Migrating from Cline to Kilo

A practical guide for developers switching from Cline to Kilo.

Why Switch?

Speed. The Kilo Platform is designed to reduce friction across the entire development workflow. Beyond feature parity with Cline, Kilo includes Code Reviews, App Builder, Cloud Agents, and one-click Deploy.

Multi-platform. Work in VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, CLI, or the web. Your Sessions sync across all of them automatically.

Specialized modes. Instead of one agent doing everything, Kilo has five specialized modes optimized for different parts of your workflow.

500+ models. More providers, more options, better pricing flexibility. Switch models mid-conversation if you want.

Understanding Kilo's Mode System

Cline uses a single agent with a Plan/Act toggle. Kilo takes a different approach: five specialized modes, each optimized for a specific part of development. You select modes from a dropdown in the interface in the Kilo Extension, or with slash commands in the CLI.

Kilo's Five Modes

Code Mode (default)

• What it does: Implementation and refactoring
• Cline equivalent: Act mode
• When to use: Writing features, fixing bugs, making changes
• Example: "Add user authentication to the API"

Ask Mode

• What it does: Answers questions, explains code
• Cline equivalent: Plan mode (read-only exploration)
• When to use: Understanding codebases, learning patterns
• Example: "How does our caching layer work?"

Debug Mode

• What it does: Systematic troubleshooting and error diagnosis
• Cline equivalent: Act mode focused on debugging
• When to use: Tracking down bugs, fixing runtime issues
• Example: "Why is this API endpoint returning 500?"

Architect Mode

• What it does: Planning, design, and technical leadership
• Cline equivalent: Plan mode (exploration and planning)
• When to use: Before complex refactors, designing new systems
• Example: "Design a caching strategy for our API"

Orchestrator Mode

• What it does: Breaks down complex tasks, coordinates other modes
• Cline equivalent: Complex multi-step workflows
• When to use: Large features spanning multiple systems
• Example: "Build a complete user management system"

Mode Switching in Action

Cline workflow: Toggle Plan/Act → Submit task → Plan phase → Approve → Act phase → Checkpoint

Kilo workflow:
Select mode from dropdown → Build → Switch modes as needed → Checkpoint → Session auto-saves

Or

Select Orchestrator mode → autonomously define subtasks → intelligently distribute subtasks across modes

Example: Refactoring authentication

Cline:

1. Enable Plan/Act mode
2. "Refactor auth to use OAuth2"
3. Wait for plan → Review → Approve
4. Watch step-by-step execution
5. Checkpoint when done

Kilo:

1. Select Orchestrator from the mode dropdown
2. "Implement OAuth2 refactor for our authentication"
3. Orchestrator creates subtasks for other modes automatically
4. Architect Mode reviews the architecture
5. Code Mode implements the OAuth2 client
6. Session/checkpoints preserved automatically

Example: Understanding unfamiliar code

Cline: Use Plan mode (but risk accidentally switching to Act)

Kilo: Select Ask from the dropdown

• "Explain how the payment processing flow works"
• "What external services does this integrate with?"
• Ask mode never writes files, so exploration is always safe

Why this matters: In Cline, you might accidentally make changes while exploring. In Kilo, Ask and Architect modes can't write files, so you're safe to explore without worry. Kilo's Orchestrator mode lets you intelligently generate and execute subtasks that are optimized for each mode.

Installation

VS Code / Cursor

1. Open Extensions (Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + X)
2. Search "Kilo Code"
3. Click Install
4. Find the Kilo icon in your sidebar

JetBrains IDEs

Supports IntelliJ, PyCharm, WebStorm, and all JetBrains IDEs.

Prerequisites:

• JetBrains Toolbox (required for auth)
• Node.js LTS

Install:

1. Settings → Plugins → Marketplace
2. Search "Kilo Code"
3. Install and restart
4. Find Kilo icon in right sidebar

CLI

npm install -g @kilocode/cli
kilo

Web (Cloud Agents & App Builder)

Visit app.kilo.ai and sign in. This gives you access to:

• Cloud Agents: Run Kilo without a local machine
• App Builder: Build and preview apps directly in your browser
• Kilo Deploy: One-click deployments
• Code Reviews: AI-powered PR analysis

Initial Setup

Create account

1. Click "Try Kilo Code for Free" in the Kilo panel
2. Sign in with OAuth at kilo.ai
3. You'll be redirected back to your IDE

Configure your provider

Option 1: Use Kilo Gateway (easiest)

1. Open settings (⚙️ icon)
2. Select "Kilo Gateway" as provider
3. Choose a model (such as Claude Opus 4.5, Gemini 3, MiniMax M2.1)

Option 2: Bring your own API keys

1. Select your provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, etc.)
2. Enter your API key
3. Choose your model

Beyond the IDE: Kilo's Platform Features

One of the biggest differences from Cline is that Kilo isn't just an IDE extension. It's a platform with multiple interfaces that can all share your Sessions and context.

