kai — One terminal. Every platform.
Desktop terminal for Windows · Linux · macOS, plus a local CLI for AI context.
Tauri 2 + Rust (portable-pty) + WebGL GPU terminal renderer (xterm.js). MIT licensed, no account.
Live site: https://kai-terminal.vercel.app/ · Releases: latest
Status: v0.2.1 is an active release. If something breaks, please open an issue with OS, version and steps to reproduce.
The screenshot follows your GitHub theme: dark (Settings → Appearance) shows the dark hero, light shows the light one.
Download — you pick the file
No auto-detection here. All installers are published on GitHub Releases. Pick your own:
| OS | File | Install |
|---|
| macOS 12+ (M1–M4) | kai_0.2.1_aarch64.dmg | Open the .dmg, drag Kai.app to /Applications |
| Linux x64 | kai_0.2.1_amd64.deb | sudo dpkg -i kai_0.2.1_amd64.deb |
| Linux (any distro) | kai_0.2.1_amd64.AppImage | chmod +x kai_*.AppImage && ./kai_*.AppImage |
| Linux ARM64 | kai_0.2.1_arm64.deb / .AppImage | Same as above, ARM build |
| Windows 10/11 x64 | kai_0.2.1_x64-setup.exe | Download and run |
| Windows x64 (admin) | kai_0.2.1_x64_en-US.msi | For silent/admin installs |
The website lists the same files and does not choose for you. If your browser guessed wrong, just click another tab — nothing is locked in.
Run from source
git clone https://github.com/surajthaqurie/kai-terminal.git
cd kai-terminal
npm install
npm run tauri dev # desktop, hot reload
Prereqs: Node 20+ · Rust 1.75+. Linux also needs:
sudo apt-get install -y build-essential pkg-config libssl-dev libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev libgtk-3-dev libayatana-appindicator3-dev librsvg2-dev
Other scripts: npm run dev (browser mock PTY) · npm run tauri build (bundles in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/) · npm run check (lint+types+tests).
Kai CLI — local index + MCP
Kai ships a CLI that indexes projects into ~/.kai/ (outside your repo) and serves context to AI tools over stdio MCP. Read-only — your source code is never modified.
Environment Note: Project intelligence and agent execution commands run inside Kai Terminal (KAI_TERMINAL=1). Outside Kai Terminal, use kai open [path] to launch or focus Kai Terminal. See USER_MANUAL.md for full documentation.
External Commands (Any Terminal)
kai open [path] # launch or focus Kai Terminal desktop app (defaults to current dir)
kai health # check system readiness and health
kai doctor # run environment, PATH, and desktop diagnostics
kai list [-a|-m|-i|-s|-c] # look up tools (-a), MCP (-m), projects (-i), sessions (-s), config (-c)
kai integration [list|azure] # inspect or connect service integrations (Azure DevOps)
kai azure [list|active|remove] # list projects, switch active project, or disconnect folder
kai remove [-m|-a|-i|-s] # un-wire tools (-m/-a <name>) or delete index (-i)/session (-s) data
kai remove --name <id> # remove an integration account everywhere (token + every folder)
kai close # close active Kai Terminal instances
Inside Kai Terminal
kai <agent> [path] # run an AI tool: auto-wires MCP, enters Code Mode, builds & syncs graph
kai agent add <agent|all> # wire tool(s) to Kai MCP (aliases: kai setup, kai mcp)
kai agent remove <agent> # un-wire tool from Kai MCP (or kai remove -a/-m)
kai graph init . # initialize the symbol index and import graph
kai graph update . # force update and rebuild of project graph
kai graph status . # show graph index status and symbol counts
kai stop # clear Code Mode and return to plain terminal
kai lsp # probe locally installed Language Server Protocol servers
kai metrics # view local performance and token diagnostics
kai <agent> [path] (e.g. kai claude ., kai opencode ., kai cursor .) automatically
wires Kai MCP configuration if needed, activates Code Mode, generates the
project graph, runs the agent inside the project directory, and auto-syncs graph changes on exit.
Detailed guide and syntax: see USER_MANUAL.md.
Supported agents
| Agent | Config file | Notes |
|---|
| Claude Code | ~/.claude.json (global) or .mcp.json (project) | mcpServers["kai-terminal"] stdio entry |
| Cursor | ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global) or .cursor/mcp.json (project) | uses ${workspaceFolder} |
| Codex | ~/.codex/config.toml | [mcp_servers.kai-terminal] section |
| Gemini CLI | ~/.muse/settings.json | mcpServers["kai-terminal"] stdio entry |
| Copilot / VS Code | .vscode/mcp.json (project) | servers["kai-terminal"] with "type": "stdio" |
| Windsurf | ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json | mcpServers["kai-terminal"] stdio entry |
| Cline | VS Code global storage cline_mcp_settings.json | skipped with manual steps when VS Code is absent |
| opencode | ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json | mcp["kai-terminal"] with "type": "local" |
| Aider | ~/.config/aider/mcp.json | mcpServers["kai-terminal"] stdio entry |
| Antigravity (agy) | ~/.gemini/antigravity-cli/settings.json | mcpServers["kai-terminal"] stdio entry |
Agent detection is dynamic: kai list probes the live system
PATH plus known config files at runtime, so newly installed agents show
up without any code changes. All 10 agents share one registry
(src/core/agents.ts).
The desktop app also lists locally installed CLIs
(codex, claude, gemini, opencode, copilot, aider, cursor,
windsurf, cline, agy) without
running them — missing tools report available: false. Each provider row
shows its kai wiring state and offers one-click Auto-wire Kai MCP for
system-installed tools.
