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Try Kin on your own code.

Kin is in public beta. Start in a fresh, full clone of a project you know well.

npx -y @kinlab/kin setup

Requires Node.js 20 or newer. Downloads need network access.

One command on macOS, Linux, WSL2 and Windows x64. There is no Windows ARM64 build, so use WSL2 there. Other ways to install

Continue setup

Set up one project. Ask one question.

When setup finishes, open a new terminal in a small project you know, so you can check the answers. Language and workflow support are limited and Kin can miss connections, so keep your tests and review.

  1. 01

    Build the graph for one repository

    Kin reads the repository and its history once, then reports what it holds. Use a small project you know, so you can check the answers.

    cd /path/to/repository
    kin init
    kin status
  2. 02

    Enable reference edges

    Kin resolves references across files through a language server for each language. This installs the ones your host is missing, and reports any that need a toolchain Kin will not install for you.

    kin doctor --fix --install-language-servers
  3. 03

    Ask your first question

    Ask what calls a function you know. Check the answer in the source.

    kin refs YourFunctionName
Optional: vector similarity setup

Vector similarity is optional. Run kin embed when you want it, and budget for the model download and the local memory it needs. On a small repository, a fast kin init can outrun the 523 MB embedding model download in the background, so the first kin locate may run without semantic ranking; run it again after the download finishes.

Connect your AI coding tool.

The command at the top of this page does both steps for most tools: it installs Kin and registers it with the AI coding tools on your machine. Then run kin init in the repository you want Kin to answer for. A few tools record which repository they serve, so if yours is one of them, run kin setup --intent agent once more from inside that repository and Kin will pick it up.

Agent setup prompt

Paste this into a supported AI coding tool with local terminal access. It leads with the same command as the top of this page, in the form that answers the wizard's questions for an agent, then initializes the repository and checks the result.

Show the prompt
Please set up Kin for this project. Kin records named code, resolved relationships and changes as repository data, with familiar files available to supported tools.
It lets you ask the graph where code lives instead of searching files for it.

Work from the root of the repository we are setting up.

First install Kin and connect the AI clients on this machine. One command does both on macOS,
Linux, WSL2 and native Windows x64. It needs Node 20 or newer. On native Windows, read the note
on platforms at the end before you start.

  npx -y @kinlab/kin setup --intent agent --no-interactive

If this machine has no Node, use the installer instead. It puts the same binaries in the same
place.

  curl -fsSL https://get.kinlab.dev/install | KIN_NO_SETUP=1 sh

Either way Kin lands in ~/.kin/bin and adds that directory to your shell profile, so start a
new login shell before you use the bare name.

  exec "$SHELL" -l

Then admit this repository into the graph. Kin reads the whole reachable Git history, so a
large repository can take a while. This cost is paid once.

  kin init

After init the daemon keeps preparing in the background, so the first agent calls on a large
repository can take noticeably longer to answer.

Some clients record the repository they answer for, so run setup once more from inside the
initialized repository to pick those up.

  kin setup --intent agent

Confirm it worked before going further.

  kin setup doctor

Check that the MCP clients line reports ok.

Now install the language servers. Kin resolves references across files through a language
server for each language in the repository, and a fresh host usually has none, so do this
before you rely on find_references.

  kin doctor --fix --install-language-servers

Kin uses a toolchain you already have when there is one, and otherwise downloads a release
binary it checks against a digest it ships with. It prints what it installed and where it came
from, and it tells you when the server it installed still needs something Kin will not install
for you. Rust is the case worth knowing: rust-analyzer reads a project by running cargo, so on
a machine with no Rust toolchain it starts and resolves nothing, and Kin says so. If it reports
that it could not finish, keep going. Everything else works, and Kin reports reference edges as
pending for that language rather than telling you a symbol has no callers.

Then restart your AI client completely, because clients read their MCP configuration at
startup and will not see Kin until they do.

After the restart you should see Kin tools available, including semantic_locate,
get_context_pack, and find_references. find_references answers for a language only once its
language server is installed, which is what the step above is for. A good first request looks
like this.

  Use Kin to explore this codebase. Run semantic_locate to find the main entry point, then
  get_context_pack on that file.

From here, prefer Kin's semantic tools over grep and raw file reads when you are exploring
this repository. Use semantic_locate to find symbols by meaning, get_context_pack to pull a
structured bundle around a file or symbol, and find_references to see what depends on an
entity. These read the graph directly and return what the repository actually recorded rather
than what a text match happened to hit.

One note on platforms. On native Windows x64 the steps above work from PowerShell, except that
you open a new PowerShell window where they say to start a new login shell. Without Node, this
PowerShell line installs kin and kin-daemon and adds them to your PATH. It connects no AI
clients, so the kin setup --intent agent step above is what connects them.

  irm https://get.kinlab.dev/install.ps1 | iex

No native Windows ARM64 build is published, so on an ARM64 machine use WSL2.

Claude Code plugin

These commands connect Claude Code to Kin and add its review skills. Kin's command-line tool downloads on its own when first needed.

/plugin marketplace add firelock-ai/kin
/plugin install kin@kin

Codex and Cursor plugins: plugins/kin-codex and plugins/kin-cursor in the kin repository.

The Kin VS Code extension lets you explore code and its connections in the editor. Find it on the VS Code Marketplace and Open VSX.

How automatic and manual client setup differ

kin setup writes this server into the clients it detects, so most people never touch a JSON file. It writes an absolute path to the Kin it installed; the blocks below use the npm launcher instead, which needs no install path. Codex CLI and Antigravity also name the one repository they serve, with --repo. Kin's own health check accepts these shapes and grades any other argument vector misconfigured, so use them for the clients setup does not cover yet.

Set up an AI tool manually

Choose your client to see its configuration location and exact settings. These connect to Kin on your machine.

~/.claude.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kin": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@kinlab/kin",
        "mcp",
        "start"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Other ways to install.

For a machine without Node, for native Windows, or for a team that standardizes on a package manager. The recommended command above is the shortest path everywhere it runs.

Other install methods and platform notes

Current release: v0.8.1 Beta. Inspect release details

One command on macOS, Linux, WSL2 and Windows x64. It installs Kin, registers it with the AI coding tools it finds, and adds kin to your shell profile. Needs Node.js 20 or newer. Open a new terminal when it finishes. No Windows ARM64 build is published, so use WSL2 there.

macOS and Linux, without Node

curl -fsSL https://get.kinlab.dev/install | sh

Downloads a release Kin checks against a published digest, puts kin in ~/.kin/bin, and adds that directory to your shell profile.

Native Windows x64, PowerShell

irm https://get.kinlab.dev/install.ps1 | iex

For Windows x64 without Node.js. Installs kin and kin-daemon and adds them to your PATH, but connects no AI coding tools, so run kin setup afterwards. There is no Windows ARM64 build.

Homebrew

brew install firelock-ai/kin/kin

For a Mac that already manages tools with Homebrew.

npm global

npm i -g @kinlab/kin

Needs Node.js 20 or newer and a writable npm prefix; the recommended command above needs neither.

macOS

Supported on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.

Linux

Supported on x86_64 and aarch64 Linux.

Windows

Native Windows support is early and x64 only. Use WSL2 on Arm.