Cloud Agents

Run Kilo from app.kilo.ai/cloud without needing your local machine. Great for:

• Working from a tablet or phone
• Offloading heavy tasks
• Parallel execution without blocking your IDE

Parallel Agents

Run multiple agents simultaneously without conflicts, in both the IDE and CLI. Start an agent working on tests while another handles documentation.

Sessions

Your conversation history, context, and state sync across all interfaces automatically. Start a task in the CLI, continue in VS Code, check progress on mobile.

App Builder

Build live apps and sites directly from the web with a real-time preview. Similar to Lovable, but integrated with your Kilo Sessions. Deploy with one click when you're ready.

Kilo Deploy

One-click deployments from directly within Kilo. Go from code to production without leaving your workflow.

Code Reviews

Automatically analyzes your PRs using your choice of AI model. Reviews happen the moment a PR is opened or updated, covering performance, security, style, and test coverage.

Managed Indexing

Semantic search across your repositories using cloud-hosted embeddings. Kilo indexes your codebase to deliver more relevant, context-aware responses.

Autocomplete

In-line ghost-text completions with tab to complete. Works alongside the agent modes for a complete coding experience.

Complete Development Workflows

New Feature Development

Kilo approach:

1. Architect mode: "Design a user notification system"
2. Review architecture, discuss trade-offs
3. Code mode: "Implement the notification service"
4. Fast Apply builds it quickly
5. Debug mode: "Email sends aren't working"
6. Fix issues
7. Session auto-saves as "Notifications-Complete"

Debugging Production Issues

Kilo approach:

1. Debug mode: "Checkout fails with 'payment_intent_not_found'"
2. Debug mode systematically checks logs, traces API calls
3. Code mode: "Add idempotency key to prevent duplicates"
4. Verify fix

Large Refactoring

Kilo approach:

1. Ask mode: "Explain our current auth implementation"
2. Architect mode: "Design migration to JWT tokens"
3. Session saves as "Auth-Refactor-Plan"
4. Code mode: Implement JWT generation, update middleware
5. Debug mode: Fix failing tests

Learning Unfamiliar Code

Kilo approach:

1. Ask mode: "Explain how payment processing works"
2. "What happens when a payment fails?"
3. "Show me the retry logic"
4. Ask mode never writes, so exploration is completely safe
5. When ready, switch to Code mode to make changes

Feature Mapping

What You Gain

• Specialized modes: Purpose-built for different parts of development
• Fast Apply: 5-10x faster code application
• Autocomplete: Inline AI suggestions
• Multi-platform: VS Code, JetBrains, CLI, web
• Session Persistance: Sessions preserve mode + context across devices
• 500+ models: More provider options, switch anytime
• Cloud Agents: Work without your local machine
• App Builder: Build and preview apps in the browser
• One-click Deploy: Ship directly from Kilo
• Code Reviews: AI-powered PR analysis
• Parallel Agents: Run multiple agents simultaneously

Common Questions

Q: Do I have to switch modes constantly? No. Orchestrator does that automatically. Code mode handles most day-to-day work. Switch when you need specialized behavior.

Q: What if I forget to switch modes? Code mode is the default and handles most tasks. It'll still work, just might not be optimized for exploration or planning.

Q: Can I customize what each mode does? Yes. Add mode-specific instructions in settings, or create custom modes.

Q: Can I use both Cline and Kilo side-by-side? Yes. They're separate extensions.

Q: What's the difference between Cloud Agents and the IDE extension? Same capabilities, different interface. Cloud Agents run in the browser, so you can work from any device without your local machine.

Next Steps

1. Install Kilo in your primary IDE
2. Try each mode with a small task:
   • Code: "Add a hello world endpoint"
   • Ask: "Explain what this file does"
   • Debug: "Why is this function returning undefined?"
   • Architect: "Design a logging system"
   • Orchestrator: "Build an app, end-to-end, that…"
3. Try Cloud Agents at app.kilo.ai
4. Install the Kilo CLI with npm install -g @kilocode/cli
5. Enable Autocomplete for inline suggestions