wtf is kimi-code-desktop?

Kimi Code Desktop is an unofficial, open source Windows desktop app that wraps the official Kimi Code command line tool in a native graphical interface. It is a community project, not made or supported by Moonshot AI, the company behind Kimi. Users sign in with their own existing Kimi account and use their own subscription plan and usage quota through this app, rather than the desktop app providing any separate account or service of its own. Inside the app, users can open a project folder and hold multiple resumable chat sessions tied to that project, or start standalone chats kept separate from any project files or git history. Responses stream in as formatted Markdown, with the model's internal thinking and tool activity shown in a collapsible section. The interface supports queuing several prompts, steering a running response, canceling it, copying output, and reverting a turn. It also displays live information about which Kimi model is active, its reasoning mode, permission level, context usage, and remaining quota, and supports Kimi's commands, skills, subagents, plugins, and MCP tool configuration. Built in git tools let a user view changes, diffs, stage and unstage files, and commit, alongside an integrated terminal, file preview, and a preview pane for apps the agent is running on localhost. The appearance, including theme, font, density, and layout, is configurable, and the app can update itself through signed releases. On the security side, the README states that the app's local orchestration service only listens on the local machine, requires a random token generated at each launch, keeps Kimi's login credentials inside the official Kimi CLI's own storage rather than reading them itself, limits file access to the current workspace, and restricts its browser based app preview feature to local addresses only. The README also states the app collects no telemetry. The project is a pnpm based monorepo with three parts: a Tauri desktop shell for native Windows integration, a React based interface layer, and a backend server handling the connection to Kimi Code CLI, git operations, terminal access, and update checks. The Kimi Code CLI itself remains the authority for models, permissions, sessions, and account usage. The source code is released under the MIT license, though the Kimi and Moonshot AI names and logos are not covered by that license and forks must stay clearly unofficial.