Notes on speed
Measured on the maintainer's machine: local queries typically complete in a few ms.
Your numbers will differ by repo size and hardware — run kai bench . to check.
MCP tools (stdio)
kai_project_info — metadata, file counts, language breakdown.kai_search_code — ranked symbol search (metadata only; includeSource: true adds snippets).kai_read_range — read one symbol or line range.kai_find_symbol — function/class/struct locations with line ranges.kai_get_dependencies — import graph.kai_get_context — budgeted context for a task (an exact symbol name anchors it; callers and tests of that symbol are added within a cap for refactor, debug, implement and test tasks).kai_refresh_index — re-index after changes.kai_get_lsp_status — local language server status (typescript-language-server, rust-analyzer, pyright, gopls).kai_plan_task — Code Mode task planning with project context and prompt options.kai_sync_graph — guarded post-change graph validation and freshness sync.
All tools are read-only on project sources. Hands-free co-author prevention needs no tool:
entering Code Mode (e.g. kai <agent> or kai graph init .) installs a self-contained commit-msg
hook into the repo, so every future commit from any agent lands without
Co-authored-by: trailers. The hook is POSIX sh only (Linux, macOS,
Windows), fails open, and preserves/chains any pre-existing hook.
To remove the hook later, delete
.git/hooks/commit-msg (and rename commit-msg.kai-orig back to
commit-msg if your own hook was preserved there).
The status bar in the app shows the indexed project, file/symbol counts and last query cost.
Integrations (Azure DevOps)
Connect a folder to Azure DevOps and your AI tools can read its work items, pull requests and builds through the same kai mcp server. One command does the setup, and it is safe to run again:
# Can run in any terminal (or inside Kai Terminal). Organization, project and repository are auto-detected.
kai integration list # every integration and its state for this folder
kai integration azure # sign in, connect this folder, wire your agents, verify with real calls
kai azure list # accounts and their projects; * marks this folder's active project
kai azure active --name Payments # switch this folder's active project
kai azure remove # disconnect this folder (your sign-in stays)
kai remove --name contoso # remove the account everywhere: token and every folder's connection
- Auto-detected: organization, project and repository come from the folder's git remotes (Azure DevOps Services and Azure DevOps Server HTTPS remotes), from any sub-folder. Names are checked against what Azure really has.
- One active project per folder. Sign-in is per user and shared by every folder. The connection is a private file under
~/.kai/projects/, never in your repository.
- Tokens stay safe: the Azure CLI is used when installed (with in-flight request deduplication), so Kai stores nothing; otherwise an access token goes to the OS secret store (Windows DPAPI, macOS Keychain piped via stdin without argv exposure, Linux Secret Service), never to a repository or an agent config. Work item searches are strictly scoped to the active project boundary.
- Read-only tools, added only where connected:
kai_integration_status, kai_work_item_search, kai_work_item_get, kai_pr_list, kai_pr_get, kai_build_list, kai_build_log. A folder that is not connected sees exactly the tools listed above. Text from Azure is returned as untrusted data. Restart a running agent session after setup so it re-reads its tools.
- Desktop app: the Integrations tab of the AI CLI providers panel (robot icon) offers the same actions, including switching the project.
Details: MCP.md · USER_MANUAL.md.
Keyboard shortcuts
On macOS use Cmd where Ctrl is shown. Plain Ctrl+C always stays the shell interrupt, and plain Ctrl+V always reaches the shell.
| Keys | Action |
|---|
Ctrl+Shift+C (or Ctrl+Insert) | Copy the selection |
Ctrl+Shift+V (or Shift+Insert) | Paste |
Ctrl+Shift+A | Select all output |
Ctrl+Shift+K | Clear the terminal |
Ctrl+Shift+Home / End | Scroll to the top / bottom |
Shift+PageUp / PageDown | Scroll one page |
Ctrl+= / Ctrl+- / Ctrl+0 | Zoom the font in / out / back to the saved size (this session only) |
Ctrl+1 … 8, Ctrl+9 | Jump to that tab, or to the last tab |
Ctrl+Shift+T / W | New tab / close tab |
Ctrl+Shift+P | Command palette |
Ctrl+Shift+F | Find in output |
Ctrl+Shift+G | Review git changes |
Every shortcut above is remappable in Settings → Shortcuts except Ctrl/Shift+Insert, Shift+PageUp / PageDown and Ctrl+Shift+G, which stay fixed and are listed there read-only. Ctrl+T also always opens a new tab, so Settings will not let you bind Ctrl+T, Ctrl+Shift+T (other than to New tab) or Ctrl+Shift+G to anything else. Music Time pauses for calls automatically.
Privacy and limits
- Indexed source files are never executed.
.env*, keys and binaries are skipped by default.- MCP input is size-capped before parsing.
- Retrieval checks file hashes and warns on stale indexes.
- Indexes live in
~/.kai/; kai remove deletes them.
- Local diagnostics go to
~/.kai/metrics.jsonl. No account, no telemetry in the app.
- The code-map tools never touch the network. Integrations are opt-in per folder:
kai integration azure is the only thing that contacts an outside service, only with the sign-in you give it, and kai remove --name <id> deletes that sign-in and its stored token.
See KNOWN_LIMITATIONS for what v0.2.1 does not do yet.
Docs
INSTALL · DEVELOPMENT · ARCHITECTURE · SECURITY · TEST_PLAN · KNOWN_LIMITATIONS
License
MIT — see LICENSE. Free for personal + commercial use.
