⚡ Kilo Code Setup — All 5 Surfaces

Prerequisites

• An OpenRouter account (openrouter.ai) — Kilo defaults to routing through OpenRouter for the 500+ model catalog. You'll fund a small balance ($5–10 is plenty to start).
• OR: API keys from your preferred providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, etc.) if you want direct billing without going through OpenRouter.
• Node 18+ if you plan to use the CLI.
• For JetBrains: any 2024.1+ build (IntelliJ IDEA, GoLand, PyCharm, WebStorm, etc.).

Surface 1 — VS Code (most common)

1. Open VS Code → Extensions panel → search Kilo Code → Install.
2. The Kilo sidebar icon (lightning bolt) appears in the activity bar. Click it.
3. First-run prompt: paste your OpenRouter API key (or BYO provider keys). Kilo stores credentials in VS Code's secure secret storage — never in plaintext settings.
4. Pick a default model. Recommended starting pair: Claude Sonnet 4.6 for chat, GPT-5.5 or Opus 4.7 for the orchestrator's planner step.
5. Toggle Orchestrator mode on (default is on as of v1.2). See the orchestrator guide for what changes.

Surface 2 — JetBrains

1. Settings → Plugins → Marketplace → search Kilo Code → Install → Restart IDE.
2. The Kilo tool window appears at the right edge by default. Pin it where you want.
3. Same first-run flow as VS Code: API key, default model, orchestrator toggle.
4. JetBrains-specific perk: Kilo can read your IDE's structural index (PSI tree) for faster repo-wide context, reducing tokens spent on file scanning.

Surface 3 — CLI

npm install -g @kilocode/cli
kilo auth        # opens browser for OpenRouter OAuth, or paste API key
kilo            # starts an interactive session in the current directory

The CLI is best for: scripting, CI/CD integration, headless servers, SSH workflows where you don't want a GUI. Most VS Code/JetBrains features work in the CLI; the orchestrator runs identically.

Surface 4 — Mobile (iOS + Android)

Kilo Mobile is for review and direction, not heavy editing. Open the app, sign in with the same Kilo account, and you'll see your active sessions. You can: read pending agent output, approve/reject suggested edits, kick off a new task with a voice or text prompt, and check on a long-running orchestrator job.

Mobile does NOT replace your IDE — it's a remote control. The agent itself runs on Kilo's cloud (or your CLI host if you've configured remote SSH).

Surface 5 — Slack

Best for teams. Add the Kilo bot to your workspace, then DM /kilo <task> or mention @kilo in any channel. The bot operates against a connected GitHub repo (configured per channel). Use cases: triage issues, draft PR responses, run the orchestrator on a backlog ticket from your phone via Slack.

Profile management

Kilo supports multiple profiles via ~/.kilo/profiles.toml. Common pattern: a personal profile (BYO Anthropic key) and a work profile (OpenRouter for billing isolation). Switch with kilo profile use <name> in the CLI or via the profile picker in the IDE extension.

Common setup pitfalls

• Storing keys in settings.json. Don't. Use the secret storage prompt the first-run wizard offers — it's encrypted.
• Forgetting to set a per-task budget. Orchestrator runs are powerful but can fan out cost. Set kilo.task_budget_usd in settings to a sane cap (we use $1.50 per task).
• Running on free OpenRouter credits. Free models throttle aggressively — fine for testing, painful in production. $5 is enough to actually use Kilo for a week.

Next

• Connect 500+ models via OpenRouter → which to pick for which task
• Orchestrator deep-dive → how the planner/coder/debugger split works
• Security hardening → before you connect Kilo to a production repo