Codebase Indexing Is Back in Kilo Code: Semantic Search Setup in One Minute

Setup Steps

1. Open Kilo Code settings → go to the Indexing section.
2. Toggle indexing on for your project.
3. Pick an embedding provider:
   • Kilo Tokens (default) — use this if you have Kilo credits; no extra key needed.
   • Mistral key (free) — bring a Mistral API key at no additional cost.
   • Ollama + LanceDB — fully local; no server to manage.
   • OpenAI, OpenRouter, or Gemini — use your existing BYOK key for any of these providers.
4. Click save and wait for the status to read complete.

Key Takeaways

• After indexing, the agent picks up a semantic search tool — instead of running repeated greps guessing at terms, it describes the concept it's after and gets the right files and line ranges in one call.
• Solves the "I know what this code does but not what the repo calls it" problem common in large unfamiliar codebases.
• Embedding providers are all BYOK — zero markup, same as all other model calls in Kilo Code.
• The Ollama + LanceDB option keeps the entire index local — useful for proprietary codebases that should not be sent to an external API.
• The index rebuilds automatically as the codebase changes.