mirror of https://github.com/MoonshotAI/kimi-code.git synced 2026-08-14 19:25:35 +00:00

feat: add shell mode (!) to the CLI (#1079 )

* feat: add shell mode (`!`) to the CLI

Add shell mode, letting users run shell commands directly from the prompt
with `!`. Output streams live into the transcript, supports backgrounding
(ctrl+b), cancellation (Esc / Ctrl+C), input queuing while running, and
enters the conversation context with resume support.

* feat(kimi-code): show shell mode label on editor border and add tip

Render a "! shell mode" label on the top-left of the editor border while the editor is in `!` bash mode, so the active mode is visible at a glance. Also add a rotating toolbar tip (`! to run a shell command`) to surface the feature.

* feat(kimi-code): refine shell mode queue, history, and display

- Keep `!` commands out of input history so they never resurface as bare text stripped of their `!`.

- Make `!` commands non-steerable: Ctrl-S skips them (they stay queued to run after the current task) and the steer hint is only shown when something is actually steerable.

- Render queued `!` commands with a `$` prompt and the shell-mode hue so they read as commands, not as text to send to the model.

- Echo executed shell commands with a `$` prompt instead of `!`.

* fix(kimi-code): sanitize shell output and harden rendering

Captured shell command output can contain terminal control sequences (colours, cursor moves, alternate-screen switches, OSC hyperlinks, carriage-return spinners, bells). pi-tui's Text passes strings straight to the terminal, so any unhandled sequence was executed by the terminal and fought with pi-tui's own cursor control, producing the blank-screen-plus-leftover-characters mess after running commands like pnpm dev or a nested TUI.

- Sanitize CSI (incl. private modes), OSC, single-char ESC and C0 control chars (keeping newline and tab) in both the finished/resume view (previously unsanitized) and the running tail.

- Make the sanitize, format, and ShellRunComponent render paths never-throw, and cap the live running buffer, so a misbehaving command cannot crash the TUI.

- Dispose transcript children on clear so ShellRunComponent's timer is released on /clear or session switch.

* fix(kimi-code): render shell command echo with $ instead of sparkles

The shell command echo is a 'user' transcript entry, so UserMessageComponent prefixed it with the USER_MESSAGE_BULLET (sparkles), producing 'sparkles $ command'.

Add an optional bullet override to UserMessageComponent / TranscriptEntry and set it to an empty string for the shell echo (both live and resume), so the '$ command' content sits at the leading column where the sparkles marker used to be. Normal user messages keep the sparkles bullet.

* fix(kimi-code): enter shell mode when pasting a !-prefixed command

The bash-mode trigger only handled the single ! keystroke, so a pasted !cmd was inserted as literal text in prompt mode and submitted as a normal message.

After pi-tui inserts pasted content, detect an empty-prompt buffer that now starts with !, switch to bash mode, and strip the leading ! so the buffer holds only the command, matching the typed ! path.

* fix(kimi-code): restore shell mode when recalling a queued command

recallLastQueued() dropped the queued item's mode, and the Up-arrow recall only restored the text. A queued ! command (queued while another command runs, which resets the editor to prompt mode) therefore came back as a normal prompt and was submitted as a message instead of a shell command.

Return the full QueuedMessage from recallLastQueued() and restore editor.inputMode (plus the onInputModeChange sync) from the recalled item's mode.

* feat(kimi-code): use violet as the shell mode color

Replace the claude-code-style magenta/rose shellMode token with a violet that is distinct from plan-mode blue, the user role amber, success green, error red, and the teal accent.

Custom themes that omit the token fall back to this new default via the base+overrides merge, so existing custom themes keep working unchanged.

* chore: refine the shell mode changeset

* docs: document shell mode

Add a Shell mode section to the interaction guide and list the ! and Ctrl+B shortcuts in the keyboard reference, in both English and Chinese.

* test(protocol): include shell events in volatile classification check

shell.output and shell.started were added as volatile event types for shell mode; update the snapshot test's volatile-type list and count accordingly.

* fix(agent-core): surface shell command failure reason with no output

When a ! shell command fails without producing stdout/stderr (non-zero exit with no output, timeout, spawn failure), the failure reason lived only in the tool result's output and the TUI showed '(no output)'. Fold it into stderr so the live view and replay show what went wrong.

* fix(kimi-code): decode CSI-u ! to enter shell mode

In terminals with the Kitty keyboard protocol (VSCode integrated terminal, Kitty), pressing ! arrives as a CSI-u sequence, so the raw normalized === '!' comparison never matched and shell mode could not be entered by typing !. Decode with printableChar before comparing, matching every other printable-key check in the TUI.

* fix(kimi-code): do not steer while a shell command is running

Ctrl-S steers queued input into the running turn, but a shell command is not an agent turn, so steering during streamingPhase === 'shell' would launch a turn before the command output is recorded. Keep Ctrl-S a no-op during shell runs; queued messages stay queued.

* fix(agent-core): escape bash tag delimiters in shell output

Shell command output is arbitrary text; if it contains a bash tag delimiter such as </bash-stdout>, the recorded pseudo-XML wrapper breaks and replay extracts the wrong slice. Escape the content when wrapping it in agent-core and unescape when extracting during replay, so output survives round-trip intact.

* docs: document the shellMode theme token

The shellMode color token was added to the palette but not propagated to its mirrors. Add it to the custom-theme docs token table, the theme JSON schema, and the custom-theme skill token list.

* feat(agent-core): reset background task deadline on detach

Add a resettable deadline timer to BackgroundManager and let tasks register a detach timeout; when a foreground task is moved to the background, its deadline resets to the background default counted from the detach moment.

