kimi-delegate

---
name: kimi-delegate
description: >-
license: MIT
---

# Kimi Delegate

You are the **orchestrator**. Hand a bounded coding task to a separate **implementer** - the Kimi Code
CLI - then review what it produced and land it yourself. You write the brief and own the judgment;
Kimi does the typing in its own session; you verify and commit.

The loop needs only a shell command and file access, so any comparable orchestrator can drive it.

## When NOT to use this

- The task is small enough to do inline; delegation overhead is not worth it.
- The `kimi` CLI is not installed or authenticated.
- You need a CLI-enforced read-only implementer. Headless Kimi has no read-only mode.

## Prerequisites (check once)

1. Install Kimi Code with `brew install kimi-code` on macOS/Linux, or use the native installer from
   the [official Kimi Code documentation](https://moonshotai.github.io/kimi-code/en/).
2. Authenticate with `kimi login` (device-code flow, no TUI), or use `/login` in the TUI.
3. Confirm `kimi --version` succeeds.
4. Work in, or point `--cd` at, the target git repository.

## Choose the model alias

Kimi uses `default_model` from its `config.toml` when `--model` is omitted. To choose another model
alias, pass `--model <alias from your kimi config>`. Model aliases are user-defined config keys; use
one the human has configured rather than inventing one.

## The loop

Run these five steps per task. Steps 1, 4, and 5 require judgment; 2 and 3 are mechanical.

### 1. Write the brief

Kimi sees only the text you send plus what it can inspect in the workspace - no chat history or shared
context. Include the goal, current state, what to change, what to leave untouched, the project's
**actual** gates, and a report contract. Tell Kimi not to commit. Keep one task per brief. See
[references/writing-the-brief.md](references/writing-the-brief.md).

### 2. Dispatch

Use the bundled helper. It wraps Kimi's headless prompt mode, captures the structured event stream,
and writes `result.json`. (`<skill-dir>` is the installed folder containing this `SKILL.md`.)

```bash
node "<skill-dir>/scripts/relay.mjs" --brief brief.txt --cd /path/to/repo
# choose a configured model alias:       add --model <alias from your kimi config>
# resume the most recent session:        add --resume-last  (delta brief only)
# resume a specific session:             add --session <id> (delta brief only)
# hard time limit (watchdog):            add --timeout 2h  (the 30m default suits short runs; implementation briefs routinely need 1-2h)
# see all options:                       node .../relay.mjs --help
```

The child process's cwd pins the workspace. Use repeatable `--add-dir` flags only for extra workspace
directories. The relay writes artifacts under the system temp dir by default and never commits. See
[references/dispatch-and-poll.md](references/dispatch-and-poll.md).

### 3. Wait for completion

The helper blocks until Kimi finishes. Run it with the orchestrator's background-command facility, or
background it in the shell and poll for `result.json`. A pre-run usage error exits 2 and writes no
result; a missing `kimi` exits 127 and writes `status: "kimi_unavailable"`.

Trust process state and the working tree over a progress display. Completion means the process exited
and `result.json` exists. Kimi's full report is the `finalMessage` field in `result.json` (also printed
in full on stdout between the report markers).

### 4. Review - do not trust the self-report

Treat Kimi's final message and gate claims as claims:

- Re-run the project's gates yourself.
- Read the diff against the brief, starting with `touchedFiles`.
- Run relevant guard skills if installed.
- Round-trip migrations and grep for dangling references after removals or renames.

See [references/review-and-land.md](references/review-and-land.md).

### 5. Land it

The implementer edits the working tree; **the orchestrator commits.** Commit only after the gates pass
and the diff holds. If rework is needed, send a delta brief with `--resume-last` or `--session <id>`,
then review again.

## Autonomy and permissions

In headless `-p` mode, Kimi always runs in **auto permission mode** and never asks for approval. Kimi
rejects `--prompt` combined with `--yolo`, `--auto`, or `--plan`, so the relay passes none of them and
offers no `--read-only` or `--full-access` option. There is no CLI-enforced read-only mode: inspect
`touchedFiles` and the diff after every run. That diff, not a flag, is the guarantee of what changed.

## Authorization model

Delegation is something the human opts into. Once they have ("run this queue", "proceed"), committing
verified, gate-passing work is the agreed contract. Two limits remain: **surface, don't absorb**
(report Kimi's design decisions, defensible-but-unasked turns, and non-blocking nitpicks) and **stop
for scope changes** (if correct completion needs going beyond the brief, ask instead of expanding the
mandate). See [references/review-and-land.md](references/review-and-land.md).

## References

- [references/writing-the-brief.md](references/writing-the-brief.md) - structure, report contract,
  real gates, argv delivery, and delta briefs.
- [references/dispatch-and-poll.md](references/dispatch-and-poll.md) - flags, artifacts,
  `result.json`, polling, and failure recovery.
- [references/review-and-land.md](references/review-and-land.md) - review checklist, commit boundary,
  and rework through Kimi sessions.
- [references/multi-task-queues.md](references/multi-task-queues.md) - sequential queues, constraint
  carry-forward, progress tracking, and the final coherence pass.