Echadron

Echadron is the multi-provider agent harness built from the Kimi Code CLI architecture. The echadron command (or short chad / maker alias) is the primary CLI entry point published by this fork. Only Echadron-owned executables are installed; upstream Kimi Code and its storage namespace remain independent.

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What is Echadron

Echadron is an AI coding agent that runs in your terminal — it can read and edit code, run shell commands, search files, fetch web pages, and choose the next step based on the feedback it receives. It supports compatible providers and models through the Kimi Code architecture.

Install

The Echadron native installer/release channel is not published yet. Install the fork package or run it from this repository. After installing, run it with a new shell session:

echadron --version
chad --version
maker --version

The published package is @yaseenhq/echadron; its CLI entries are echadron, chad, and maker.

Quick Start

Open a project and start the interactive UI:

cd your-project
echadron

Echadron never installs a kimi executable, so it can coexist with upstream Kimi Code on the same machine.

On first launch, run /login inside Echadron and choose an available OAuth or API-key provider. After login, try your first task:

Take a look at this project and explain its main directories.

Refresh the shared models.dev provider/model directory without changing credentials or config.toml:

echadron update --models

The snapshot is stored under ~/.echadron/cache/models.dev.json and reused for normal provider browsing for up to four hours. Existing installations may still be read from legacy .kimi-code data roots. echadron update without --models is intentionally disabled until Echadron has its own signed release channel; it never contacts or installs the upstream Kimi Code release.

Key Features

• Single-binary distribution. Install with one command: no Node.js setup, PATH gymnastics, or global module conflicts.
• Blazing-fast startup. The TUI is ready in milliseconds, so starting a session never feels heavy.
• Purpose-built TUI. A carefully tuned interface, optimized end to end for long, focused agent sessions.
• Video input. Drop a screen recording or demo clip into the chat and let the agent watch what is hard to describe in words — turn a reference clip into a LUT, a long video into a short, a screen recording into working code, and more.
• AI-native MCP configuration. Add, edit, and authenticate Model Context Protocol servers conversationally with /mcp-config, without hand-editing JSON.
• Rich plugin ecosystem. Install skills, MCP servers, and data sources from the marketplace or any GitHub repo, with each install's trust level surfaced up front.
• Subagents for focused, parallel work. Dispatch built-in coder, explore, and plan subagents in isolated contexts while keeping the main conversation clean.
• Lifecycle hooks. Run local commands at key points to gate risky tool calls, audit decisions, trigger desktop notifications, or connect to your own automation.
• Editor & IDE integration (ACP). Drive an Echadron session straight from Zed, JetBrains, or any Agent Client Protocol client with echadron acp.

Use it in your editor (ACP)

Echadron speaks the Agent Client Protocol, so ACP-compatible editors and IDEs (Zed, JetBrains, …) can drive a session over stdio. Log in once with /login, then point your editor at echadron acp — no extra login is needed. ACP clients that support terminal authentication can also launch the Echadron OAuth flow when no credential is configured.

For Zed, add this to ~/.config/zed/settings.json:

{
  "agent_servers": {
    "Echadron": {
      "type": "custom",
      "command": "echadron",
      "args": ["acp"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

Then open a new conversation in Zed's Agent panel.

Docs

• Documentation

Develop

Requirements: Node.js ≥ 24.15.0, pnpm 10.33.0.

git clone https://github.com/YaseenHQ/kimi.git
cd kimi
pnpm install

pnpm dev:cli    # run the CLI in dev mode
pnpm test       # run tests
pnpm typecheck  # TypeScript check
pnpm lint       # oxlint
pnpm build      # build all packages

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full contribution guide.

Community

• Issues
• For security vulnerabilities, see SECURITY.md.

Acknowledgements

Our TUI is built on top of pi-tui. We thank the authors of pi-tui for their valuable work.

License

Released under the MIT License.