Data locations

Kimi Code CLI stores all runtime data — the config file, session history, login credentials, and diagnostic logs — under ~/.kimi-code/. This page helps you understand where each type of data lives, what it is for, and how to clean up or relocate it when needed.

Data root directory

The default data root is ~/.kimi-code/. The actual path varies by platform:

macOS: /Users/<name>/.kimi-code
Linux: /home/<name>/.kimi-code
Windows: C:\Users\<name>\.kimi-code

If you need to move the data directory elsewhere (for example, to isolate configs for different projects with independent environments), set KIMI_CODE_HOME:

export KIMI_CODE_HOME="$HOME/.config/kimi-code"

Once set, all data — config, sessions, logs, OAuth credentials, and more — lands under the new path. For the full reference on KIMI_CODE_HOME, see Environment variables.

Two types of data are not affected by KIMI_CODE_HOME

Built-in tool cache (ripgrep binary) uses KIMI_CODE_CACHE_DIR instead. When that is unset, the platform cache directory is used: ~/Library/Caches/kimi-code on macOS, ~/.cache/kimi-code on Linux, and %LOCALAPPDATA%\kimi-code on Windows.

Agent Skills search paths are ~/.kimi-code/skills and ~/.agents/skills (user level), and .kimi-code/skills and .agents/skills under the working directory (project level). See Agent Skills.

Directory layout

$KIMI_CODE_HOME  (default: ~/.kimi-code)
├── config.toml             # User configuration
├── tui.toml                # Terminal UI preferences (including auto-update toggle)
├── mcp.json                # User-level MCP server declarations (optional)
├── plugins/
│   ├── installed.json      # Installed plugin records and enabled state
│   └── managed/            # Plugin copies installed from zip/local paths
├── session_index.jsonl     # Session index
├── credentials/            # OAuth credentials (dir 0700, files 0600)
│   ├── <name>.json
│   └── mcp/
│       └── <key>-<suffix>.json
├── sessions/               # Session data (see below)
│   └── <workDirKey>/<sessionId>/
├── bin/
│   └── rg                  # ripgrep cache (rg.exe on Windows)
├── logs/
│   └── kimi-code.log       # Global diagnostic log
├── updates/
│   ├── latest.json
│   ├── install.json
│   └── install.lock
└── user-history/
    └── <md5(workDir)>.jsonl

File descriptions

Each top-level file under the data root serves a specific purpose; most are managed automatically by the CLI:

config.toml: the main runtime configuration file, storing user-level settings such as providers, models, and loop control. See Configuration files.
tui.toml: terminal UI client preferences, including [upgrade].auto_install (auto-update, on by default). You can disable it in /settings or by manually setting auto_install = false.
mcp.json: user-level MCP server declarations, merged with the project-local .kimi-code/mcp.json on startup. See MCP.
plugins/installed.json: records installed plugins, each plugin's enabled state, and MCP server capability state changes made via /plugins or /plugins mcp disable|enable. Files installed from local paths or zip URLs are copied to plugins/managed/<id>/. See Plugins.
credentials/: OAuth credential directory, with permissions 0o700 (directory) / 0o600 (files), readable and writable only by the current user. Managed provider credentials are stored as credentials/<name>.json; MCP server credentials are stored under credentials/mcp/. Credentials are written using an atomic flow (tmp → fsync → rename) to prevent corruption.

Session data

Each session's data is stored under sessions/<workDirKey>/<sessionId>/, and a top-level session_index.jsonl index is maintained (one record per line, each containing sessionId, sessionDir, and workDir). workDirKey is a bucket name derived from the working directory path, in the format wd_<slug>_<first-12-chars-of-sha256>.

Inside each session directory:

state.json: session metadata including title, lastPrompt, creation/update timestamps, and forkedFrom.
upcoming-goals.json: the TUI-only queue created by /goal next <objective>. It is not part of the agent conversation until a queued goal is promoted after the current goal completes.
agents/main/wire.jsonl: the main Agent's complete communication record, used for session resumption and replay.
agents/main/plans/: plan files written in Plan mode, named by plan id (<id>.md).
agents/agent-0/ etc.: sub-Agent instance directories, each containing their own wire.jsonl.
logs/kimi-code.log: diagnostic log for this session; only present when a diagnostic event occurs.
tasks/: background task persistence — tasks/<task_id>.json stores status/pid/exit code; tasks/<task_id>/output.log stores output.
cron/: scheduled task persistence; reloaded into the scheduler when kimi resume runs. See Scheduled tasks.

Built-in tool cache

The first time the CLI needs ripgrep, it automatically downloads and caches it at bin/rg (bin/rg.exe on Windows); subsequent runs reuse the cached binary. If rg is already available on the system PATH, that version takes precedence. Deleting the bin/ directory triggers a fresh download on the next use.

Logs and update state

logs/kimi-code.log (global): records startup, login, export, and other cross-session events.
<sessionDir>/logs/kimi-code.log (session-level): records diagnostic events within a single session.

When reporting a bug, prefer exporting the relevant session with kimi export (see kimi command); the session log is included in the export by default. Add --no-include-global-log if you do not want to share the global log.

The three files under updates/ (latest.json, install.json, install.lock) are maintained automatically by the auto-update mechanism and normally do not need manual editing.

Input history

Terminal input history is saved separately per working directory, at user-history/<md5(workDir)>.jsonl. It is used to browse previously typed prompts in the terminal UI using the arrow keys.

Clearing data

Deleting the data root directory (~/.kimi-code/ or the path set by KIMI_CODE_HOME) removes all runtime data. To clear only part of the data:

Goal	Action
Reset configuration	Delete `~/.kimi-code/config.toml`
Reset terminal UI preferences	Delete `~/.kimi-code/tui.toml`
Clear all sessions	Delete `~/.kimi-code/sessions/` and `session_index.jsonl`
Clear diagnostic logs	Delete `~/.kimi-code/logs/`
Clear input history	Delete `~/.kimi-code/user-history/`
Reset update state	Delete `~/.kimi-code/updates/latest.json`
Force re-download of ripgrep	Delete `~/.kimi-code/bin/`
Clear provider OAuth login state	Run `/logout`, or delete the corresponding `credentials/<name>.json`
Clear MCP server OAuth login state	Delete `credentials/mcp/` (`/logout` does not clear MCP credentials)
Remove user-level MCP declarations	Delete `~/.kimi-code/mcp.json`
Clear plugin install records	Delete `~/.kimi-code/plugins/` (local plugin source directories are not affected)
Clear user-level Skills	Delete `~/.kimi-code/skills/`

Next steps

Configuration files — full reference for config.toml fields
Environment variables — detailed usage of KIMI_CODE_HOME and related path variables

Data locations ​

Data root directory ​

Directory layout ​

File descriptions ​

Session data ​

Built-in tool cache ​

Logs and update state ​

Input history ​

Clearing data ​

Next steps ​