Wire this into shell mode so ! commands run with a 3-minute foreground timeout and get 10 minutes once detached to the background, instead of staying bounded by the original 60-second foreground deadline.

* feat(agent-core): lower shell mode foreground timeout to 2 minutes

2026-06-25 21:24:53 +08:00

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Interaction and input

Kimi Code CLI runs as an interactive TUI (terminal user interface) built around three components: the input box, the conversation view, and the status bar. This page covers how to enter text, paste media, navigate the approval flow, and switch between modes.

Input box basics

The input box accepts free-form text. Press Enter to send, or Shift-Enter / Ctrl-J to insert a newline. When the input box is empty, press ↑ / ↓ to browse the input history for the current working directory.

Exiting the CLI: press Ctrl-D with the input box empty, press Ctrl-C twice while idle, or type /exit. Pressing Ctrl-C or Esc during streaming output interrupts the current turn — it does not exit the program.

Pasting images and video

Kimi Code CLI supports pasting images and video directly into the input box, so you can discuss screenshots, UI mockups, architecture diagrams, or code demos without uploading or converting files first.

Video input is a distinctive Kimi Code capability — you can paste a video clip and have the model analyze its content, UI flow, or code walkthrough.

How to paste:

macOS / Linux: Ctrl-V
Windows: Alt-V

After pasting, the input box shows a placeholder that you can edit like normal text; on submit, the placeholder is replaced with the actual content. A plain-text clipboard falls back to ordinary paste. Media support depends on the current model's multimodal capabilities (image_in / video_in); it is enabled by default when you are logged in to a Kimi Code account.

Slash commands

Anything starting with / is treated as a slash command. Typing / opens a completion menu that filters in real time as you keep typing; press Esc to close the menu. If nothing matches, the input is sent to the agent as a regular message.

Active Agent Skills are automatically registered as slash commands: ordinary external Skills are invoked with /skill:<name>, external sub-skills appear as dotted commands such as /parent.child, and built-in Skills appear directly as /<name> in the slash command panel. If an external skill name does not conflict with a system slash command, you can also drop the skill: prefix and type /<name> directly.

Some commands are only available when the agent is idle — you need to press Esc to interrupt streaming output or context compression before using them. Mode-toggle and query commands like /yolo, /plan, /help, and /btw are always available. For the full list, see Slash commands reference.

File references

Type @ to trigger file-path completion. Selecting a path inserts its relative form into your message; the agent loads the file content directly when it reads the message. File references work in both git and non-git directories, and folder suggestions end with / so you can keep completing paths inside them. If the fast search helper is still downloading, Kimi Code falls back to a basic filesystem scan. Hidden paths are available, but .git is excluded from suggestions.

@ references and slash commands are two separate mechanisms: @ gives the agent file context, while / invokes built-in features or Skills. A / typed after leading whitespace is treated as normal text, not as the slash-command menu.

Approval flow

When the agent calls a tool that has side effects — modifying files, running commands — the TUI displays an approval panel for your confirmation. Approvals are not triggered in YOLO mode, nor for writes to plan files in Plan mode.

Use the arrow keys to select an option and press Enter to confirm, or press 1 / 2 / 3 to select by number directly. Esc, Ctrl-C, and Ctrl-D are all equivalent to rejecting.

The panel typically includes an Approve for this session option; selecting it auto-approves the same kind of call for the rest of the session. For permanent rules, add allow / deny entries in Configuration files.

Mode switching

Plan mode

In Plan mode the agent first outputs an action plan and waits for your approval before modifying any files — useful for complex or high-risk tasks.

Toggle: Shift-Tab or /plan
Clear the current plan: /plan clear (only while idle)

After producing a plan the agent pauses for your review — you can approve it, reject it, or ask for revisions. Exiting Plan mode always requires your confirmation, even if YOLO mode is also active.

YOLO / Auto mode

YOLO mode (/yolo) skips the approval confirmation for almost all tool calls, making it suitable for batch tasks you know are safe. The one exception is the exit-confirmation for Plan mode.

Auto mode (/auto) is more restrained: tool approvals are handled automatically, but the agent does not ask the user clarifying questions — useful when you want unattended operation without fully disabling approvals.

::: warning YOLO mode skips confirmation for file writes and command execution. Only use it in working directories you trust. :::

Shell mode

Shell mode lets you run terminal commands without leaving the conversation. The command output is written into the conversation context, so the agent can see the results in later turns.

Enter: type ! in an empty input box, or paste a command that starts with !.
Exit: press Backspace or Esc in an empty input box; submitting a command also returns you to normal mode automatically.
Run in background: while a command is running, press Ctrl+B to move it to a background task.

In shell mode the input box shows a ! prompt on the left and the border turns violet. For example, you can run !gh auth login to sign in to the GitHub CLI without opening a new terminal, so Kimi can use gh afterward.

During streaming output

The input box remains usable while the agent is thinking or calling tools, and supports the following extra actions:

Ctrl-S: inject the content in the input box into the running turn immediately, without waiting for it to finish
Esc / Ctrl-C: interrupt the current turn
Ctrl-O: globally toggle the collapsed/expanded state of tool output

External editor

Press Ctrl-G to send the current input content to an external editor. When you save and close, the text is written back into the input box; if you close without saving, the original content is preserved. This is handy when you need to enter large blocks of text or content with complex formatting.

Editor priority: /editor config → $VISUAL environment variable → $EDITOR environment variable. If none are set, run /editor first to choose a default.

Next steps

Keyboard shortcuts — full quick-reference table of all shortcuts
Slash commands — all built-in commands with descriptions and aliases
Sessions and context — how to resume sessions, compress context, and export conversations

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