by input to Wafer at $0.294/$28.00, and appended the matching Price history row.
- 2026-10-17 - Recorded the endpoints churning through the day with the main kimi-k3 listing holding at $0.304/$11.936: the morning fetch read the floor at Relace $0.25/$8.5378, the coordinator-level closing fetch put the input floor at Relace $0.27/$14.23, the output floor at Sail Research’s new fp4 endpoint $0.504/$8.10, and the roster at 26 endpoints, with the same-day Price history row carrying the closing reading and the usage sentence refreshed.
- 2026-10-18 - Recorded the endpoint recomposition with the main kimi-k3 listing holding at $0.304/$11.936: the input floor held at Relace $0.27/$14.00, the output floor held at Sail Research’s fp4 $0.504/$8.10, Wafer moved down and Morph up, and ten new hosts joined the 26-endpoint roster, and appended the matching Price history row with the usage sentence refreshed.
- 2026-10-21 - Recorded the kimi-k3 listing’s sixteenth move to $0.239/$11.936 (cache reads held at $0.21) with the input floor moving to Wafer at $0.238/$16.00, Relace off the floor at $0.30/$12.00, and the roster growing to 28, appended the matching Price history row with the usage sentence refreshed, and corrected the row’s same-day $0.00 cache reading against a coordinator-level re-fetch of the listing.
- 2026-10-24 - Recorded the kimi-k3 output price cut on OpenRouter to $0.239/$10.80 per million tokens (cache reads held at $0.21), the seventeenth recorded move, alongside kimi-k2.7-code’s cache-hit price dropping to $0.15, and appended the matching Price history row with the usage sentence refreshed.
See also #
- Model Selection for Coding Tasks - the Kimi pricing this note’s economics ride on
- Agentic Coding Tools Landscape - where a vendor-built CLI sits in the harness layer
- Codex - the subscription-included big-vendor CLI comparison point
- Protocols Feature Matrix - ACP and MCP, both of which Kimi Code speaks
References #
https://github.com/MoonshotAI/kimi-code - the canonical repository: license, features, subagents, ACP
https://moonshotai.github.io/kimi-code/en/ - official documentation
https://frontierharness.org - the independent pass-rate and cost-per-task numbers
https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/items/45767884 - the largest HN thread, cited as the thin-footprint signal
https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/models - live per-token prices grounding the kimi-k3 and kimi-k2.7-code figures, as of 2026-10-21