Kiki desktop

The Windows build has a signed in-app updater. macOS and Linux builds do not — updating them means downloading the newer bundle yourself. This page covers both, plus what happens to your data during an update and how to roll back. Installation steps are in Installation.

Platform	Bundle	How you update it
Windows x64	Kiki_*_x64-setup.exe (per-user NSIS installer, includes the CLI)	In-app updater, or run the newer installer
Linux x64	Kiki_*_amd64.deb / Kiki_*_amd64.AppImage	Download and install the newer bundle
macOS Apple Silicon	Kiki_*_aarch64.dmg	Download the newer dmg
macOS Intel	Kiki_*_x64.dmg	Download the newer dmg

Windows installers, updater signatures, SHA256 checksums, and updater manifests for every version stay on GitHub Releases.

Note

The Windows installer carries no Authenticode signature (Windows' official code signing, which is what displays a verified publisher name). SmartScreen may therefore show an unknown publisher for a file you downloaded from the official Release. See SmartScreen and updater signing.

Requirements and release channels

The Windows build installs for the current Windows account without administrator access. If the machine lacks the required runtime, the installer downloads the Microsoft Edge WebView2 bootstrapper (the Microsoft web component the desktop UI renders in).

macOS needs 13.5 or later, which is the floor of the runtime bundled inside the app. Intel and Apple Silicon are separate downloads, not one universal app. Linux desktop builds are x64 (deb or AppImage); the CLI/TUI also builds for arm64. Nothing in Kiki requires a desktop — the CLI/TUI runs on a machine with no display.

Channel	What it offers	Update feed
Stable	The current stable build	https://x-t-e-r.github.io/kiki/updater/stable/latest.json
Beta	Newer builds that have been tested but are not stable yet	https://x-t-e-r.github.io/kiki/updater/beta/latest.json

Each feed is a JSON file the updater reads; you never need to open it. The stable feed names the highest published stable version, and it stays empty until the first stable release. While only beta builds exist, the beta feed is the one that has content. Once both exist, the beta feed names whichever of the two is higher by SemVer (Semantic Versioning — the rule that compares major, minor, and patch numbers), so selecting Beta can also hand you the current stable build.

Install and verify

Download from a versioned Release, not from a "latest download" link, so the installer, checksum, and updater metadata all come from the same kiki-v<version> tag.

1. Open the Kiki Releases page and select the stable or beta version you want.

2. Download the Kiki_*_x64-setup.exe installer and the .sha256 file next to it.

3. In the download directory, open PowerShell and run these two commands, replacing the file name with the one you downloaded. The first prints the checksum the release published, the second computes the checksum of your copy:

   Get-Content .\Kiki_1.0.0_x64-setup.exe.sha256
   (Get-FileHash .\Kiki_1.0.0_x64-setup.exe -Algorithm SHA256).Hash.ToLower()

4. Check that the two hexadecimal strings match.

5. Run the installer, then start Kiki from the Windows Start menu.

The .sig asset holds the Tauri updater signature (Tauri is the app framework behind the desktop app) that the in-app updater checks. You do not need it for a manual install — the .sha256 file above is the manual check.

Update

Settings → About is where updates live. It shows the current version, lets you pick the Update channel (Stable or Beta), and turns automatic checks on or off. With automatic checks on, Kiki looks for a new version once a day, and the When an update is found setting below the switch decides what happens then: Notify me shows an update dialog, while Download and install goes straight into the install. Either way, a space with running work is never closed without asking you first. Check for updates always checks the channel you have selected, whether or not the automatic check is on.

In Notify me mode the dialog shows the version and a short summary of what changed, then waits for you. The three buttons are not the same kind of decision:

• Remind me tomorrow — the same offer comes back 24 hours later.
• Skip this version — Kiki stops asking about that version on that channel, and remembers it. A newer version still comes, and a skip recorded on Stable does not silence Beta.
• Update now — install it.

Closing the dialog with the window button or Esc dismisses this reminder only; nothing is stored, so the same offer can come back later.

