What is this?

@kilnai/cli is the command-line interface for Kiln. It provides local operator commands, GUI/TUI launchers, config projection tools, workflow commands, and the dev-tools MCP server.

Install

bun add -g @kilnai/cli

This installs the official CLI, GUI launcher/assets, TUI, runtime, and gateway contracts so kiln gui and kiln tui can run from any project directory.

Or use directly:

bunx kiln init

Commands

kiln init

Interactive wizard that generates app.yaml and gateway.yaml:

kiln init

Walks you through:

• Provider selection
• Channel selection
• Team mode selection for YAML app scaffolding
• Quality gates (test, lint, typecheck)
• Domain detection (React, Python, docs, etc.)

kiln dev

Start in dev mode with YAML hot-reload and Studio UI:

kiln dev

• Watches app.yaml for changes and reloads automatically
• Serves Studio at /studio for visual inspection
• Exposes dev endpoints at /dev/* for state, events, memory, cost

kiln run

Run a single task:

kiln run "Implement the login page"

Useful flags:

• --provider <name> to select the provider for the run
• --model <name> to select the model for providers that require model selection
• --effort <minimal|low|medium|high|xhigh> or --reasoning-effort <minimal|low|medium|high|xhigh> to set reasoning effort for providers/models that support it
• --plan to start in plan mode
• --workers <number> to run isolated parallel workers

Reasoning effort is forwarded through the shared session contract. For the Codex CLI wrapper it becomes Codex's model_reasoning_effort config override; for direct runtime providers it is sent as provider request metadata.

kiln tui

Start the interactive terminal UI:

kiln tui

Useful flags:

• --provider <name> to select the initial provider
• --model <name> to select the initial model
• --theme <name> to select a theme
• --port <number> to override the local TUI gateway port
• --plan to start in plan mode

Current transport behavior:

• gateway transport is the default path
• direct transport is available only with KILN_TUI_TRANSPORT=direct

The default gateway path keeps TUI conversations on the runtime session pipeline so provider routing, continuity, approvals, reasoning effort, and sidebar route labels reflect the actual backend used for each turn.

Inside the TUI, use /provider to change provider/model and /effort to cycle the active model's advertised reasoning effort options.

kiln gateway

Start the production gateway:

kiln gateway

kiln domain

Manage domain kits:

kiln domain detect     # Auto-detect project type
kiln domain list       # List available domain kits

kiln skill

Manage skill packs:

kiln skill list        # List installed skills
kiln skill search      # Search skill registry

kiln memory

Inspect and manage agent memory:

kiln memory list       # List memory entries
kiln memory search     # Full-text search

kiln status

Show current session status:

kiln status

kiln cron

Manage schedule triggers:

kiln cron list                    # List all schedules
kiln cron add <name> <cron> <task> [--timezone <tz>]
kiln cron remove <name>
kiln cron run <name>              # Fire immediately without resetting schedule

MCP Server

The CLI includes a built-in MCP server for Claude Code integration:

kiln mcp-config        # Print MCP server configuration for Claude Code

This lets Claude Code use Kiln tools directly in your development workflow.

Documentation

• Getting Started
• App Configuration
• Gateway Configuration

License

Apache-2.0