Kode - AI Assistant for Your Terminal

中文文档 | Contributing | Documentation

Kode is a powerful AI assistant that lives in your terminal. It can understand your codebase, edit files, run commands, and handle entire workflows for you.

Features

• 🤖 AI-Powered Assistance - Uses advanced AI models to understand and respond to your requests
• 🔄 Multi-Model Collaboration - Flexibly switch and combine multiple AI models to leverage their unique strengths
• 📝 Code Editing - Directly edit files with intelligent suggestions and improvements
• 🔍 Codebase Understanding - Analyzes your project structure and code relationships
• 🚀 Command Execution - Run shell commands and see results in real-time
• 🛠️ Workflow Automation - Handle complex development tasks with simple prompts
• 🎨 Interactive UI - Beautiful terminal interface with syntax highlighting
• 🔌 Tool System - Extensible architecture with specialized tools for different tasks
• 💾 Context Management - Smart context handling to maintain conversation continuity

Installation

npm install -g @shareai-lab/kode

After installation, you can use any of these commands:

• kode - Primary command
• kwa - Kode With Agent (alternative)
• kd - Ultra-short alias

Usage

Interactive Mode

Start an interactive session:

kode
# or
kwa
# or
kd

Non-Interactive Mode

Get a quick response:

kode -p "explain this function" main.js
# or
kwa -p "explain this function" main.js

Commands

• /help - Show available commands
• /model - Change AI model settings
• /config - Open configuration panel
• /cost - Show token usage and costs
• /clear - Clear conversation history
• /init - Initialize project context

Multi-Model Intelligent Collaboration

Unlike official Claude which supports only a single model, Kode implements true multi-model collaboration, allowing you to fully leverage the unique strengths of different AI models.

🏗️ Core Technical Architecture

1. ModelManager Multi-Model Manager

We designed a unified ModelManager system that supports:

• Model Profiles: Each model has an independent configuration file containing API endpoints, authentication, context window size, cost parameters, etc.
• Model Pointers: Users can configure default models for different purposes in the /model command:
  • main: Default model for main Agent
  • task: Default model for SubAgent
  • reasoning: Reserved for future ThinkTool usage
  • quick: Fast model for simple NLP tasks (security identification, title generation, etc.)
• Dynamic Model Switching: Support runtime model switching without restarting sessions, maintaining context continuity

2. TaskTool Intelligent Task Distribution

Our specially designed TaskTool (Architect tool) implements:

• Subagent Mechanism: Can launch multiple sub-agents to process tasks in parallel
• Model Parameter Passing: Users can specify which model SubAgents should use in their requests
• Default Model Configuration: SubAgents use the model configured by the task pointer by default

3. AskExpertModel Expert Consultation Tool

We specially designed the AskExpertModel tool:

• Expert Model Invocation: Allows temporarily calling specific expert models to solve difficult problems during conversations
• Model Isolation Execution: Expert model responses are processed independently without affecting the main conversation flow
• Knowledge Integration: Integrates expert model insights into the current task

🎯 Flexible Model Switching

• Tab Key Quick Switch: Press Tab in the input box to quickly switch the model for the current conversation
• /model Command: Use /model command to configure and manage multiple model profiles, set default models for different purposes
• User Control: Users can specify specific models for task processing at any time

🔄 Intelligent Work Allocation Strategy

Architecture Design Phase

• Use o3 model or GPT-5 model to explore system architecture and formulate sharp and clear technical solutions
• These models excel in abstract thinking and system design

Solution Refinement Phase

• Use gemini model to deeply explore production environment design details
• Leverage its deep accumulation in practical engineering and balanced reasoning capabilities

Code Implementation Phase

• Use Qwen Coder model, Kimi k2 model, GLM-4.5 model, or Claude Sonnet 4 model for specific code writing
• These models have strong performance in code generation, file editing, and engineering implementation
• Support parallel processing of multiple coding tasks through subagents

Problem Solving

• When encountering complex problems, consult expert models like o3 model, Claude Opus 4.1 model, or Grok 4 model
• Obtain deep technical insights and innovative solutions

💡 Practical Application Scenarios

# Example 1: Architecture Design
"Use o3 model to help me design a high-concurrency message queue system architecture"

# Example 2: Multi-Model Collaboration
"First use GPT-5 model to analyze the root cause of this performance issue, then use Claude Sonnet 4 model to write optimization code"

# Example 3: Parallel Task Processing
"Use Qwen Coder model as subagent to refactor these three modules simultaneously"

# Example 4: Expert Consultation
"This memory leak issue is tricky, ask Claude Opus 4.1 model separately for solutions"

# Example 5: Code Review
"Have Kimi k2 model review the code quality of this PR"

# Example 6: Complex Reasoning
"Use Grok 4 model to help me derive the time complexity of this algorithm"

# Example 7: Solution Design
"Have GLM-4.5 model design a microservice decomposition plan"

🛠️ Key Implementation Mechanisms

Configuration System

// Example of multi-model configuration support
{
  "modelProfiles": {
    "o3": { "provider": "openai", "model": "o3", "apiKey": "..." },
    "claude4": { "provider": "anthropic", "model": "claude-sonnet-4", "apiKey": "..." },
    "qwen": { "provider": "alibaba", "model": "qwen-coder", "apiKey": "..." }
  },
  "modelPointers": {
    "main": "claude4",      // Main conversation model
    "task": "qwen",         // Task execution model
    "reasoning": "o3",      // Reasoning model
    "quick": "glm-4.5"      // Quick response model
  }
}

Cost Tracking System

• Usage Statistics: Use /cost command to view token usage and costs for each model
• Multi-Model Cost Comparison: Track usage costs of different models in real-time
• History Records: Save cost data for each session

Context Manager

• Context Inheritance: Maintain conversation continuity when switching models
• Context Window Adaptation: Automatically adjust based on different models' context window sizes
• Session State Preservation: Ensure information consistency during multi-model collaboration

🚀 Advantages of Multi-Model Collaboration

1. Maximized Efficiency: Each task is handled by the most suitable model
2. Cost Optimization: Use lightweight models for simple tasks, powerful models for complex tasks
3. Parallel Processing: Multiple models can work on different subtasks simultaneously
4. Flexible Switching: Switch models based on task requirements without restarting sessions
5. Leveraging Strengths: Combine advantages of different models for optimal overall results

📊 Comparison with Official Implementation

Feature	Kode	Official Claude
Number of Supported Models	Unlimited, configurable for any model	Only supports single Claude model
Model Switching	✅ Tab key quick switch	❌ Requires session restart
Parallel Processing	✅ Multiple SubAgents work in parallel	❌ Single-threaded processing
Cost Tracking	✅ Separate statistics for multiple models	❌ Single model cost
Task Model Configuration	✅ Different default models for different purposes	❌ Same model for all tasks
Expert Consultation	✅ AskExpertModel tool	❌ Not supported

This multi-model collaboration capability makes Kode a true AI Development Workbench, not just a single AI assistant.

Development

Kode is built with modern tools and requires Bun for development.

Install Bun

# macOS/Linux
curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash

# Windows
powershell -c "irm bun.sh/install.ps1 | iex"

Setup Development Environment

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/shareAI-lab/kode.git
cd kode

# Install dependencies
bun install

# Run in development mode
bun run dev

Build

bun run build

Testing

# Run tests
bun test

# Test the CLI
./cli.js --help

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guide for details.

License

ISC License - see LICENSE for details.

Thanks

• Some code from @dnakov's anonkode
• Some UI learned from gemini-cli
• Some system design learned from claude code

Support

• 📚 Documentation
• 🐛 Report Issues
• 💬 Discussions