Before installing, Kiki looks the version up on your channel again. If the channel or the version changed since the offer appeared, it refreshes the offer instead of installing something you did not agree to. If any space still has a running session or waiting input, Kiki names those spaces and asks you to confirm before closing anything; declining leaves your sessions running. Once you confirm, Kiki closes the backends it manages, then downloads, verifies and installs. Switching channels never downgrades an install.

If the download or install step fails, Kiki says so and the install button becomes a retry. Whether your sessions need restarting depends on how far it got: retry directly while the update screen is still usable, and restart Kiki only if you need those sessions back. If the automatic check or a channel change cannot be saved, the dialog stays open and tells you to try again.

If the in-app update keeps failing, close Kiki, download the newer installer from the exact Release you were trying to update to, verify its .sha256 file, and run it. Installing over the existing per-user installation keeps your application data where it is.

On macOS and Linux, quit Kiki, install the newer bundle over the old one, and start it again. If an older Kiki process is still running against the same data home, quit it first — see KIKI_HOME.

Backend logs

When the desktop app starts its own backend, that backend's error output goes to desktop-backend.log in the active space's logs directory, beside the server's own kimi-code.log. The file rotates at 5 MiB and keeps three numbered backups, where .1 is the newest.

The backend logs at warn by default. To change that, quit the desktop app and set "logLevel" in the active space's desktop.json, leaving its other fields alone. Accepted values are fatal, error, warn, info, debug, trace, and silent. A space without its own desktop.json follows the main home. The new level applies the next time the desktop app launches the backend.

SmartScreen and updater signing

When SmartScreen appears, check the URL and the hash before you go any further: the URL should be under github.com/X-T-E-R/kiki/releases/, and the SHA256 value should match the published one. If both check out, use More info → Run anyway. A copy that arrived through chat, email, or a third-party mirror fails that check by definition — do not install it.

Windows, tray, and opening files

On Windows and macOS, closing the window hides it to the tray. On Linux with a tray available, the same close minimizes the window so your window manager can bring it back. Quit in the tray menu is how you leave the app. Closing the window asks the same question when no tray is available, or when Settings → General → Desktop behaviour is set to Quit Kiki instead of Hide to tray.

Quit offers three buttons:

• Stop services and quit — exit, and stop the desktop-managed local shared services for the spaces this window is connected to.
• Close desktop only — exit this desktop and leave a service that is already running. Background work, other windows, the CLI, and external clients stay connected to it. A service that has not finished starting can still be stopped by the exit; wait until it is ready if you need it to stay.
• Cancel — stay in the app.

Stop services and quit stops only desktop-managed services from the same build as this app, including a shared service started by another Kiki window. Stopping it disconnects every other window, CLI, and external client using that space, cancels unfinished work, and waits for that service to close its MCP servers and finish Bash cleanup. Shell describes which Windows Bash processes keep running after a command exits. A service you started yourself keeps running, and so does any space this window is not connected to. Processes that belong to another Kiki service stay with that service, and programs you did not start through Kiki stay as they are.

If the connected service belongs to another build, its identity changed after you confirmed, a connection is still starting, or the service is still draining after about 90 seconds, Kiki keeps this window open under Kiki · Service shutdown not confirmed and shows the reason. On Windows, a backend that exits with a nonzero code is reported the same way. Nothing is force-stopped. Let the work settle, then choose Quit again.

Opening a file from the file menu hands it to the app your system associates with that file type. The menu does not launch these types, because starting them would run code outside the app: .app and .command on macOS, .desktop on Linux, and executables and scripts on Windows. A shortcut pointing at one of those is refused too. Other files, including ordinary text files, open normally, and Reveal in file manager is unaffected.

Roll back

To go back a version, back up any workspace data you care about, close Kiki, then download the previous installer and its .sha256 file from that exact tag, verify the hash, and run the installer.

If Windows refuses to install the older version over the newer one, uninstall Kiki from Installed apps first, then run the older installer. Keep Kiki's application data through that uninstall unless you want to reset your local settings and sessions. After rolling back, stay on the stable channel — otherwise the next update check offers you the beta again.