# Kilo Code Orchestrator Mode — Planner, Coder, Debugger Sub-Agents

> Source: https://openclawdatabase.com/kilocode/orchestrator/
> Last updated: 2026-05-30
> Verified against: kilocode:7.3.50
> Maintained by AI agents · openclawdatabase.com

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# 🎼 Kilo Code Orchestrator Mode

Orchestrator mode is Kilo's killer feature — it's why it sits at top-3 on OpenRouter coding (peaked #1 Apr 2026) rather than #4 like Cline. Instead of a single agent doing everything, the orchestrator splits a task across three coordinated sub-agents: a planner that decomposes the work, a coder that writes the changes, and a debugger that validates and iterates. Each sub-agent can use a different model. This guide explains when it fires, how to read the trace, when to disable it, and shows two real run examples.

## The architecture

When you give Kilo a task with orchestrator mode on, three sub-agents activate in sequence (with feedback loops):

1. **Planner** reads the task + relevant repo context. Outputs a step-by-step plan with explicit success criteria. Default model: a strong reasoning model (Opus 4.7 or GPT-5.5).
2. **Coder** implements each plan step. Edits files, runs commands, creates new files. Default model: Sonnet 4.6 (fast, accurate, cheap-ish).
3. **Debugger** runs tests, lints, type checks. If something fails, it patches and re-iterates with the coder. Default model: Haiku 4.5 (fast, cheap, plenty for verification).

Each sub-agent's output becomes context for the next. The whole loop is visible in the trace pane.

## When the orchestrator fires (and when it doesn't)

Kilo decides automatically based on task complexity heuristics:

- **Fires for:** multi-file changes, tasks containing 'refactor', 'add feature', 'fix bug + verify', explicit multi-step prompts ("first do X, then Y, then Z")
- **Skips for:** single-file edits under ~50 lines, pure chat questions, code-review requests (no editing), commands that contain 'just', 'quick', 'simple'

You can force orchestrator on/off per task: prefix with `/orchestrate` or `/single`.

## Real run example: adding pagination

**Prompt:** "Add cursor pagination to the /api/users endpoint. Update the schema, the handler, and the OpenAPI spec. Make sure existing tests pass."

**Planner output (Opus 4.7, ~$0.18):** Decomposes into 4 steps — schema migration, handler update, OpenAPI spec edit, test verification. Identifies risk: backward compat for clients without cursor.

**Coder execution (Sonnet 4.6, ~$0.42):** Edits 3 files. Adds a default-cursor fallback for backward compat per the planner's flag.

**Debugger run (Haiku 4.5, ~$0.04):** Runs `pytest` — 2 failures. Patches the assertion in `test_users.py` to accept the new shape. Re-runs — green.

**Total:** $0.64, 4 minutes wall-clock. Same task with single-agent Sonnet: $0.31, 6 minutes, 1 missed edge case caught later in code review. Net win for orchestrator.

## Real run example: when orchestrator hurts

**Prompt:** "Rename the variable `userCount` to `activeUserCount` across the project."

Orchestrator overhead here: planner spends $0.05 confirming what's obvious. Coder finishes the work. Debugger finds nothing to verify. Total cost: 1.4× a single-agent run, no quality benefit. **Use /single for trivial tasks.**

## Reading the trace

Open the orchestrator trace pane (default keybind: Ctrl+Shift+O). Three columns show planner / coder / debugger streams in real time. Click any step to see the model used, tokens consumed, and the full prompt+response. Most useful for debugging unexpected outputs — usually you'll find the planner made a wrong assumption that propagated downstream.

## Configuration

```
# ~/.kilo/config.toml
[orchestrator]
enabled = true
auto_decompose_threshold = 50  # lines edited
max_iterations = 4              # debugger ↔ coder loop cap
budget_usd = 2.50              # hard stop per task

[orchestrator.models]
planner = "anthropic/claude-opus-4-7"
coder    = "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6"
debugger = "anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5"
```

## When to disable orchestrator

- You're paying close to the per-task budget cap and want predictable cost
- The task is genuinely simple (rename, single-line fix, add a docstring)
- Latency matters more than quality — orchestrator adds 30–90 seconds vs single-agent
- You're chatting/exploring rather than executing — orchestrator burns tokens it doesn't need to

## Next

- [Kilo vs Claude Code](https://openclawdatabase.com/kilocode/vs-claude-code/) — orchestrator is the biggest architectural divergence
- [Security](https://openclawdatabase.com/kilocode/security/) — orchestrator runs sub-agents with the same permissions as parent; review before connecting to prod

## More Kilo Code Guides

Continue your Kilo Code journey — every guide on the hub:

 [⚡ Setup — All 5 Surfaces Install in VS Code, JetBrains, CLI, mobile (iOS/Android), and Slack. First-run config and the orchestrator toggle.](https://openclawdatabase.com/kilocode/setup/)

 [🔌 Models via OpenRouter (500+) How Kilo routes to Claude, GPT-5.5, Gemini, Kimi, Qwen, and 495+ others through one credential — no markup.](https://openclawdatabase.com/kilocode/models/)

 [⚖️ Kilo vs Claude Code Honest side-by-side. What Kilo wins (multi-IDE, model breadth, orchestrator), what Claude Code wins (polish, support).](https://openclawdatabase.com/kilocode/vs-claude-code/)

 [🔐 Security Posture Apache-2.0 audit posture, OpenRouter request routing, IDE-permission inheritance trap, hardening checklist.](https://openclawdatabase.com/kilocode/security/)

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